Perception of Winning Forever - Pete Carroll

8/2/2019 Perception of Winning Forever - Pete Carroll

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. . _ M _ W i _ p _ e _ t e _ - ' _ c _ a r _ r _ o l _ I _ _ JP E R C E P T I O N O F W IN N I N G F O R E V E R

University of Southern California

I am exc ited to be here tonight I am go ing to sharesome things with you tonight about our footballprogram . W e have had a nice run at Southern Cal,and I fee l like there is m ore to com e . I fee l ex trem e lylucky to be a part of it. This is an excellentoppo rtun ity fo r m e because o f the m ake -up o f theschoo l and confe rence we play in . 1 am coach ing inCalifornia, and I am a California guy. It just cannot getm uch be tte r than tha t.

I do not do many clinic talks. Our positioncoaches and coord inators do m ost of the c liniclectures for us. Everything we do in our footballprogram is specific and m ay not fit what you do.When lspeak ,1 try to speak on th ings tha t eve ryonecan use . I w an t to ta lk abou t som e th ings tha tpe rta in to do ing th ings w e ll and find ing success .

I w an t to he lp you to find a w ay to put yours tam p on your foo tba ll te am . I th in k tha t eve ryonehere today w an ts to w in . E veryone can w in eve rynow and then . Eve ryone is capab le o f hav ing a goodgam e , bu t can you have a good gam e w eek in andw eek out? Can your prog ram w in yea r in and yea rou t? Can you have a w inn ing prog ram ove r a longpe riod? Tha t is the b igges t cha llenge fo r a ll o f uscoaches . Eve ryone in he re w an ts to have a dom inan tprog ram tha t is a t the top eve ry yea r. I a m the sam eway

Our w ho le approach is to have a prog ram tha tw in s fo reve r. How m any o f you have a ph ilosophy?How m any peop le in the room can s tand up and te llm e w ha t your ph ilo sophy is in 25 w ords o r less .W hen I asked the firs t ques tion abou t 25 o r 30coaches he ld the ir hands up . W hen I asked howm any could te ll m e tha t ph ilo sophy in 25 w o rds o rle ss , five coaches he ld the ir hand up . F ive ou t o f 500isno tave rygoodpercen tage .

For you to be good yea r in and yea r out, you haveto know w ha t is im po rtan t. You have to know whoyou a re as a coach . You m us t have a ph ilosophy andbe ab le to teach it to your s ta ff and p la ye rs . If youdono tknow,wheredoyougo f romthere? lspeak toco rpo ra tions and Ja rge com pan ies and ask them thesam e ques tions I jus t asked . The response is ve rys im ila r to w ha t happen here . There a re execu tivesm ak ing m illio ns o f do lla rs and in cha rge o fcom pan ies tha t m ake b illion s w ho canno t g ive youth eir p hilo so ph y.

If you do no t know w ha t you s tand fo r, the re isno w ay the peop le w ho w o rk fo r you o r your p la ye rscan re flec t w ha t type o f coach you are . You canno tho ld anyone accoun tab le fo r th ings tha t go onw ith in your p rog ram . It m y coaches o r p la ye rssc rew up, it ism y fau lt.

Severa l yea rsago ,lw as fired by New Eng land . Ihada lo to f t im e on m y hands , so I spen t it try ing tobe tte r m yse lf. I read a lo t, and one book s truckhom e. I read John W ooden 's book . He coached 16years a t UCLA be fo re he w on h is firs t na tiona lcham p ionsh ip . H e had m any success fu l seasons ,bu t he d id no t w in the b ig gam e fo r 16 yea rs . A fte r hew on the firs t na tiona l t it le , he w on 11 in a row . Ittook h im 16 years to figu re out w ha t it took to w in ita ll. W hen he presen ted it to h is p rog ram , the tra itstha t rep resen ted w ho he w as as a coach ,hew on l1titles in a row . Once he figu red it ou t, it d id no tm a tte r w ho the p la ye rs w ere . He had grea t p la ye rs ,but he pu t the prog ram toge the r. H is p la ye rsexh ib ited a ll th e g rea t th ings he s tood fo r.

