Before I get started with this article, I have to tell you that I owe full credit to Derek Halpern of Social Triggers for the psychology behind these methods. I have simply adapted his psychology of selling to be applicable to a coach who needs to “sell” his team on the program that he wants them to follow. In some ways I feel like the coach has a much more difficult role because he cannot ever just talk a big game and then get paid and let the results lie in the hands of the athletes. In today’s cut-throat coaching world, if coaches don’t get results, they are out. Period.
The reason I put this whole thing together is so that coaches would have a guideline for the steps to get maximum buy in of their team when installing their offense. It doesn’t matter what offense you run, there are positives and negatives to everything, but what you need to know is that there are three types of athletes you are trying to reach. Some you can reach and some you shouldn’t waste your time trying. But if you can reach the majority of the athletes and lead them to be great followers and believe in what you are teaching then you will have much greater success and you might even pull in a few of those who seemed unreachable.
How can all this be proven? The negative is definitely true and we see it often in teams that lose belief in their coaching staffs and the results are abysmal. So also do we see teams that have incredible success because they believe so strongly in their coach and what they are doing. That’s how coaches turn around programs by getting great buy in. Every time a great coach goes into a program that is struggling, they turn it around by getting buy-in.
So how does this happen? It’s not by magic. There is a process and if you follow the process you can achieve the same buy in that other coaches achieve. There is a psychological process that can be applied. You have to be genuine in the way you do it, but the steps cannot be skipped and you cannot jump into making excuses like “kids these days just are the way they use to be when I was a player.” That flat out isn’t true and we all know it it. It is just that we don’t understand why we can’t get players motivated but others can and so we end up getting frustrated and blaming everybody else but ourselves!
Ever been in a conversation where a coach says something like that? I probably am in one at least every week and I never bring it up. It’s so easy to say that if they aren’t getting the obvious truth I’m telling them there’s nothing else I can do – they just will never get it and are total losses – let’s move on to the next bunch and then the cycle just starts all over again.
We do this with our own kids too. Who of you is going to be honest and say that you were really the pain in the butt for your parents! But now you have it all figured out? Think back to when you were young – I know you thought you had it all figured out then also right! That’s how I felt. Those that are successful never make excuses for not having motivated teams. They bear it on themselves to make it happen one way or another.
The first step is to recognize that there are three types of athletes on your team. The first type I call the “followers”. These are the easiest players to coach because they always buy-in to everything you are saying. They are great kids and they make you wish everyone was like them. They will go far in life you are certain because they “get it”. They are focused and they always do the right thing. Does that make them great leaders? Not necessarily, because they don’t always have influence. What that have is the ability to stand up for themselves and do what they believe is right regardless of outside influence. Now if you get one of these kids who can do that AND has great influence you have a diamond in the rough! They will be motivators for you. I can count on one hand in my 16 years of coaching multiple sports the number of kids who were like that. Mostly the followers are the ones who either are talented or really want to help contribute but aren’t so talented. Those that are talented have usually been the “quiet leader” type. In some cases they are the ones who get “teased” because they are too good! I have had others that are really desiring to be in a leadership role to show that they “get it.” These athletes struggle also with influence because they don’t have the talent to back up anything they say.
The main thing you need to know about followers is that they will do whatever they are told and give you total support. No matter what you say. In fact, they will probably be still a supporter after you leave or are even fired! They are your fans for life.
The second group of players are what I call "The Non Followers."
These are the players who will NEVER believe in what you are doing. You could be the “best football coach in the world, and there's nothing you can do to convince them to commit to your way of doing things. Maybe they don't have the talent or athleticism. Maybe they're just not interested in your offense. Or maybe they're just a complainer. Whatever the case, they ain't buying. I see these guys always in the back of the line talking when I’m teaching. They could care less. It really sucks when they are talented. Most coaches call these guys “Cancer”. Now cancer is a horrible disease that spreads and destroys the body. Can these guys destroy you team. It’s possible. But they have one weakness and one strength only. That is their influence. If they have numbers, you can kiss your season goodbye. If not, you will be fine and may even get them on board and contributing positively.
The third group of athletes is much, much larger. I call them the Sideliners. The sideliners have one thing in common, they are on the fence about whether or not they will buy-in and become a follower or not. Usually, if you have not convinced them in a few weeks of the season starting, you will probably lose them for the rest of the season. That can be a huge loss if that happens. These are the ones you need to spend you time on because when you have buy-in, you have strength in numbers. The one thing you can’t do with the Sideliners is try to convince them by berating them or being pushy or manipulative. They are liable to become even less convinced and will drop down into the Non Followers category and never come out.
