To be a better coach, you have got to be a better you.
Joe Ehrmann
One of the strongest lessons I took away from Every Moment Matters is this: before coaches can truly help their players, they have to be willing to examine themselves first.
Growth in coaching begins with personal growth.
If a coach wants to lead better, respond better, and serve players better, he must first become a better version of himself. 🏀📘
Quality Coaching Is More Than Knowing the Game 🏀
Many of us were taught to think about coaching mostly in terms of systems, drills, strategy, and results.
Those things matter, but they are not the whole picture.
Quality coaching is about more than knowledge of the sport alone. It includes understanding the game, understanding how to work well with people, and understanding yourself. It also means coaching in a way that fits the actual athletes in front of you, taking into account their ages, stages, and needs.
Good coaching should help athletes grow in competence, confidence, connection, and character.
In other words, coaching is not just about developing better players, but better people.
Great Coaches Respond with Purpose 🎯
One of the biggest turning points in a coach’s journey is learning to know himself. Self-awareness matters because it helps a coach slow down and respond wisely instead of reacting out of instinct or emotion.
Coaches and athletes cannot control every situation they face, but they can control how they respond to it.
Energy, attitude, and reactions are contagious. 🔥⚡
Team emotions spread quickly, for better or for worse. A careless reaction from a coach can influence far more than a single moment. ⏱️
That is why character matters so much.
The most powerful leadership tool we all have is our own example.
John Wooden
Personality may shape how a coach naturally reacts, but character is what gives him the ability to respond well. Coaching education should not only sharpen a coach’s knowledge of the game. It should also help develop his character so he can make wise decisions at the right moments.
As Joe Ehrmann says, “To be a better coach, you have got to be a better you.”
Coaches Need a Clear Why 🧭
As coaches, we need a clear purpose.
We need a real “why” behind what we do. Without that, our coaching can become scattered and shortsighted.
When the main pursuit is simply winning a title or reaching a certain result, it becomes easy to treat players like a means to an end instead of people we have been entrusted to lead. But when we define our purpose clearly, that purpose becomes a compass that guides the way we lead, teach, and build our program. 🧭
Even with a poor map, the right compass can still lead a coach in the right direction. 🗺️
The culture around sports often gives coaches a distorted picture of success. It pushes us toward shallow, transactional approaches that may chase results but fail to truly develop athletes or shape people well.
To be a better coach, we have to look inside first.
To do this, we must:
- understand the components of quality coaching
- understand our own tendencies so we can respond instead of react
- develop a coaching purpose statement that becomes our compass
A Coach’s Purpose Deepens Over Time 🌱
A coach’s purpose often develops over time.
Early on, coaching can easily become centered on winning, proving something, or chasing results. But as a coach matures, that purpose can deepen.
Coaching becomes less about proving something and more about helping athletes grow, develop character, and build a lasting love for the game. That is why every coach needs a clear and personal sense of purpose.
A simple place to begin is with this statement: I coach… ✍️
Guard the Heart That Leads the Team ❤️
The Bible speaks directly to this kind of inward work: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” Prov. 4:23.
Before a coach shapes a culture, he is already leading out of his own heart. His values, attitudes, habits, and responses will eventually show up in the way he teaches and leads. That is why this work matters so much. ❤️
Prov. 27:17 also fits well here: “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” Coaching is one of the clearest places where that sharpening can happen, but it begins with the coach himself being willing to grow. ⚒️
That kind of growth is not finished in a day.
It is an ongoing journey, but it is one worth beginning now. 🙏
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