I h ad been coach ing fo r a long tim e . I conc luded ifI w an ted to spend m y next 16 yea rs in one job , I had toge t m y ac t toqe the r. I h ad to know how I fe lt abou teve ry th ing . Eve ry s ing le ques tion tha t cou ld com e up


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bou t m ee ting s , counse ling , tea ch ing , ta c tica l p lan s , know , bu t you con tinue to sea rch fo r w ha t fe e ls r igh ts tra te g y , trave l p la n s , o r ea tin g on the road , I m us t fo r you. C on tinu ing to w o rk on tho se fee lin gs isknow how I fe lt. Y ou have to comm it and w rite dow n critica l to fin d in g ou t w ho you a re a s a coachow you fee l on eve ry is sue in foo tba ll

If you do no t, you a re w a iting to hand le the is suehen it h appens . Tha t is no t com pe tin g . Tha t isa iting tosee w ha t happens . Coaches w ho dono t

know w ho the y a re and do no t have a ph ilo sophyw in som e gam es . H ow eve r, the y do no t know w hyth ey lo se .

Youcan fig u re ito u t.lt isn o tth a th a rd . Y ou haveto w o rk you r w ay th rough eve ry th in g you can th inko f. If you can com e up w ith th e ques tio ns , th eansw ers a re no t tha t h a rd . You m us t figu re out w hoyouareasacoach. lamnot ta lk ing jus tabout theheadcoach . l am ta lk i ng toeve r yone .Whenyouhaveyour pos itio n g roup , you m us t have your ow nph ilosophy w ith in th a t g roup .

If you know w ho you a re , peop le can recogn izeth a t and "fe e l you ." They can unde rs tand tha t you'ha ve you r a c t toge the r." Y ou r p la ye rs w ill fo llowyou and w an t to hea r w ha t you say nex t b ecausethe y do no t have the ir a c t to ge the r. P laye rs andcoaches a round you need le ade rsh ip .

Y ou r ass is tan t coaches have to le ad becausethey have the m os t in te ra c tio n w ith you r p laye rs . Ifyou w a lk out o f th is m ee ting and s ta rt ask in gyourse lf som e o f the se ques tio ns , you w ill f ind outa ll k in d s o f th ing s about yourse lf. If you do havesuccess , the bes t w ay to con tinue to be succe ss fu lis to fin d ou t w ha t you d id in the firs t p lace . Tha tway ,youcanrecreatewhat i t t akes toget there

I a sked Coach W ooden how m uch he changed h isph ilo sophy from one yea r to the nex t. He to ld m eyou do no t change you r ph ilosophy ; th e p laye rschange each yea r. Tha t is w ha t changes the w ayyo u d o th ing s

You a re w ho you a re . You canno t coach likesom eone e lse . If you coach one w ay bu t hand le andansw er issues ano the r w ay , th e p la ye rs see rig h tth rough tha t. It is h a rd to fig ure out th a t d ilem ma. Youneed to copy som eone you love . C opy the coachesw ho a ffec ted you the m os t. Y ou a re fak ing w ha t you

Success is no t about w in n in g gam e . Youcanno t con tro l a ll o f tha t, a nd it jus tdoes no t happen . If you can p lay and coach to you rab ility , th en in m y m ind you a re w inne rs . Tha t m eansw e w ill w in fo reve r be cause w e a re coach in g to thebes t o f ou r ab ility

Idono tw an tyouto m isunde rs tand m e . I w an tto w in eve ry gam e fo r the re s t o f m y life . The re is noone m o re com pe titive th an I am . Bu t tha t doe s no tput an y p ressu re on m e o r add s tre ss to m y life . Youas a coach have to use eve ry th ing a t you r d ispo sa lso th a t you can gene ra te an in te re s t in you r p la ye rsth a t w ill m ake them as good as they can be .Tha t ishuge ; it is aw in fo re ve rybody -th e coaches , thep laye rs , the dads , th e fr iend s , and a ll th ose th ing s .You try to be as qood as you can poss ib ly be .