I see a ton of coaches causing this to happen. How?
Picture this:
Evan is a Defensive Back who pretty athletic and a total sideliner. He’s good friends with a group of your non followers but he loves football and sees that he’s got a great chance to play and do well. He dreams of making big plays and being the star of the team.
Evan’s coach sees that he has some talent but that he can be influenced by the crowd and not give total effort. One day Evan’s coach loses it and goes off on Evan telling him that he better get it together and give better effort. Because of this incident, Even gets offended and wonders why his coach is picking on him. He doesn’t like being forced to change and decides that maybe his friends are right and the coach doesn’t really know what he’s talking about. If he did he wouldn’t be so mean about it. So Evan loses faith in the coach and becomes a non-follower. He coach just missed a great opportunity to make him into a follower and instead turned him away.
Now, as long as you understand the "psychology" behind why players are sitting on the sidelines, any "tactic" you use to push them from the sidelines into the "Followers" category can work.
Now I plan to show you more on "how" to do this later on in this article, but first, I want to help you better understand who these "Sideliners" are. In my experience, there are four types of people who sit on the sidelines. And they are:
- The Indifferent
- The Skeptic
- The Worrier
- The Procrastinator
Who are they? And what makes them different?
The Indifferent's biggest barrier to buying in to your offense is the fact that they're thinking: "Does this really matter to me? Do I need it?" They may feel like they will be as good as they are no matter what you say. Sometimes it's true. Sometimes it isn't. I find myself saying, “If I could only get Johnny Indifferent to believe that by doing things my way he will be better!” But little Johnny just doesn’t see it.
The Skeptic's biggest barrier to buying in is the fact they're thinking: "Who are you and why should I trust you?" It's not that they're cynical, or paranoid, or anything like that. Often times, these people are just not sure if you're someone they can trust… or someone who's trying to dupe them. These kids love to question your play calls and decisions on a regular basis. Why don’t we try this coach? We should have done that… is their most common phrase.
The Worrier's biggest barrier to buying in is themselves. Whereas the Skeptic questions you, the Worrier questions themselves. You see, when you're presenting something, players have internal fears about "being the type of player" who can benefit from it. As an example, someone might see a great play being made, but they might be thinking, "am I the type of athlete who can pull this off?" Then they think, no way I can do that – if I did I’d definitely fail and then everybody would see it.
The procrastinator's biggest barrier to buying in is, as you might have guessed, procrastination. This is something all human beings wrestle with, and it's largely because we're resistant to change. And while they may want what you're showing them, doing something new or different is a struggle and may hurt, and they'll delay experiencing that pain as long as possible.
Now, if you want your offense to do well, you have one main goal:
1. Make the Indifferent care
2. Make the Skeptic trust
3. Make the Worrier stop worrying
4. Make the Procrastinator act now
And if you pull it off it off, that's the difference between running an offense that scores a few points…
…and running an offense that scores points EVERY time you get possession of the ball.
I see the proof day in and day out and I'm in the process of teaching coaches to do it right now.
However, I want you to think about each of these sideliners.
Who do you encounter the most?
What types of things do they say?
What has your experience been with these people so far?
Part 2: The Solution
As I showed you earlier, there are three types of players who will make up your team: the followers, the non followers, and the sideliners. And the entire point of your offensive installation is to convince those "sideliners" to become followers.
Now here's the problem:
Coaches know they need to give great installation material, but they often DON'T know what exactly to present. In many cases, they think: "Well, valuable instruction builds trust! I'll just give great detailed instruction!"
Well…
That could be a recipe for disaster.
Remember, you need to make "the indifferent care," "the skeptic trust," "the worrier believe," and "the procrastinator act now."
And if you don't, they won't buy-in.
That's why, yes, you need to give them detailed instruction, but you must ensure your instruction is communicating the right messages.
But first, let's dive deeper into the psychology of these sideliners so you can begin to understand how you can entice them to buy into your offense and teaching…
#1 How to Make The Indifferent Care
The Indifferent's biggest barrier is that they don't care about what you're teaching. That doesn't mean they aren't a fit, it just means you need to show them why they should care.
For example:
One year I coached with a team that all they ever talked about was how disciplined their ball security was because they never lost the ball and always carried it the best way possible.
Newsflash: no one wakes up thinking, "I sure wish my ball security is the best in the league.
Teams that win games don't turn over the ball. They maintain possession always. They don't take unnecessary risks with the ball.
