There are 3 kinds of athletes.
1) All in! Show up early, work hard, communicate with coaches. Outcome: Coaches and teammates trust them to get the job done on the field. Most likely to earn a high level of playing time if athletically capable.
2) Show up sometimes. Typically late. Communicate after the fact. Outcome: Coaches aren’t always sure what they’re going to get from them, so this impacts playing time.
3) Missing in action. Don’t show up, don’t communicate, no good reason for missing. Outcome: They eventually get passed by players who are committed and dependable. Typically are cut or quit the team.
Which one are you?
“If you can throw for 500 yards on somebody, you’re probably going to win the game. But if you can run for 500, you’re guaranteed to win the game and it takes their soul.”
- Rich Rodriguez
KIRK COUSINS ON LEADERSHIP
"You don't use people to advance your position, you use the position you have to advance people."
𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧.
Be a person of influence.
📹 via @AtlantaFalcons
THE VALUE OF GOING UNDER CENTER
Too many offenses today live almost entirely in the shotgun and lose some of the physical and fundamental aspects that help offenses consistently control football games
Going under center is still one of the most important tools an offense can have at every level of football
From a coaching perspective, under center football creates better timing, cleaner footwork, stronger play action, and more downhill run game angles. It forces quarterbacks, running backs, offensive linemen, and skill players to operate with discipline and precision every snap
✅ Stronger and more believable play action
✅ Better downhill run game timing and blocking angles
✅ Helps quarterbacks develop footwork, rhythm, and command
✅ Creates more balance within the offense
✅ Allows offenses to control tempo and physicality
✅ Improves communication and execution across the unit
✅ Builds toughness and accountability throughout the offense
✅ Gives coordinators more flexibility in short yardage, red zone, and situational football
One thing coaches always look for is whether an offense can consistently execute the small details under pressure
Under center football teaches those details every single practice rep. Footwork, ball handling, timing, pad level, aiming points, communication, and finishing all become critical
The best offenses are not always the flashiest offenses. The best offenses are usually the most disciplined, physical, and fundamentally sound. Going under center still helps build that identity
Overprotected kids become unprepared adults.
Dawn Staley nailed it.🔥
You can’t shelter your child from every hard moment and then expect them to handle adversity when it counts.
Hard is the lesson.
What’s one hard lesson sports taught you that helped later in life? 👇
Was not ready for Eric Church to deliver the best commencement speech I’ve ever heard.
Six guitar strings. Six pillars of a life.
Faith. Family. Spouse. Ambition. Community. You.
Tune them when you’re whole, not just when you’re broken.
Watch the whole thing.
A bad coach tears people down. An average coach focuses only on results. A good coach teaches skills and systems. A great coach builds confidence and trust. An exceptional coach helps people believe in themselves at a higher level. And the best coaches impact lives long after the scoreboard stops mattering.
Super Bowl 🏆 Champ and Hall of Famer @EReed20 on accountability as a teammate, respecting the game, and "how you do everything, is how you do anything" is pure leadership cinema:
🛒 The way you do the small things is the way you’ll do the hard things. Championship habits live in the details people naturally overlook. It’s returning the shopping cart, cleaning your locker, putting your clothes where they belong, not because someone told you to, but because respect is a standard you carry, not a rule you follow. Those “little things” trickle into your preparation, your performance, and your outcomes.
🛶 Your habits are not a personal choice, they’re a team obligation. Someone is always downstream from your discipline. When you’re consistent, you make the people around you better. When you’re careless, you make their job harder. That’s what accountability really means.
🟰 Standards are the great equalizer. Draft status, contract, role... it doesn’t exempt you from the work. Belonging to something bigger means we all meet the same bar, every day. Not because it’s fair, but because it’s necessary to be champions.
The 2013 @Ravens standards were the invisible and unspoken contract of their team: honored in the quiet of their smallest habits, revealed in the chaos of gamedays, and ultimately the difference between a group that just shared a locker room and one that now shares a LEGACY. 🏆
The benefits of high school sports:
1. Sports teams are the front porch & brand of the school.
2. Athletics serve as the largest and most successful at-risk school program. Playing sports provides purpose, discipline, motivation & structure for those who may not get it at home.
I use the term “run the alley” often when writing-up safety prospects. Necessary tool/skill from split-field alignments.
Urgency. Eyes (key the run) + play-speed. And the willingness to tackle.
Here’s what it looks like on Sundays…
49ers S Malik Mustapha