Coaching Accountability

New England Patriots
September 20, 2009
Opening Statement of Coach Bill Belichick postgame press conference after loss to Jets
"It was a tough loss, like it always is in the division. Give the Jets credit. They just did a better job than we did today and I don't really think there's a whole lot more to say about it. They just outplayed us and outcoached us. They just performed better than we did over the 60 minutes and I think that was pretty much the story of the game. We had our chances and we didn't take advantage of them. They had their chances and they did. That's why it ended up the way it did."

Have always enjoyed watching Coach Belichick work the media. He has long been criticized for being unemotional and tight lipped when it comes to discussing his opponent or his team. It's almost amusing watching the media get frustrated when asking questions about tactics, personal or any other aspect of the information that Coach Belichick feels might help his opponent in any possible way. He's also convinced his players to follow his lead and be very guarded with any information they might share with the media. This is all the more amazing with the present day ultra-hype world of athletes trying to self promote for airtime with outrageous comments and interviews. For fans of teams other than the Patriots this entire approach by Coach Belichick and his players has been constantly under attack and mocked. While at the same time, more and more teams try to institute the same type of discipline for their teams.

The highlighted section of Coach Belichick post game conference above though are words that far too many coaches might never consider. They outcoached us. How many times have you heard a coach take responsibility for being part of the reason for a loss. Surely, coaches realize their preparations might have been flawed and Coach Belichick is not the only coach to ever point a finger at himself and his coaching staff. But more important, he's always consistent with setting a high standard and sharing the blame when things don't work out as planned. This message is one that has many positives for your teams on so many fronts. First off, you take the pressure off your team and share the responsibility for a loss. Second there's also a subtle message that the preparation and not the talent level was the problem. That, with better preparation, this game was with-in our grasp and could have been won. What a great way to motivate your team to bring a better level of commitment to preparing to win and even if in the long run they don't have the talent to win in the end, nothing but positives can be gained both short and long term by preparing to improve every practice. Lastly, it also allows the coach to the sell to his team that everyone shares the responsibility for quality preparation and performance.

This last attribute is probably the one though, that hinders numerous coaches from taking responsibility, as it brings the coach down to a level of accountability they would not be comfortable with. Once you allow people and players the chance to question the coach it makes the coaches job all the more difficult. Questions though, in and of themselves are not the problem though, the answers are. If the coach doesn't have the ability to answers the questions with appropriate answers, their ability to lead effectively is severely hampered. However, on the other extreme, if the coach does have the answers and can articulate their goals, vision, preparations, philosophies, etc in an effective way their job is made so much easier. Once all the participants actually know what they are trying to accomplish, how and why, it's so much easier for them to buy in. Effective leadership has and always will come down to the ability to be believable. The better and more believable the message, the more likely people will follow. Your thoughts ????