The Cross Over Movement Blog

The March 2008 Men’s Health features an interview with Mike Pressler, the former Duke University Lacrosse coach who lost his job amidst the rape allegations which tore apart the program, university and surrounding community in 2006. While I never followed the case closely and detest the he said-she said nature and gross generalizations which characterize most sensationalized cases, the article offers an interesting look at Pressler’s side, his reaction and his new life as a DII Head Coach. The article also features Pressler’s “7 Rules of Great Leadership:”

1. Build a strong foundation.
2. Define winning.
3. Create an environment of trust.
4. Tell the truth.
5. Be accountable.
6. Talk less, do more.
7. Live with honor.

Most of these are self-explanatory. In #1, I think many coaches struggle because they fail to set the proper expectations from the start. I see coaches who coach one way when things are going good and then after a couple losses, they want to change everything. A coach cannot be reactionary.

This goes along with #2. When everything is based on the scoreboard, it is easy to accept less than 100% effort provided the team wins the game. I was most happy with my team after a couple losses this season because we actually accomplished what we had focused on early in the season; unfortunately, we just had a bad shooting night against a more talented team.

If winning is the ultimate goal, results often distract from performance and the team is unprepared for tougher competition. If you build habits early in the season against weak competition, changing midway through the season to prepare for better competition is difficult. The expectations must be set first thing and the coach must hold the players accountable to these expectations, regardless of outcome, in order to build the habits that lead to the desired performance against better competition.

I also think many coaches struggle with #5. People in power are loathe to admit a mistake as they feel it erodes their power. I diagree. I think admitting a mistake empowers the individual and engenders a greater feeling of teamwork between the coach and players. If the coach refuses to accept responsibility for a mistake, players lose faith in the coach. For instance, I worked with a coach who had the team play a 2-3 zone against an outside shooting team. Our zone was primarily used to pack the inside and eliminate our height disadvantage. The opponent hit 16 3’s that night, but the coach never came out of the zone and never adjusted to their 4-out offense. Instead, he screamed at the players for a lack of effort for over an hour after the game. This did not motivate the players to work harder next time, but made the players defensive as they questioned the coach’s tactics and knowledge of the game.