So, they started saying this:
"Defensive coaches are looking for any way to get the ball back because they know that if they can get two or more turnovers, the chance of them winning the game is increased. And it turns out that a lot of teams are careless with ball security. We eliminate all sloppiness from our ball security."
Once they aligned their needed outcome with a problem their players actually care about – winning games by making the most of keeping possession of the ball – their points went up.
And that's what you have to do when you're dealing with The Indifferent. You need to figure out what they really care about and then show them how it will affect the outcome of the game.
Let's move on to the next Sideliner: The Skeptic.
#2 How to Make The Skeptic Trust You
The Skeptic's biggest barrier is that they don't trust you. They may even go so far as to think you're a fake and nothing you say is worth doing – they know better.
Like with The Indifferent, sometimes we blame The Skeptics for their attitude and get defensive. You might be tempted to say, "No, you're wrong! I'll prove it to you!"
This will scare them away. It will put them on the defensive, and make them think you've got something to hide.
And that's why you should welcome skepticism openly.
Even if you readily say, "I can relate. I used to think… But now I have a new way of looking at things. And here's why…"
Do you see how that calmly switches their skepticism into a story about why they should try your way?
The trick?
You meet the skeptic where they are, whether you tell a story about yourself or one of your past clients, and gently take them towards your desired end result…the new way.
I’ve tried this many times and know that it works. The QB who want’s to keep throwing it wrong get’s my story on how I used to coach it that way until I had something bad happen and I learned my lesson and tried a different way and actually liked the new way better.
Now let's talk about the third Sideliner: The Worrier.
#3 How to Make the Worrier Believe In Themselves
The Worrier's biggest barrier is themselves. They can't stop WORRYING. They always think, "I'm not the type of person who can pull this off. What if I try and then I fail? Will I feel stupid later if I try this?"
The bottom line is: Worriers don't think they're the kind of person who can change, learn, or benefit from your program and teaching. And that's what keeps them from trying.
Now, most people think that the best way to deal with The Worrier is to tell them not to worry.
How do you think that plays out?
Instead of getting The Worrier to stop worrying, it pushes them away.
For example: A talented but inexperienced kid is worried about playing in front of the whole team and fans on game day – He doesn’t want to be put in but you need him and his abilities.
So what should you do?
Well, you SHOULDN'T say, "Oh, don't worry about it! You’ll do great.”
Instead, you can remind the team that we have lots of new and upcoming athletes this year and we all need to know that it is a growing process. We need to make sure when someone makes a mistake – especially early on, that we go out of our way to say something positive to them and remind them of their talents. We will commit as a team to never blaming each other because we are a family and that’s what great families do – they’ve got each other’s back. You can also remind the play that you never judge on one single performance and no matter what you see talent in them that you need to get on the field.
But the point is that you MUST anticipate and address the worry before your players even think of it.
Now, let's talk about the final Sideliner: The Procrastinator
#4 How to Make the Procrastinator Stop Procrastinating
The Procrastinator's biggest barrier is procrastination.
Unlike The Indifferent, these Sideliners already want what you're promising. Unlike The Skeptics, they already trust you. And unlike The Worriers, they believe that they can benefit from what you're teaching…
…But there's still something holding them back.
They think, "Do I really need to do this now? Can I wait and see if I really need to do it?"
For whatever reason, they don't see why the work has to happen right now, so they put it off at practice.
How can you get The Procrastinator to act now?
Well, a lot of people go about this the wrong way. They use cruel and temporary external motivational tactics and say things like, "Do it now or you have more sprints after practice!" when, in reality, no one likes to feel pressured or manipulated.
The good news is that you can get Procrastinators to act now without being manipulative. How? You need to show them how acting now is in their benefit.
My brother, a police officer, shared with me once how he was trained to get compliance with people when they didn’t want to do something. He said that he would give them an exact description of what was going to happen and just how painful it would be if they didn’t make the right choice. The more descripting you were, the better. By the time you finished telling them how much pain they would be going through, they were much more inclined to make the better choice. I think coaches could do this on occasion with players who are at a crossroads, but I also think it’s a bit negative to use as a way to try to get players to buy in.
Rather, I prefer positive. Here is where I really get excited in sharing with players just how awesome it will be when they do a technique right. I talk about how exciting it will feel when they pancake a defender. Or when the defense doesn’t see what’s about to happen to them and we will for sure score a TD on a wicked double move! I say stuff like…”when you move your eyes to the safety and stare down this receiver, he’s going to bite so hard and your receiver will be so open!”
Getting kids excited and visualizing the play in a positive is on of my favorite things to do as a coach.
