National Championship Coach UNC Roy Williams on Leadership

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

National Championship Coach UNC Roy Williams on Leadership

National Championship Coach UNC Roy Williams on Leadership
----------------------------------------------------------
As part of the cutting edge Carolina Leadership Academy, UNC national champion men's basketball coach Roy Williams recently shared his insights on leadership and team building as well as some behind the scenes stories during Carolina's run to the 2005 National Championship.

Here are some of the highlights from Coach Williams talk with the Tar Heels captains and coaches:

1. Trust is the foundation of leadership.
Coach William's first goal when he made the transition from Kansas to Carolina was to establish a sense of trust with the UNC players. "You've got to get your players to believe in you." Coach Williams immediately scheduled individual meetings with each of the players to begin the trust-building process. Because first impressions are so important, especially when taking over a different program, Coach Williams wanted to start off on the right foot with each of the players.

2. We'll have a chance to win it all next year...
Coach Williams told the UNC players that if they did exactly what he and his staff asked them to do, they would make the NCAA tournament in the first year and have a chance to win it all in the second year. This inspiring vision gave the players an exciting goal to shoot for as well as a realistic timeline to accomplish it. It set the program's expectations from the onset and gave them a motivating reason for the daily work they would need to do.

3. Coaching is about adjustments. Your game plan is only good for the first six minutes - the rest is all about adjustments. According to Coach Williams, coaching (and playing for that matter) is all about adjustments. You can and should formulate a game plan going in, but much of your team's success depends on your ability to make efficient and effective adjustments. As a coach you must be able make the strategically adjustments, but just as important, you must help your team make the mental adjustments that need to be made to manage the momentum of competition.

4. You can push them but you can't go personal.
Many thought former North Carolina coach Matt Doherty was excused because the Tar Heel players thought he was too tough on them. Interestingly, most Carolina insiders note that Coach Williams is much more demanding of his players than was Coach Doherty. The primary difference lies in how Coach Williams is tough on them. Coach Williams insists that you can and must push your players - but you can't make it personal. Much like effective parenting, coaches should criticize the behavior, not the person.

5. Regardless of how hard you work, I will be working harder. It all starts at the top. Coach Williams talked about how his passion, commitment, and work ethic must set the tone for everyone in the program. He has to continually demonstrate in his actions the standard necessary to achieve success. The players see how much he invests in them and the program and are naturally inspired to give a high level of commitment back to him.

6. I'll take a person who is a little short on ability and academics, but I will not take anyone who is short on character. For Coach Williams, character in recruiting is a non-negotiable factor. He flat out refuses to sign anyone who is not a person of character. "You can't consistently win that way, and it certainly is not as much fun." This bedrock principle was especially satisfying to hear in light of today's Terrell Owens-type athletes.

7. Be on the lookout for the little things in recruiting.
While he is a very personable guy, Coach Williams directly tells people not to chit-chat with him over the summer when he is recruiting. From the time he walks into the gym before games start to the end of the day, he is on a mission. Coach Williams meticulously watches EVERYTHING a potential Carolina recruit does. He especially watches how kids act before and after games, how they interact with coaches, teammates, parents, and officials. He even watches water breaks closely.

He related a story about current Atlanta Hawk and last season's ACC Freshman of the Year Marvin Williams: Marvin fouled out near the end of a close AAU game. His coach called a time out to talk with the rest of the players. Marvin ran to the end of the bench and filled cups of water for each of his teammates who were still in the game as a way to contribute even though he was on the bench with five fouls. "I don't want the kids who are too cool. I want guys who are focused on how they can help the team. I absolutely love it when the best player on the team is also the best leader."

8. Winning TEAMS get the individual awards and rewards.
Coach Williams continuously stressed to his players that the end of the year individual awards and rewards go to the teams that win the most games. Player of the Year and All-Conference Awards almost always go to players on the teams that win the most. Thus, Coach Williams team approach would yield the collective rewards of a championship season as well as the individuals awards.

9. Team vs. Talent - that's a welcomed insult.
The media billed the Illinois vs. Carolina national championship game as Team vs. Talent. Coach Williams took great offense to this characterization and bombarded his team with it in the 48 hours before the game. "Everyone thinks we're too selfish to win a championship. They think we are just a bunch of superstars who aren't willing to play together to win. Let's show them that they're wrong and we can win this thing as a team."

10. Illinois is too good of a team not to make a run - I've got to be the calmest person in the crowd when they do. Going into the championship game against the #1 ranked Illinois' high-octane offense, Coach Williams realized that there would be a point when Illinois would get on a roll. He knew that his composure during this run might be a critical factor in the game and prepared himself ahead of time to deal with it.

