Coaches — at All Levels — Treat Fun as a Negative. It’s Not.

By Ken Reed

“Fun is Good.”
— Mike Veeck, creator of a variety of innovative and fun baseball promotions

Unfortunately, the vast majority of coaches, from the youth level to the professional level, adopt a militaristic coaching style. They believe a taskmaster mentality is how you get the best from athletes.

It’s not.

“Nothing, according to the research, predicts excellence like finding the task fun,” says sociologist Alfie Kohn.

Coaches that make practices fun, create a culture of creativity and camaraderie that attracts athletes and keeps them physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually involved and working toward excellence — individually and as a team.

Yet, the sports culture, historically grounded in the military culture, tends to develop Vince Lombardi-type coaches; coaches who too often treat their athletes inhumanely, and motivate them by force and fear.

“He (Lombardi) treats us all the same — like dogs,” said Henry Jordan, an All-Pro defensive tackle for Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers.

The key question is, can you develop the athlete in a holistic manner, treat him or her with dignity and respect, have fun and still win?”

As Kohn says, the research shows the answer is an emphatic “Yes.”

As opposed to autocratic coaches like Lombardi, humanistic coaches believe people become internally-motivated when treated humanely and with dignity. Humanistic coaches focus on encouragement and positive motivation tactics. They believe human beings seek out fun, are curious and naturally want to actualize themselves.

Studies show that work groups, like sports teams, that are characterized by a more democratic and humanistic atmosphere will have higher levels of internal motivation, satisfaction and morale, and as a result, more commitment to the organization/team and greater productivity than those directed by authoritarian coaches/leaders.

Maybe the best example of the humanistic coaching style is John Gagliardi. Gagliardi is the former football coach at Div. III St. John’s University in Minnesota. He is the winningest coach in college football history, retiring with a lifetime record of 489-138-11 after the 2012 season. In 2003 he won his fourth national championship, to go along with 26 conference titles. And he’s the anti-Lombardi.

Gagliardi had no film sessions after Monday, no playbooks, no blocking sleds, no tackling leading up to games, and no wind sprints. Nobody got cut. There was no yelling and screaming at players. Gagliardi didn’t use a whistle. Practices were limited to 90 minutes. Gagliardi said his practices would not have any resemblance to a boot camp. He had no rules except the Golden Rule. Gagliardi’s quarterbacks called the vast majority of the team’s plays. If he did send in a play he called it a “suggestion” and the quarterback was free to disregard it. Fun was one of the goals of every practice. His players loved coming to practice. His graduation record was nearly perfect. Because of the limited physical contact in practice, Gagliardi’s teams had fewer injuries and less soreness. As a result, Gagliardi believed his players played with more intensity on Saturdays.

Gagliardi was a big believer in having fun with his team. He feels having a sense of humor is a key trait for a coach.

“I don’t think I could have lasted without a sense of humor,” said Gagliardi.

“Let’s put it this way, there would have been no hope for me to have lasted without humor. Football is made for humor. You have to have a grin now and then on the gridiron. This isn’t life and death.”

Gagliardi believes the Golden Rule is the only rule he needs.

“I think the key is the Golden Rule,” said Gagliardi.

“Treat kids the way you’d like to be treated. Coach them how you would like to be coached. We want guys to observe the Golden Rule. That will take care of most everything. That’s our only rule. Find kids that don’t need any other rules besides the Golden Rule. Those who need other rules won’t keep them.”

On the team’s senior speech night, after one of Gagliardi’s last seasons coaching at St. John’s, one senior, linebacker Brandon Novak, described the experience of four years playing for John Gagliardi this way: “Live it up underclassmen, because it goes by fast. It goes by fast, but it’ll be the best four years of your life. And once you’ve played your last game, you’ll look back and say, ‘This is the greatest place on earth to play football.’”

Sounds like fun.

— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans