YOU ARE A COACH. Whether you’re aware of it or not, you are a coach. How do I know? Because everyone is a coach. You may not wear a uniform and give signals from third base. You may not draft up plays and give post-game interviews. You may not even follow sports. But you are a coach.
Everyone is a coach.
And everyone needs coaching. There are people in your life who need you to coach them—to strive for better and to become more. And there are people in your life whom you need to coach you—to strive for better and to become more.
In fact, the best of the best—the Hall of Famers and Olympians and Legends—all have two things in common, no matter the sport or the era:
1. They all had great coaches.
2. They all loved to be coached.
Because behind every great athlete is a string of great coaches. They come into our lives at different times for different reasons. Sometimes, they come into your life to change your life or perspective completely. And sometimes they come into your life to teach you just one lesson, but maybe that one lesson is exactly what you needed to reach the next level.
Behind every hard-fought yard, you’ll find a coach demanding more. Behind every game-winning play, you’ll find a coach asking for better. Behind every grueling stride toward the finish line, you’ll find a coach pushing, sweating, encouraging. Behind every difficult life decision made—and made well—you’ll find a coach who knows what reaching your true potential looks like.
You are a coach. I am a coach. Everyone is a coach. And as coaches, it is our duty to draw the best out of the people we love, to help them become the-best-version-of-themselves.
Perhaps no one has expressed this sentiment better than Shannon Sharpe, one of the best Tight Ends in the history of the NFL. In the summer of 2009, Sharpe gave an emotional speech for his Hall of Fame induction. The speech was about 26 minutes long. He didn’t thank his agent. He didn’t thank his high school or college coaches. He didn’t even thank Denver Bronco’s head coach Mike Shanahan. Who did he thank? His grandma—the woman who raised him:
“My grandmother didn’t teach me how to throw a ball. She didn’t teach me how to catch a ball. She didn’t teach me technique, how to run fast. She didn’t teach me anything about sports. She taught me how to be a man.”
How to live, how to be, how to become—more, greater, better. This is at the heart of what it means to be a coach. No coach settles for a-second-rate-version of his players. The most effective coaches demand the best from their players, and they desire the best for their players.
An adequate coach teaches. A good coach leads. A great coach inspires. The best coaches love.
You are a coach. What kind of coach will you be?
From Coach: 365 Days of Inspiration for Coaches and Players
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