Sure enough, during a nine-minute span in the second half of the championship game, Illinois made 60% of their three-pointers to close within one of Carolina. As his panicked players came to the bench for the media time out, Coach Williams got their attention and calmly reminded them that everything was okay. "Hey guys, we're fine. Illinois is a great team; they've been ranked #1 most of the year. You have to expect them to hit some shots. But as the game goes on and the pressure mounts, they'll start to tighten up. And there's no way that they will make those jump shots." By preparing for and remaining calm in a potential crisis, Coach Williams effectively refocused his team and helped them weather the inevitable storm of adversity that too often spooks other teams.

11. You can coach someone and still see 30 years later the impact you had - whether good or bad. Not many outside of Asheville, NC have ever heard of high school basketball coach Buddy Baldwin. But without his example and influence decades ago on an impressionable high school hoopster named Roy Williams, Coach Williams would likely not be coaching today. "Coach Baldwin was the first person to give me confidence that I could do something. And I really enjoyed how good he made me feel. And I thought that coaching would allow me the opportunity to help other people feel as good as Coach Baldwin made me feel about myself." Although seemingly insignificant perhaps at the time, Coach Baldwin's leadership legacy lives on through Coach Williams - who has made thousands of Kansas and Carolina players and alums feel good about themselves.

Finally, all coaches will take some comfort in knowing that Coach Williams' first season as a high school coach his team went 2-19. Ouch! From an inauspicious start to the pinnacle of Division I men's college basketball, Coach Roy Williams has always stayed true to himself and his roots and is clearly one of the class acts in coaching today.

http://www.basketballcoachesclub.blogspot.com/

Building Positive Relationships with Your Players

THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2011

Building Positive Relationships with Your Players

By Matt Monroe, Sophomore Boys’ Basketball Coach, St. Patrick High School (IL)

An essential part of coaching is building relationships. We, as coaches, spend a lot of time diagramming plays and developing new drills, but we don’t spend enough time trying to figure out how to better foster relationships with our players. The greatest compliment a coach can receive is “his/her players will run through a brick wall for him/her.” The question is: how do coaches develop strong enough relationships with their players that drive such a spirit?

1. Show them that you care.
Always remind your players that you care about them. You must show them that you understand their condition, that you always have their best interests in mind, and that they can trust you. Understand that developing relationships with your players transcends basketball. You must show interest in their lives off the court – ask them about their day, their families, or how their classes are going. If your players feel that you are invested in them as people, they will buy into you as a coach. Don’t just tell your players that you care, show them!

2. Be their friend, not their “buddy.”
Make sure that your players feel that you are approachable. Have fun with them, and at times joke around to show your lighter side. Develop a relationship with your players so that they feel that they can confide in you during times of crisis or so that they feel compelled to share with you when something good happens in their lives. Even with all of this, remember that you are not their “buddy.” There needs to be a figurative line in place that maintains the distinction between player and coach. If you become their “buddy,” you will lose their respect as a coach and authoritative figure.

3. Give them ownership.
It’s very important to give your players ownership in your team and your program. You and your staff will make all of the major decisions and will have the final say, but it is important to get as much player input as possible. You can create a sense of ownership by trying the following:
- Ask them to decide on a team shoe or other gear.
- Get their opinion on the summer tournaments your program is in.
- Find out what the “pulse” of the team is at various points throughout the year. Ask them how they feel about their team.
- Have your players construct some team rules.
- Have players fill out a program and/or team questionnaire.
- Ask players to share their “scouting report” of another team or player if they know pertinent information about your opponent.
- There are a wide variety of options that you can use. Be creative!
- If your players feel like they have stock in your program, the success of your team becomes more important to them.

4. Remember that it’s about them.
Don’t lose sight of your purpose as a coach. If you got into coaching to make money or gain professional notoriety, then you are in it for all of the wrong reasons. Your primary purpose as a coach is to help your players develop positively as players and as young men and women. It should be about THEM. If you make it as such, players won’t have to be reminded too often that you have their best interests in mind.

5. We and us, not me and I.
You must try to talk in the form of “we” and “us” and try to avoid always referencing “me” and “I.” It’s OUR team, OUR loss, OUR big win. WE need to get better. OUR man scored. WE need to take better shots. If you speak in terms of “we” and “us,” it will help bring everyone together to reach common goals.

6. Reinforce good habits and actions.
Don’t always comment on the negative. Make sure you always reinforce the positive. This can be very difficult to do at times, but make sure you make an attempt. Coaches who are too negative often times will “lose” their players.

Relationship building can be very difficult to accomplish successfully. It takes up a lot of time and effort and requires much patience. Sometimes the process won’t always go the way you think it should or want it to. Even with all of the work and struggle that it may be, you must always attempt to develop positive relationships with your players. Without the foundation of positive relationships with your athletes, even the best of coaching will fall on deaf ears.

http://www.basketballcoachesclub.blogspot.com/