interview: tom osborne - american coaching academy...interview: tom osborne 1. what is the shortcut...

Interview: Tom Osborne

1. What is the shortcut to success in sports? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2. What is the most important thing for coaches to figure out early on? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What are the 3 philosophies illustrated in this interview? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What is the first factor to playing well? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What is a second factor for a team to play well? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What is the third factor to help a team play well? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. What is the forth factor that may assist a team in playing well? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. When is the best time for a team to build motivation and mental readiness? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. What should a teamʼs attitude be toward their opponents? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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10. What is the first way to promote the general welfare of the players? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. What is the 2nd guideline to promote the welfare of the athletes? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12. What is the 3rd way to promote the general welfare of your players? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. The 4th guideline is ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. What is the 5th way to promote the welfare of the team? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

15. What is the 6th guideline to the welfare of the athletes? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. What is the 7th and final guide to promoting the general welfare of the players? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17. What is the greatest satisfaction for a coach? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Answers to Interview: Osborne

1. There are no shortcuts to success. You have to put in the time and work hard to achieve success. Being thorough and motivating your athletes will foster success.

2. Coaches need to figure out their team philosophy early on in their coaching career. This philosophy should be just a few sentences and be in writing for all the athletes to see.

3. 1) Make the effort to play well.

2) Play in a way that reflects well on the institution.

3) Promote the general welfare of all players.

4. The first factor to playing well is to step up recruiting efforts. Have recruiting weekend where prospective players can see what the weekend is like without attending parties or anything along those lines. Recruit for the long term, not just a season.

5. The second factor that could help the team play well is to implement a freshman pro-gram. This would develop camaraderie and unity among new players. This would also allow the freshmen to evolve as athletes together.

6. The third factor would be to develop a walk-on program. A coach could save some scholarships for these walk-on players. It would also allow the walk-on athletes feel equal to the recruited athletes.

7. Another factor that could assist teams in playing well is having an off season training program. This time would allow the coach to emphasize quickness, agility, and move-ment. It would give the players a strong work ethic and motivation. Keep records so the athletes can see their progress.

8. The best time to motivate and get a team mentally ready is throughout the week. A team has to have great practices every day. The attitude and enthusiasm built in a team throughout practices will carry over to the game. Use practices to be sure the players know what they are doing.

9. A positive attitude is necessary to be a winning team. That same attitude needs to be expressed to the opposing teams. Building hatred against opponents is not the best way



to motivate your team. Also the team should learn to ignore any negative comments from opposing teams. A team that maintains control on the field will play better.

10. The first way to promote the general welfare of the players is to care about all of them. Be sure the athletes know and feel you believe they are all important and valued people.

11. The 2nd guideline to promote the welfare of the athletes is to not use intimidation or humiliation tactics. This will only hurt the athlete and the team. The athletes need to be built up – not torn down.

12. The 3rd way to promote the general welfare of your players is to tell them their strengths and weaknesses. Do this in private and tell them their strengths first. When pointing out their weaknesses, make sure you tell them how to improve too.

13. The 4th guideline is to let the team know that when you need to discipline them for an infraction that it is not personal. You are not punishing the player; you are punishing their behavior.

14. The 5th way to promote the welfare of the team is to maintain good communication and a positive atmosphere. A positive attitude is crucial to a winning team.

15. The 6th guideline to the welfare of the athletes is to be concerned about their aca-demics. If a player is with the team for several years, they should leave school with a degree. Otherwise the school has failed them. Show the players you care about their grades and what they want to do after they graduate.

16. The 7th and final guide to promoting the general welfare of the players is to have a spiritual dimension in there. People who are well-grounded spiritually generally do better than those without. This is not saying to impose you beliefs on the players. But a coach should foster a spiritual balance in their players.

17. The greatest satisfaction for a coach is to see their players develop and become successful in the future. Whether they go on to professional sports, the business world, or become parents, watching them grow and evolve into good, successful people is the greatest accomplishment for any coach.



Interview: Hayden Fry

1. Where all did Hayden Fry coach football? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What does it mean to “scratch where it itches”? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. According to Fry, what will happen if we apply the “scratch where it itches” philosophy to our everyday life? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What is the core belief behind setting goals and priorities, according to Fry? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 5. What did HL Hunt, wealthiest man in the world at the time, do during his meeting with Fry that pleasantly surprised Fry? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. After being asked how he became so wealthy, what did Hunt tell Fry? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. What lesson did Fryʼs father teach him as a boy after Fry didnʼt completely milk a cow? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. What did Fryʼs staff find after they allowed incoming freshmen to create their own disciplinary rules? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



9. When you have to make a decision on the field or in life, what must you do? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Why is Fryʼs training code the simplest in America? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Why is the ability to adapt so essential to winning? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12. Because the people rather than the game positions are top priority, what is it important to do? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. Which is more desirable: a player with raw talent or a player with good character? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. Why is being unique and having your own style important to being successful as an athletic team? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

15. How can you apply the philosophy of “before you can start winning, you have to stop losing”? ______________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. How do players learn what it really means to sacrifice? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17. What should you do to be able to handle success?



____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

18. What three things separate the winners from the losers? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. What are the three Ds that lead to football success? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Answers to Interview: Hayden Fry

1. Fry was a football coach at SMU, Northern Texas State, and the University of Iowa.

2. “Scratching where it itches” refers to taking advantage of the many wonderful oppor-tunities available, particularly in a football game.

3. According to Fry, if we apply this philosophy to our daily routines in life, we can be-come more successful and more proficient.

4. Fry states that “we try to make the important things in life important.” This is why goals are set and priorities are ranked—to ensure that you are focusing your energy on the important aspects of your life.

5. After telling Fry that he was going to eat his lunch, Hunt pulled out a paper bag lunch and gave Fry half of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of eating a fancy lunch as Fry expected.

6. After being asked how he became so wealthy, Hunt said there were three things that you to do: 1.) make up your mind what you want to achieve, 2.) get a game plan to achieve those goals, 3.) do it, and do it with enthusiasm.

7. Fryʼs father told him, “When youʼve got something good going for you, squeeze it un-til itʼs dry.”

8. They found that the incoming freshmen players were creating very strict disciplinary rules for themselves because they now understood the principles of winning and knew what they had to do to succeed.

9. When you have to make a decision on the field or in life, you must ask yourself, “Will it help me/us to win?” If it will, then you are encouraged to act with enthusiasm as long as no ethical codes or legal laws are broken.

10. Fryʼs training code is the simplest in America because the players understand it and understand why Fryʼs staff wants it—because they want to be successful.

11. The ability to adapt is so essential to winning because we live in a world of change. You have to have flexibility and diversification and be able to deal with many different types of people in order to succeed.



12. Itʼs important to be sensitive to peopleʼs needs and find out what they want to do and to accomplish. Once you find that out, you can find a way to motivate them so that they enjoy themselves and achieve their goals.

13. A player with better character is more desirable than a player with just raw talent. To build a class program, you have to do it with class people.

14. Being different and having a unique style adds to success in athletics because this means that your opponents will have a limited amount of time to prepare and practice in order to be able to adapt to your teamʼs unique style of play. It also makes your team less predictable.

15. In order to apply this philosophy, you need to not worry so much about winning to begin with. Instead, focus on not making any mistakes. Then, youʼll learn to stop losing and can focus on winning.

16. Sacrifice is something players have to experience to understand—they canʼt learn it in a textbook.

17. In order to truly handle success, you must be honest, be truthful, and be a gentle-man. If you do these things, youʼll experience no problems.

18. The three things that separate winners from losers are total effort, total preparation, and an understanding that winning is living.

19. The three Ds that lead to football success are desire, discipline and drive.



Interview: Lou Holtz

1. What is it that separates great athletes, business people, and leaders from everyone else? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How do successful and unsuccessful people see problems differently?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Lou Holtz says he doesnʼt ask his athletes how many of them want to win. What does he ask them instead? Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Why is it important to reflect on our past experiences whenever things seem to get difficult? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 5. How did OJ Simpson overcome adversity to become a Heisman Trophy winner and Hall of Fame Running Back? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Describe the series of setbacks and challenged faced by Roger Staubach: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. What must every businessperson offer to people through their business in order to be successful?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. How did Lou Holtz translate the aforementioned business philosophy into his athlete recruitment efforts? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



9. Why is it important to dream big? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Why is having a positive self-image important for overcoming adversity? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. What does the card on Lou Holtz desk say? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12. What are the interpersonal side effects of having a poor self-image? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. What doesnʼt produce positive self-image, and what does? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. What does it mean to “do whatʼs right?” ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

15. What is one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves when weʼve fallen or failed and need to “get up off the ground?” ______________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. Why is it important to do the best you can? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17. How does insecurity sometimes obstruct our ability to do our best as leaders or employers?



