Coach: A Word That Transcends The Wisdom of Coach Lou Holtz

Lou Holtz is a coach that will go down in the history books as a man of integrity, passion, enthusiasm, character and charisma. He also won his fair share of football games! His philosophies can be utilized in any environment to create a WINNING organization. Strength and Conditioning is no different, the wisdom Coach Holtz delivers is contagious and paramount to building bigger, faster, and stronger athletes. It’s also important in fostering an atmosphere that builds character and teaches life lessons far beyond the confines of our gyms. “Winning Everyday” (Coach Holt’s book) shares the wisdom of a coaching legend.

 

Coach Lou Holtz

1.) The Power of Attitude: “Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.” (Coach Holtz) Attitude is contagious. Your athletes and clients feed off your attitude. This is something we control. What a beautiful thing. What’s the attitude in your gym?

 

2.) Tackle Adversity: “If life is a classroom, adversity is its teacher.” (Coach Holtz) Many times adversity helps us grow as coaches. The programs I’ve written five years ago make me cringe. I will not apologize for this, because I have learned and grown as a coach. I have also had bi-lateral shoulder surgery from years of sport and training (many times improper training). Theses moments of adversity have helped me design better programs and build stronger athletes. Miles Davis once said, “Don’t be afraid of failure. There is no such thing.”

  

3.) Have a Sense of Purpose: Have you defined your sense of purpose as a coach? You can’t solve business/personal issues until you define your purpose. At Donskov Strength and Conditioning our mission statement is: to deliver scientifically based exercise protocol and services that measurably improve athletic performance and personal health. How do we get there? By using our core competencies of: Knowledge, Experience and Passion. Write down your goals and action plan. A written reminder is a powerful tool.

 

4.) Make Sacrifice Your Ally: Preparation is key in becoming a great Coach. I don’t know of one successful Coach that hasn’t sacrificed time and personal agenda to enhance his/her program, business and education. “The time to worry is before you place your bet, not after you spin the wheel.” (Coach Holtz) Preparation does not create stress, failing to prepare does. In order to be the best sacrifice HAS to be made. Make it your ally; you will be a better coach!

  

5.) Adapt or Die: “Don’t pop open the champagne until the party starts. You still have much to achieve.” Change is inevitable, as coaches we must adapt! Change usually fails when it’s in response to panic. “Always remember no matter how well things are going, you can always improve something.” Wow! As coaches we can ALWAYS improve on something. The last time I checked there is no perfect program!

 

6.) Chase Your Dream: “I’ve always believed that dreams make the best chauffeurs, because they will drive you anywhere you want to go.” Coach Holtz has a philosophy called WIN (What’s Important Now). Many of his decisions/dreams were revolved around this acronym. What’s important to you as a coach? Have you written it down (Coach Holtz has 108 life goals/dreams)? “Remember, a turtle only makes progress it its willing to stick its neck out.” (Coach Holtz)

 

7.) Nurture Your Self-Image: Be on time, punctual, and prepared! Nurture your self-image as a coach.

 

8.) Foster Trust: If your athletes and clients don’t trust you, you will not have a business for long! Coach Holtz instilled what he called the “Do Right” philosophy, which was composed of three rules: Do right, do your best; treat others the way you want to be treated. We can apply these concepts in the strength and conditioning world as well. Never BS a client/athlete, if you don’t know the answer find it.

 

9.) Commit to Excellence: “Woody Hayes affirmed my belief that humans are capable of far more than they realize, and that each individual’s performance is predicated on what’s expected of them.” (Coach Holtz) What do you expect from your clients/athletes? I expect my athletes to work extremely hard, pay attention to detail, and have FUN! As coaches, our job is to push individuals past their level of comfort in a safe, sound environment. Your athletes’ work ethic will be based on what you expect of them.

 

10.) Handle With Care: No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. If you don’t have a passion to help people achieve their goals, learn about their lifestyle and habits (good and bad), than you shouldn’t be a coach. Passion fuels the engine, an engine that is capable of anything!

 

The wisdom of Coach Lou Holtz can directly be applied to our weight rooms, studios and business plans. Many times the impact of a good coach reaches far beyond bumper plates, chalk and squat racks. Becoming great takes a positive attitude, the ability to overcome adversity, a sense of purpose, sacrifice, the ability to adapt, dreams, self-image, trust and the commitment to excellence. If we expect this from ourselves, we should also foster this environment for our athletes. There are few coaches that reach beyond the realm of which they teach, and Lou Holtz is one of them.

 

References:

(1) Holtz, Lou, Winning Everyday, HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.

 

Anthony Donskov, MS, CSCS, PES, is a former collegiate and professional hockey player, founder of Donskov Strength and Conditioning Inc., (www.donskovsc.com) and Head Instructor/Director of Off-Ice Strength and Conditioning for Donskov Hockey Development (www.donskovhockey.com). He can be reached at info@donskovsc.com This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Donskov-Strength-and-Conditioning-Inc/111694352189187

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Donskovsc