The point is that you can get Procrastinators to act now by giving them an incentive to act.
That incentive could be a very detailed description of what it will be like when they accomplish something the way you would like them to.
That incentive could also be something like ending practices earlier to give them some more free time. Or maybe a really fun team-building activity or challenge that they all really like. Or something as simple as popsicles on a hot day.
And that's how you talk to each of these sideliners.
The next big burning question is this:
How can you put all of this into installing your offensive system?
I’ll show you how and exactly what to say.
Having a huge playbook isn't the answer. And installing every play without making sure your team understand and buys in will get you nowhere.
Here's how your installation should look…
Day 1:
Offensive Identity – Describe who we are and why. Why we run the Pro Style Spread Offense? Address all four sideliners.
Offensive Positions and Descriptions – What we are looking for in athletic qualities and other talents. Where do our stars go? Where can everybody find a role?
Basics of Offense – Huddle and Snap Count
Core Formation – Pistol I, Pistol Twins
Core Run – 24/25 Power
Day 2:
Offensive Strategy – The Play Pass and how we make it look just like a run with the three play drill. Why putting defenders in a bind works to help our offense.
Core Formation – Pistol I, Twins
Core Pass – 24/25 Boot, 24/25 Waggle
Review Core Run
Day 3:
Offensive Strategy – Ball Security wins games.
Ball security happens when every player uses the correct fundamentals.
Red Zone Goal Line Goals
As you can see, it should be a combined process of play installation along with addressing the how and why behind everything you are doing as it pertains to the different sideliners. Once the basics of the offense are in, then you can add wrinkles to game plan. But if you put too much in too fast, your players will forget it all and then you have wasted days of practice because you have to re-teach everything.
You will need to remind them of a lot as it is anyway. And while you are installing, it's not just running the play, it's how it is run. Did they huddle right, did they follow the cadence correct, did they ID the right defender to block, make the right calls and all of this with the proper technique? Are the alignments and angles correct? See how much needs to be coached up? This is the kind of teaching every detail that makes great offensive coordinators successful.
This is why you need to keep selling your team on the why everything is important as well as putting their individual concerns to rest.
This entire process should be designed to make your "Sideliners" say "YES" to your plays and practices.
Now, you can deliver this process however you feel most comfortable. The point is, this is what an offensive installation should look like.
Here’s where it get’s really good now because I’m going to give you the exact things I say to the team or coach to address every sideliner:
Problem: Why Run the Pro Style Spread Offense?
Needed Outcome: To see this offense as a great fit for our personal and team needs.
Audience: Players and Coaches
The Indifferent: (aligned needed outcome with a problem they actually care about)
Great showcase of talent for recruiters to see.
Scores points. Wins games. Top teams are great examples of this – Ohio State, etc.
Fun to run. Trick plays are utilized. Can go spread up-tempo no huddle.
Personnel groupings allow opportunity for more players to contribute.
The Skeptic: (meet them where they are with a story)
My story – trying many offenses – Spread offense was limited, base “I” Formation too predictable and boring, NFL coach I learned from, combining best of two winning programs, recent successes with varying talent of teams. We get the most out of our talent. Most injury proof – able to teach simply and get more players going both ways if needed. I was skeptical at first that it would be this simple, but the offense has grown on me to become my passion.
The Worrier: (anticipate and address the concerns they may have)
Coach/Player worried he cannot teach/play in a new system. Reminded that we are all going to start with some new things we aren’t comfortable and it’s ok to not have an answer for everything. We will figure it out. We are in this together. No one has all the answers, but we will outwork everyone and stick together.
Drills are simple to teach and learn.
Offense is simple to call – we won’t be running a ton of plays. We run what we are confident in.
We can adjust the offense as we need to fit talent.
The Procrastinator: (give them an incentive to act)
We need to build the program from the ground up as well as be effective as soon as possible. The core offense allows this.
We aren’t guaranteed any level of talent year in and year out – so we have to be able to develop players who are athletic even if they are new to the program.
Picture us as a team entering the playoffs with a complete offensive identity and knowing the absolute best ways we can set up our offense to score. Imagine all coaches/players seeing the same weaknesses on the field in our opponents and knowing exactly how to attack them. Watch our players go out and execute to perfection plays that we have been consistently working on all year with great focus.
Now you do it. To get a free template for you to figure out exactly what you should say to your team. Click on the picture below and after you share it with a friend, I'll give you a free .pdf worksheet you can copy and use as a guide.
You homework is to comment below on what what your biggest motivation problem is with your team. What kind of buy in do you need to get? Please share – there's strength in numbers!