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18. Why is it important to treat others the way we want to be treated?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. What causes us to let go of our fundamental skills and what are the consequences?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20. What is characteristic keeps us from falling into the cycle of failure triggered by letting go of our fundamentals?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

21. What is the greatest power we possess and human beings?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

22. How do people committed to excellence respond differently to problems than people who arenʼt committed?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



23. How did Lou Holtz experience as the coach of the New York Jets illustrate his point about commitment?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

24. What is the key to having good teamwork?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Answers to Interview: Lou Holtz

1. The most distinctive attribute of successful people is the ability to overcoming adversity. Everybody fails at times and gets discouraged in life, but the great ones continue to get up off the ground no matter how many failures they experience or obstacles they face.

2. Successful people recognize that thereʼs an opportunity in every problem whereas unsuccessful people see a problem in every opportunity.

3. Lou doesnʼt ask his athletes how many of them want to win because everybody wants to win, especially when the cameras are on and the band is playing. Everybody thinks winning is fun. The real question is can you live with losing? Can you live with failure? Can you live with mediocrity? Only those who canʼt stand the idea of losing have the determination to succeed.

4. Nothing is ever as good as it seems or as bad as it seems in the moment. Reality usually lies somewhere in between. No matter what weʼre going through, if we reflect on our lives with some perspective weʼll probably find weʼve been in more difficult situations before. This kind of perspective can help you persevere.

5. O.J. Simpson was originally a defensive tackle. At only 6ʼ2” 205lbs he wasnʼt likely to succeed in the tackle position because he was too small. Originally, it looked as though he had no future in collegiate football, much less any prospects to play professionally. However, during his second year of Jr. College he was moved to running back, and when on to make history.

6. Roger Staubach was not highly recruited and had only one scholarship offer out of High School, from the Naval Academy. Despite that, he went on to win the Heisman award. However, he couldnʼt go on to the NFL because he had a 5 year commitment to the Navy. At the end of his Naval commitment, he spent 11 months on active duty and one month on furlough training with the Dallas Cowboys. He became an NFL rookie at the relatively late age of 29 years old, and wasnʼt a starter until past the age of 30.

7. If youʼre going to be successful in business you have to provide a need or a service. At a training seminar Lou Holtz attended early in life a gentleman stood up and said, “You donʼt sell anything. Help people get what they want you in turn will get anything



you want.” Businesses usually fail because they forgot about the simple philosophy of helping people get what they want.

8. Lou Holtz applied the business philosophy of helping people get what they want to his recruitment efforts by telling an athlete what they could do for him, not what he could do for the school or the program. He would stress that the athlete would get a good education, be part of a strong program, learn important life skills, etc.

9. Itʼs big dreams that help you get up in the morning and achieve things the average person would never do. They keep us moving forward, ambitious about life, and motivate us to overcome obstacles. The average person is basically lazy and a person whoʼs bored with life is a person who doesnʼt have a lot of dreams, or hopes, or ambitions.

10. Having a positive self-image is important to overcoming adversity because people who doubt their own abilities to be successful wonʼt be able to get up off the ground when they struggle or fail.

11. The card on Lou Holtz desk says, “Perseverance.”

12. People who have a poor self-image tend to be petty and jealous, because they often focus on the strengths of others while only noticing their own weaknesses. This causes them to sabotage their relationships with others and short-circuit their own ability to be good teammates.

13. Self-image doesnʼt come from intelligence or attractiveness, it comes from knowing deep within yourself that youʼre doing whatʼs right in all areas of your life, that youʼre doing your very best in everything you put your hand to, and that youʼre treating others the way you would want to be treated. In short, positive self-image comes from having good, strong character.