Now tha t you know w ha t I am ta lk in g abou t, Iw an t to g ive you som e exam ple s . I am go in g to showyou w ha t our fo rm u la is and the founda tio n in ou rp rog ram . Th is is no t w ha t you r prog ram shou ld be .Th is is ou rs , bu t if you like th e ideas , th a t is good .Th is is supposed to s ta rt you r m ind w o rk ing so youcan fig ure out you r ow n ph ilosophy . Th is w ill k eepyou w ork in g un til th e lig h t com es on

W hen I coa ched a t New Eng land , m y firs t gam eas a head coach w as on the road a t Buffa lo . A fte rthegame, lwa lkedout to thes tad iumjus tbe forewegotonthebus . lsawal l t he i rd iv is ionchampionsh ipson the boa rd . Th is w as the pe rio d o f tim e w hen MarvLevy had h is g rea t run o f w ins in th a t s ix -yea r span .They neve r w on the Supe r Bow l, b ut the y w on thed iv is io n cham pion sh ip s ix yea rs in a row

I th o ug h t if you can w in a ll th ose seasons inarow , th a t pro ve s w ha t k in d o f coach you a re . Youp ro ved you know w ha t you a re do ing . You p ro ved youcan gene ra te a w inn ing p rog ram . I sa id to m yse lftha t w as w ha t I w an ted to do . Tha t bu ild s atrad itio n w ith in a p rog ram

The base o f the s truc ture is w ha t w e ca ll o urph ilosophy . Our ph ilo sophy is bu ilt o n the num be r o f


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Tha tgoes fo rouropponen ts ,coaches ,o f f i c ia ls ,andeve ryone you m ee t w ith in ou r p rog ram .

' 1 b u have to fif ish the ta sk .. 'W e ta lk ab ou t tha tobsess ive ly . In se ven ye a rs , w e ha ve no t lo s t a gam e inthe m on th o f N ovem be r. T ha t is fin is h ing the season . Itdoe s no t ha ppen by a cc id en t. In p rac tice , w e pushthem to fin is h eve ry p la y , b litz , s p r in t, and d rill. W ew an t to succeed in e ffo r t f irs t. I tra in m y coa che s tosee e ffo rt firs t and then ta lk ab ou t as s ignm en ts .P la y ing w ith g rea t e ffo r t is pa rt o f o u r s ty le .

Ph ilo so phy is a co lle c tio n o f b e lie fs . Th e ce n tra lth em e to our p rog ram is com pe tit io n . W e ha ve ap rob lem o f h ow w e a re g o ing to ge t tha t m e ssageac ros s to ou r p la ye rs . It is e asy fo rm e because I a mso h ig h ly com pe tit ive . W e ha ve som e prin c ip le sabou t com pe tit io n . If yo u w a tch ou r p la ye rs a t thecom b in es an d in th e Sen io r Bow l, they se nd them essa ge tha t th ey a re com pe tito rs . If ou r p la ye rslea ve ou r p rog ram as a g re a t com pe tito r , I h ave d onea good job w ith them . If th ey a re an e lde r s ta te sm eno r a p illa r in the ir com mun ity , I c anno t ta ke c red it fo rtha t. H ow eve r, I can te ach them how to be a g rea tcom pe tito r b y g rea tly em pha s iz ing it.

O u r s ta ff w an ts to ge t th e com pe tit ive e dge ine ve ry th in g w e do . Th is m essa ge and cen tra l th em eruns th ro ugh e ve ryo ne o f ou r p rac tice s . In o urp rac tic e , som ebody is go ing to w in and som eone isgo ing to lo se . In 1 5 m inu te s o f our p rac tice , som eoneis go ing to g e t e igh t w in s a nd som ebody is g o ing toge t seven lo ses . W ith the sco re 7+7 in o ur p rac tic e ,the la s t d r ill is a trem endous ly com pe titive even t.W e have to ca ll t im e -ou t to ho ld th e co ach es ba ck

be l ie fswehave .A l l the focuso f th ings tha tyou th inka re im po rta n t in foo tba ll a nd co ach ing le ads tosuccess o r fa ilu re . If I w e re w ritin g dow n th e keys too ur succe ss , I w ou ld w rite o ne line . Th e lin e w ou ld be :~Wearego ing todo th ingsbe t te r than theyhaveeverb een done be fo re ." Tha t on e lin e w ill b e th e bas is fo ro ur e n tire p ro g ram . W e a re go ing to teach , coach ,coun se l, re c ru it, an a lyze , an d do eve ry th in g b e tte rthan it has eve r b een done be fo re . W e a re go in g toworkon fundamenta lsandprac t iceharde r than i thase ve r be en done be fo re . Tha t is the m en ta lity youm us t have to bu ild lo ng -la s ting success .

T he nex t on e line r is : W e no t on ly w an t to bethe bes t a t som e th in g , w e w an t to b e the on ly on edo ing it." W e w an t som e th ing tha t sepa ra te s usfrom a ll th e res t. W e w an t o ur ow n s ty le . I hope tha tpe op le th a t w a tch us p la y w a lk aw ay say in g w ep la yed w ith g rea t e ffo rt an d en th us ia sm , a nd w ep layedsmar t .Thoseare th reepr inc ip leso fours ty le .T ha t is w ha t w e w an t peop le to se e in our p rog ram . Ih am mer tho se pr in c ip le s in to o ur foo tb a ll te am .

O ur ph ilo sophy is a ll a bo u t the foo tba ll. If youp la y o ffe nse in th is p rog ram , you take ca re o f thefoo tba ll a nd gua rd it w ith yo ur life . I do no t ca rew ha t po s itio n yo u p la y o r coa ch , you w ill d oeve ry th ing you can to ta ke ca re o f th is foo tba llfo re ve r. W e m ay k ic k it to the o the rte am , bu t o the rth an tha t, w e a re go ing togua rd it w itho ur live s .

O n de fe nse , e ve ry ca ll, e ve ry b litz , e ve ryco ve rag e , and eve ry aspec t ha s o ne ide a , an d tha t istoge t the ba ll ba ck . Ge t the ba tl,and g ive it ba ck toth e o ffe nse . T ha t is the USC ph ilo so phy o f foo tba ll.

Th e m os t c rit ic a l va r iab le in w inn ing and lo s ing a b ecause it h as go tten so com pe tit ive .foo tba ll g am e is a lw ays abou t tu rn ove rs . W e bea t If yo u w en t to a b aske tba ll co urt w ith se venIllin o is in the Ro se Bow l b ecause o f the tu rno ve rs . o th e r g uys and sho t a round fo r an hour and the nA fte r seven yea rs a t USC , w e a re p lus 100 in the le ft, th e re w ou ld be no ene rgy spen t in the gym .tu rn ove r m a rg in . W e have ne ve r h ad a nega tive ye a r H ow eve r, if y ou d iv id ed up in to fo ur m an team s andin the tu rno ve r m a rg in . I a m proud o f th a t fa c t.I b e t p la yed som e gam e , th e a tm osphe re cha nge syou ca nno t fin d a team a fte r se ven ye a rs th a t ha s a g rea tly . You have guys th row ing e lbow , w o rk in gh igh e r tu rnove r m a rg in . h a rd , an d guys p la y ing the ir a sses o ff. Tha t is the

Those a re som e o f the b lo ck s in the founda tion com pe tit ivene ss you loo k fo r in spo rts . You ha veo f our p rog ram . Ano the r b ig pa rt o f ou r p rin c ip le s is som e p la ye rs w ho com pe te ha rd e r tha n o the rs .re spec t. Y ou shou ld re spec t e ve ryo ne . You shou ld W e w an t com pe tit io n in our d r ills . In a 7-o n -7ne ve r ques tion w he the r to re spe c t som eone o r n o t. d rill, w e ge t to see our p la ye rs com pe te . W e le t ou r

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ave rs p laya 7-on -7 gam e. W e le t th e o ffen se d rivehe ba ll d ow n the fie ld ina ske le ton d rill. Y ou ge t toee a ll th e s itua tio n s a qua rte rba ck and re ce ive ra ve to th in k abou t. Y ou ge t to see you r linebacke rsnd de fen s ive backs b rea k in g on the ba ll to keep theffe nse from m oving th e s tic ks . The th in k ingro ce ss beqns to take ho ld w ith th e p laye rs

In p rac tice , e ve ry d rill w e do has som e th ing a tta ke . Som eone has to w in , a nd som eone has too se . Som e days you ge t you r bu tt k icked , and som eays you do no t. W e fee l a bou t it th a t w ay .

