They have always been the iconic role models that have shaped thousands of lives, from little league to the highest level of competition. They are dedicated and driven, mercurial and emotional, volunteers and mercenaries, teachers and mentors. They are coaches. Yet for all the time, effort and value they put in, these men and women usually never get the recognition or capitalize on their success as much as the athlete despite that consistent presence in front of the cameras and the mic.
Recently I was asked by a friend aboiut what we had learned from Vince Lombardi that few knew, when we were doing our play ten years ago. The thing I always like to mention is that one of Lombadi’s greatest prizes in his life was not an NFL award, it was an award he won at St. Cecilia’s High School in Engelwood, New Jersey for being Teacher of the Year. The best coaches, he always felt, were great teachers. I have always loved being around great coaches and listening to their styles and how they can motivate those around them to great heights. We were reminded of a great teacher again last week when Tom Thibodeau, a longtime friend now head coach of the Knicks, was honored as NBA Coach of the Year. I loved the reacyion’s of Boston College Women’s Lacrosse Coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein as she stood in silent awe after taking the Eagles to the first ever women’s NCAA title in ANY sport a few weeks ago, and I am intrigued when, not if, Becky Hammon or another key teacher will assume the throne as the first head coach in the NBA who happens to also be a woman. All great teachers and motivators in their own way.
Last year the presence, and the need for coaching, seemed to have really blossomed and it has continued. The NFL took us into their homes for the draft; The Daily Coach is a nice reflection every day pionered by Michael Lombardi and George Raveling, podcasts like the solid listen from a year ago, “Flying Coach,” with Steve Kerr and Pete Carroll have gotten us more inside the mindset and the prep work of two successful leaders; even author Michael Lewis has dedicated a year-long podcast project to learning and storytelling more around coaches from business to elite sports.
Sure, there are the superstars; Pat Summit, Coach K, Calipari, Lombardi, Parcells, Torre, Bryant, Wilkens, that have crossed over into the mainstream, as much as for their personality as for their on-field success. However, as a group, probably because the very nature of coaching is selflessness and the field is so transient, coaches have rarely united as a brand to drive revenue and interest in the profession.
However, that has changed in recent years, as large groups of coaches have been able to unite and become very effective in leveraging their experience and time in philanthropic endeavors. This week coaches also took an even more unified stance in the ongoing battle with racism, with the NBA Coaches Association being one of the first movers on creating a committee to look at racial justice reform. Other conversations from minority coaches openly discussing issues they have come across have also taken center stage, and as we move back to the field, court and ice, the role, and the need, for coaches may be more needed and prevalent than ever, as they can help guide a sense of normalcy back to athletes, and families of all ages and backgrounds. Whether it is coaching in tuxedos, wearing pins for Alzheimer’s or Autism awareness, getting teams to wear pink for Breast Cancer, not wearing shoes to generate interest for destitute children in Africa or raising money for cancer awareness by staging events and special tournaments, the coaching fraternity has found its niche as a brand, one that is consistent and powerful and can help guide even the novice to an area that is needed in crisis more than ever; consistent leadership.
One other element to note that has gotten lost in the battle over equality as well, and one that has really risen up again in the last few weeks. The meaning of taking a knee in coaching. All the attention brought to sport through that simple act is now considered by many an act of defiance; in reality anyone who has been around coaches who are looking to get attention know the value of “Take A Knee;” it has been, and still is, used as part of effective coaching to slow the process and pull focus to leadership; drop everything and stop…the incidents from Colin Kaepernick to what happened with George Floyd in Minnesota brought vastly different meanings to “Take a Knee,” so maybe now that phrase, used by coaches, can bring focus to cause of any type.
Is the mass fundraising and awareness effort by coaches just an extension of their usual selfless work, or can it lead to bigger branding opportunities on a commercial level. There are always the coaches and former coaches who break through in beer commercials, and other individuals who find their niche in other business campaigns, usually after they have retired.
But for a non-traditional brand that is looking to find the right core group of motivated, well-spoken and dedicated spokespeople, whether they are head coaches or the mass of assistants, the coaching fraternity is an undervalued asset, and one that as we return to play can be more valued than ever before.
It certainly has been on the cause marketing side, and the results there have been outstanding.