14. Doing whatʼs right means to stay away from the things we know to be wrong in our own heart and soul. If we violate our conscience by getting involved with things we know are wrong, we naturally tend to feel that we arenʼt worthwhile and begin to believe we donʼt deserve success.

15. One of the best ways to get up of the ground is to have a little consultation with ourselves and ask if weʼre doing whatʼs right. If not, then our failure may be related to not having a positive self-image.



16. Itʼs important to always do the very best you can because then you know that failure or success no longer doesnʼt hinges on the job youʼve done. It allows you to put your head on the pillow at night, be confident in your work, and know that success inevitably comes to those who work hard.

17. Sometimes people donʼt discipline themselves or their employees because they want to be liked in order to feel good about themselves. A leader who is insecure in this way wonʼt demand good work and discipline from their employees, or lead people the way theyʼre supposed to.

18. Sometimes we can win or get what we want in the short by using our power to intimidate or dominate people, but unless we treat people the way we want to be treated itʼs just a matter of time before we face failure. Eventually, the way we treat others will come back to haunt us, and weʼll find ourselves inevitably failing in the long run. Moreover, when we treat people under us poorly, they will often go on to treat others poorly, which means we canʼt know what kind of irreparable damage we may be causing because of the way we treated them.

19. Every time we fail we are tempted to get away from the practice of our fundamentals, and if we donʼt have the self-discipline to adhere to our fundamentals then weʼre going to face even more failures in the future. This creates a cycle of failure, which can produce insecurity in us. That insecurity tends to result in aggressiveness towards others as we question our own talents and abilities. As a result we become lonely and isolated, making excuses for our failures and pointing fingers at others. Eventually we lose our enthusiasm and self-pity sets in. Self-pity is the most destructive thing in our lives.

20. Discipline is one of the most important things we can possess because it keeps us focused on practicing the fundamentals of our sport, business, or endeavor. By remaining disciplined and faithful to the fundamentals, we ensure inevitable success.

21. We have the powers to think and love and create and imagine and plan, but the greatest power is the power to choose. We can choose to act or procrastinate, to believe or doubt, to help or hinder, to heal or harm. But most of all we can choose to succeed or fail.

22. Everybody faces problems, but when youʼre committed you get busy looking for a solution, whereas if youʼre not committed you start looking for a way to get out of it. In



this way, if youʼre really committed to success then teamwork comes naturally because what everyone cares about most is success.

23. Lou went into professional football without a total commitment. He never went in as the coach of the New York Jets talking about winning the Superbowl or even winning a championship. Instead, he went in asking, “Am I going to be happy? Am I going to like it?” He was only committed to himself, not to success. Therefore, every time a problem came along he started looking for a way out.

24. The key to having good teamwork is having individuals who like themselves, that is, they have a positive self-image. If you like yourself then chances are you like other people, and you want to help other people - and thatʼs what teamwork is all about. When everybody cares about one another then you have teamwork, and teamwork brings automatic success.



Interview: Vince Dooley

1. What position did Vince Dooley have at the American Football Coaches Association? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What position does Dooley have at the University of Georgia?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What differentiates winners from everyone else? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. According to Dooley, what two factors lead to winning? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 5. What did Herschel Walkerʼs coach tell him to do in order to be faster and stronger? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What did Walker learn about that helped lead to his success? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. According to Benjamin Bloom, University of Chicago Education Professor, one study researching several careers of Americaʼs top performers found that rather than finding tales of natural-born talent, they found what? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. What, specifically, did Lamar Dodd do in school to become a successful artist? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Does the willingness to prepare lead to success in just athletics? ______________________________________________________________________



____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. According to Dooley, what does every successful athlete do in regards to fundamentals? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Why can no athlete be successful without a superbly conditioned body? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12. How can a player or teamʼs loss or suffering of setbacks have a positive effect? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. What must an athlete do as far as conditioning is concerned in order to be successful? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. What is the third and final important technique that leads to athletic success? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

15. What is it that ensures success? ______________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Answers to Interview: Vince Dooley

1. Dooley served as president of the American Football Coaches Association.

2. Dooley serves as the Athletic Director for the University of Georgia.

3. Dooley states that we all have the will to win, but winners have the will to prepare. The utilization of talent through hard work and preparation is what separates the true winners from others.