W e have been b lessed in ou r prog ram . W e le tu r re cru its know they w ill b e g iven a g rea tppo rtun ity to fin d th e ir p la ce on ou r team . The firs ta y the y show up on the pra c tice fie ld , w e w ill g ivehem the oppo rtun ity to see w he re th e y fit andha t the y can do . W e w ill pu t them in w ith the firs tro up . W e w ill le a ve them in th e re a s m uch as w ean un til th e y show us w he the r th ey a re ready tola y a t th is le ve l a rno t. I w an t them to p repa re fo rha t firs t d a y . I w an t th em to lift,g e t in shape , andave the co rre c t m ind se t. W e te ll th em the y w ille t th e oppo rtun ity to s ta rt. It h as happenede fo re , and w e hope it happens aga in .

You have to th in k abou t th e sophom ore com ingack fo r h is second season . He know s w ha t w en tn th e yea r be fo re , and he w ill com e in to th a t firs tra c tice ready to p lay . Tha t is a m essage abou t

J f hecom es ready and p repa red ,he ge tsis chance . A t USC , w e a re so fo rtuna te to haveuch com pe titio n on the p ra c tice fie ld tha t theam es seem easy

W e te ll o ur o ffe n s ive p laye rs th e y w ill no t fa ceno the r de fe n se du ring th e season tha t is be tte rh an ou rs . If the y can m ove the ba ll o n ou r de fen se ,hey can m ove ito n anyone .

P rac tice is w he re you m ake yourse lf w ho youre a s a foo tba ll te am . You m us t pra c tice w e ll.rac tice is w he re it a ll happens . You have to be goodn the p rac tice and cash in on eve ry s ing leppo rtun ity th a t you ge t. W hen the p laye r com eso p ra c tice , h ehas to be ready to go . You have to ge tour p la ye rs , coa ches , and team ready to goon the

p ra c tice fie ld . If th e p la ye r does no t che rish th a tfa c t, h e w ill n o t ge t th e jo b done fo r us

I canno t w a it to ge t to pra c tice . I know th is iss tick in g m y neck out, b u t I am w illing to sa y w epra c tice be tte r than anyone e lse in fo o tb a ll. W epra c tice fa s te r, m o re d is c ip lined , and m oreo rgan ized than any o the r te am I have seen . O urp ra c tices a rea show . The coaches a re go in g c ra zy ,a nd the p la ye rs a re w o rk ing so ha rd . W e love tole a ve ou r p ra c tice s open so peop le can see w ha tgoeson. lwant themto fee lproud.

The en thus iasm you have a t pra c tice s ta rts w ithth e head coach and runs th rough the ass is ta n tcoaches . I d em and the ass is tan t coa ches show tha tfire and en thus iasm , w h ich sp reads th rough ourteam. l f lamnotenthus ias t ic ,howdoyouexpec t thep laye rs to be en thus ia s tic? W e neve r coun t on ou rp laye rs to le ad the tem po o f p rac tice . W e neve rdepend on ou r p la ye rs to sa y th e rig h t th in g s to ge tus fire d up. You canno t depend ona 17-yea r-o ldk id tosay th e rig h t th in g to fire up you r te am . He does no tknow.Hemayhavehadaf igh tw i thh isg i r l f r iend,hada fla t tire , flun ked a tes t, o r w re cked h is m o the r'sca r. Youdono t know w ha t h is a ttitude is like .

