Winning culture is built now, the offseason. It’s cultivated in weight rooms and emphasized in classrooms where coaches teach character development and the essentials of leadership.

Successful coaches understand football is a yearlong endeavor. There is no extended offseason but a perpetual process in which student-athletes learn the culture of being successful. Which is why the best coaches are hard at work now instilling what will be the culture of their programs for years to come.

XandO Labs researched what winning coaches do during the offseason to build successful teams. Our staff polled coaches from 11 states who boast a winning percentage of 77.7.

Here is a summary of our findings based on five distinct categories – all of which is done outside the season.

Motivate players

Winters are long, and student-athletes are pulled in so many different directions, including travel basketball, study groups, family life and friends. It is necessary to keep kids vested in your football program and keep them interested in the sport.

We found that most football coaches encourage kids to play other sports, mainly because it stimulates competition. Other means for coaches to continue to build interest in the program include:

• Open the weight room in the early morning to make sure players are working out together.
• Develop leadership councils of a select group of players and draft teams to get players to compete in lifting sessions, volunteer programs after school and academic success.

Implement fundraising opportunities

Fundraising is necessary for most programs, and encouraging several outings can render lucrative results. Several coaches offered innovative ways to bring funds into their programs. Some of their ideas include:

• Offseason lift-a-thons in the school’s weight room. Players can get sponsored – by pound – to raise money for the program.
• Discount cards to local retailers and eateries.
• Door to door clothing sales with program’s memorabilia.
• Cookie dough or popcorn sales to parents.
• Selling banners or advertisements to local businesses that can be displayed in program books or in home field.

SEE ALSO: Check out USA Football’s fundraising partners

Develop accountability in the classroom

This continues to be an area of concern, particularly with middle school and high school coaches where eligibility becomes a factor.

While coaches do this themselves – with the help of guidance counselors – others cultivate competition to address academics by having mandatory study halls and peer tutoring sessions with other players.

One of the coaches we talked to had an NCAA night where he brought all the parents in to tell them about eligibility requirements, SAT scores and the NCAA clearinghouse. He said it helps to have parents understand the academic commitment required to play at that level.

Oher responses included:

• Giveaways (tee shirts, lanyards, etc.) for top grades in classes.
• Collecting student-athletes’ cell phones prior to first session in class each day to keep them focused in the classroom.
• Having weekly meeting with teachers and the student present to clear up discrepancies.

Relationships with parents and administration

Not surprisingly, honesty is the overwhelming theme in working with parents and administration. These groups must be made aware of your vision and your philosophy.

So how do you project that philosophy? Some of what we found:

• Sending out camp schedules and game schedules to parents now in order to avoid any conflicts.
• Having a preseason meeting with parents to explain philosophy and culture.
• Sending weekly emails to parents in the form of a newsletter that includes notes about the previous game, upcoming announcements and positive occurrences in practice and in the classroom.
• Having and end of season review meeting with the principal, athletic director and support staff to evaluate goals and begin new projections. 

Building the town feeder system

While some towns have a youth league football system, some do not. The effort must be made to bridge the gap between these two levels of football.

Some ideas include:

• Holding a coaching clinic every winter to get these groups together.
• Holding team camps for one-week during the winter or spring to teach players the same fundamentals, scheme and organization. 
• Speaking at various elementary and middle school events.

The offseason is now and developing your program in these areas almost certainly can grant success this fall.

Mike Kuchar is co-founder and senior research manager at XandOLabs.com, a private research company specializing in coaching concepts and trends. Reach him at mike@xandolabs.com  or follow him on Twitter @mikekkuchar.