4. According to Dooley, winning comes through persistence and long hours of work.

5. Walkerʼs coach told him to run and run and run if he wanted to be faster. Each time Walker sprinted, he was to push himself to go even faster. Each time he did pushups, he was to push himself to do more than he had the previous day. The coach instilled the idea of setting and reaching high expectations in Walker, and this is what helped lead to his success.

6. Walker learned that in order for him to excel and be successful, he had to develop the will to prepare himself through practice and hard work.

7. Bloom stated that instead of finding childhood tales of natural-born talent, they found that a large number of the mothers declared that it was one of the performerʼs siblings that had the “greater” gift. The top performers werenʼt outstanding athletes or perform-ers as children. They became that way through hard work and preparation.

8. If a teacher told Dodd to make ten sketches of a particular object, he would make one hundred. He would work ten times more than required in order to perfect his craft.

9. No. According to Dooley, the willingness to prepare leads to success across the board, in athletics, performing arts, business, and more.

10. According to Dooley, every successful athlete has worked to become proficient in the fundamentals of his or her game. Every day, an aspired athlete must practice ways to attain good form. An athlete becomes successful with hard, tedious work practicing fundamentals. The fundamentals of oneʼs weakness must be practiced twice as much, also, in order to be improved upon.



11. No athlete can be successful without a superbly conditioned body trained to face the stress of the last minutes of game. Superior conditioning has long been the winning edge in many contests, allowing one team to win against a superiorly skilled team be-cause the prior team was better conditioned and able to take control in the fourth quar-ter.

12. Losses or suffered setbacks can be great learning opportunities because such ad-versity can excite individuals or teams to have greater performances in the future.

13. A successful athlete is never out of shape and should carry on a year-round condi-tioning program. One important part of the conditioning program should be a self-disciplined list of good training rules such as proper rest, a healthy diet, and the ability to say no to temptation and abstain from alcohol and drugs. Following these rules give an athlete an edge.

14. The third and final important technique that leads to athletic success is visualiza-tion. Many successful athletes such as Tiger Woods visualize every move or shot be-fore each play or hole to achieve success.

15. It is not God-given talent alone that ensures success, but instead the utilization of that talent that requires sacrifice and hours of hard work that leads to superstar suc-cess.



Interview: Barry Switzer

1. Why does Barry Switzer identify the acquisition of talent as the key to Oklahomaʼs success? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. In what way does a team reflect the personality of the coach?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. How did the Oklahoma teams reflect Barry Switzerʼs personality? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What was Barry Switzerʼs house like growing up? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 5. Describe some of the hardships Barry and his family dealt with while he was young: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. How did Barryʼs upbringing help him deal with the pressure to win at Oklahoma? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. How did Barry Switzer help his players deal with the pressure to win at Oklahoma? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. How did Switzer offset the relative freedoms he gave his players? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. What is more important to Switzer than outward appearance? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



10. What is the role of communication on Switzerʼs teams?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Why does Switzer believe its so important to establish this kind of compassionate and caring communication with the players? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12. How does this view of communication relate to Switzerʼs idea of what is the most rewarding aspect of coaching? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. What did Switzerʼs mother tell him about being a father?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. How did his motherʼs statement affect his view of coaching? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

15. What are the three words Switzer says you would never expect to hear on a football filed or locker room, but would hear in his program? ______________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. Why is it important to have a winning attitude? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17. How does the role of tradition at Oklahoma help instill a winning attitude?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

18. What is the obligation a program has to players in order to help them succeed?



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19. What is the obligation a player has to the program in order to succeed?

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20. What is Switzerʼs definition of dedication and commitment?

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21. How does Barry Switzer feel his players will benefit from playing for him after they leave school?

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Answers to Interview: Barry Switzer

1. The acquisition of talent is the most important factor in team success, especially in modern football. In past years it might have been possible to out-coach an opponent, but today everybody has good coaches and good systems, but no system will work without talent.

2. Switzer says there is more than one way to succeed, and that a coachʼs own person-ality and style will often be reflected in the team because most players will do what you tell them to do or what you allow them to do.