Y ou can a lw ays coun t on your coaches . They a reth e ones to se t th e tem po fo r p ra c tice . They lo ve th egam e . They a re th e ones w hose t th e tem po , a re th ele ade rs on the fie ld ,a ndge t th e p laye rs to p ra c ticeha rd . If you r coa ches w o rk ha rd , the p la ye rs w illa lwayswor kha rd .Wehaveneve rhadabadp rac t i ce .W e have no t had abadp rac tice s in ce I h a ve been a tSou the rn Ca l. W e have had som e pra c tice s w he rew ew e re cha llenged ,butne ve ra bad one .

A t som e pra c tice s , w e do no t func tion righ t.Whenthathappens , lca l iha l f t imeandgeteveryoneo ff th e fie ld . W e ge t th e team toge the r and te llthem w e a re dow n 21 -7. W e te ll th em it is tim e toge t it to ge th e r. O ur coaches know w ha t to do . Theyge t in to th e ir g roups and ge t th em fire d up fo r th esecond ha lf o f p ra c tice . Tha t le ts you pra c tice be in gbeh ind inagame

You have to deve lop leade rsh ip on you r team .Thecoach is the leader ,andtha t ishowyouprac t ice

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wel l . If you need one of your players to be aleader,teach him what to say and what to do. Y ouhave tocoach those players up . It does not m atter w hetheryou are in hig h school, colleg e, or the p ros, bec ausethose players do not know how to be leaders.

P ractice is im portant because that is w here theplayers develop confidence. Practice is the placethat p layers get good at what they do. W hen thathappens, w e m ake sure they know about it. W e tellthem how good they have gotten and how greattheir technique is. W e tell them that w as exactlythe type of route w e wanted run. W e brag on themand pum p them up. W e want to prove to them andem pow er them so they g ain c onfid ence.

Once the player gains confidence, he gains afeeling of trust. H e trusts the players next to him ,the coaches, and the process, w hich has gottenw here he is. O nce the player feels confident and hetrusts the players around him , it is not as hard tofocus. That is w hat w e all need our players todo sothey can perform up to their capabilities. Theconcept of being focused relates to confidence andtrust.Atlthosethingshappeninpractice.Whenweget into the gam es, the players should not feel anydifferent than they felt in practice. O f course, thatall depends on w hether you practice right. I f youpractice at gam e speed every chance you get, yourp layers w ill be p rep ared for the g am es.

D o n ot think you do not have enough players todo that. W e have the sam e problem s, but w e canp rac tic e full sp eed in no p ad s. Y ouc an d o it if you justteach your players how to do it. look at the greatp lay ers in sp orts. T ak eM ic hael J ord an , fo r in stan ce.

W hy was he such a great p layer? He had g reatconfidence in his gam e. He trusted the peoplearound him Because of all the great experiencesb ehind him , w hic h m ad e him c onfid ent and trustful,he could focus. H e was talented and he knew w hohe was. How ever, w hen he played , his focus w asbetter than the other p layers because he did nothave anything to w orry about

Y ou cannot focus w hen you are distracted . Y ouworry whether you can do the job. I f a p layer islooking up in the crow d, he cannot p lay for us. H e isd istrac ted and cannot focus to do the things ittakes to get the job done. W hen your players canfocus, they c an p lay lik e t hey are cap able of p laying .T hat is w hen you know you are going to w in. That isw hen the great team s know they are going to w in. Iknow all you coaches have been on a great team andknow w hat it feh like.

I t is one of the great feelings in lile: to be on agreat team that know s when they take the fieldthey are going to w in. I f the quarterback hasconfidenceandtrustshisolfensiveline,hecanstayfocused , and w e w ill w in. W e m ay not get the scorew e w ant, but the perform ance of p laying up to theirabilities is w hat w e are after. W e are trying to getthe players to becom e everything they are capableof b ec om ing and w ill d oit forever.

I love that challeng e. I feel so blessed to be d oingit. 1 am in the m iddle of a great experience. W e w onthe PA C-l0 six years in a row . N o one has ever donethat. E ven w hen w e lose, it does not define w ho w eare because of the w ay w e believe. W e are w inners.T hank you very m uc h for your attention.

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Perception of Winning Forever - Pete Carroll