3. Barry identifies himself as a fun-loving person, but someone who is mentally tough and doesnʼt care what others think. In the same way his teams were fun-loving, often enjoying themselves at practice paying games, listening to music, and expressing their own personal style through haircuts and clothing. Yet, they were mentally tough and competitive, just like Barry.

4. Barry grew up in a “shotgun house,” that is a shack that was poorly constructed and equipped. His family had no running water, electricity, heat, or toilets. They used an privy (outhouse) until Barry was in 9th grade, when they first received electricity in their area. They didnʼt have a phone until Barry was in his freshman year of college.

5. Barryʼs father had hard time finding work after World War II, so he started bootleg-ging. This made him a target for local authorities and eventually he went to prison dur-ing Barryʼs senior year. Not long after, Barryʼs mother, who struggled with depression and other illnesses committed suicide by shooting herself on he front porch. Barry found her body. Years later his father was murdered in the same house.

6. Barry Switzer says that the pressure to win and perform was never much of a con-cern to him at Oklahoma because he always figured he could handle anything com-pared to the hardship she faced growing up. No matter what happens, he knows he can handle it.

7. Switzer recognized that there was a great deal of pressure to win on his players, and he also understood that football is not fun to practice, so he created an atmosphere of fun and freedom which allowed his players to be themselves and enjoy the practices by playing other games, playing music, etc.



8. In order to maintain discipline amid an atmosphere of freedom, Switzer worked hard to establish genuine relationships of caring communication with each of his players and demanded commitment to basic rules of conduct and performance. This combination of individual freedom and a circle of discipline caused the players to give their loyalty to Switzer and the team.

9. Barry Switzer says that how a person wears his hair or dresses has nothing whatso-ever to do with whether they are competitive or self-disciplined on the inside. These characteristics are what is important, and refusing to over-regulate a player allows them the freedom to grow as an individual.

10. Communication is more than a discussion, dialogue, or discourse between two peo-ple. True communication means genuinely sharing, caring, and understanding a young person who needs a coachʼs experience and advice. Ultimately, communication means loving a person and having compassion for them.

11. Switzer believes coaching is much more than the ability to win football games on Saturday afternoons in the fall. The team must believe in the coach as a person that is committed to their success. The coach must not only tell them that he or she cares and is committed to them, but more importantly they must show it as well through their rela-tionship.

12. Because communication for Switzer means expressing love and compassion for another person, his main goal is to build an authentic relationship. He says that the most rewarding things about coaching is not victory on the football field, but the oppor-tunity to develop a coach-player relationship that becomes a true friendship that will last a lifetime.

13. Barryʼs mother told him when he was a young boy that he would understand the meaning of the word love when he grew up and had his own kids. He said she was right, and that he now has his own 3 children that he would gladly give his life for.

14. For Switzer coaching is like being a father. He says that in addition to his own 3 children, every season he has 100 more loaned to him for a period of time, and consid-ers that is an awesome responsibility since those young men are the most prized pos-sessions of mothers and fathers who also know the true meaning of the word love.

15. I love you.



16. Switzer says that, ultimately, winning is an attitude or a state of mind. If a person be-lieves he or she will be successful, then half the battle is already won. This is what is meant by the popular phrase, “90% of football is played from the neck up.” Having the other 10% of the body is important, but without a winning attitude, its difficult to suc-ceed.

17. Because Oklahoma has a longstanding tradition of winning, the players who come to Oklahoma come there expecting to win. Switzer likes to say, “Other people talk about winning but we invented it.” This is the tradition at Oklahoma, and itʼs a tremendous be-cause it instills that winning attitude in players before they ever set foot on the field.

18. Itʼs not enough to recruit good talent, the school or athletic program has an obliga-tion to help that individual develop their talent to his greatest potential. That means put-ting in the hard work of coaching them and conditioning them, running drills and expect-ing more from them every single day.

19. Beyond their own individual talent, each player must be willing to pay the price of their own development by putting in the hard work necessary to grow and succeed. Switzer says that football is a game of repetition, and challenges every player to put work hard every single day in order to succeed.

20. Dedication and commitment is the willingness to do it the right way 365 days a year.

21. Switzer says he knows that his players will go on to be competitive for the next 30, 40, or 50 years of their lives because they learned to work hard and be competitive while they were in his program. For him this is more important that the games them-selves.


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