Why do teams win?

Ask 100 people and you're likely to get many similar answers: talented players, better schemes, great coaching, etc. All of these things contribute to winning, and it's hard to win without them, but there's more.

There's often an overlooked ingredient to the winning broth that keeps some teams perennial powerhouses, and others more likely to be watching bowl games on TV: a winning culture.

Whether it’s sports teams, businesses or the military, the best have developed a culture of winning. They expect to win every time and go out there with a winner’s mentality.

It's a belief system, fostered by strong, dynamic leaders. They may be coaches, CEOs or generals, but the winning culture emanates from their every pore and spreads through their organization. It's a key reason why leadership change can often transform a team from doormat to boot wiper in only a season or two.

A new coach may often bring with them new staff and schemes, and they contribute too. But many losing teams have already tried replacing assistant coaches and schemes on both sides of the ball, yet never consistently cracked the playoff code.

To discover what defines a winning culture and how to develop one, I went straight to the source, getting input from those who know what it takes: coaches who've both transformed programs and fielded consistent winners.

I also spoke with leaders of top football academies who have also played in college. They've seen first-hand how it can help teams, from youth to the NFL, become winners.

Starting with accountability

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy has put the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the conversation surrounding the nation's best college football programs since he took over the program 12 years ago.

The culture he's built in Stillwater is vital to the football program's success, and Gundy believes it starts with the players, and identifying those who are willing to be team players.

“The player comes first in our program,” he said. “We'd give up a little talent for unselfish players we can trust,” he said.

Conversations with the players' high school coaches play a big role in discovering who those players are. It's a “must” for Gundy.

He notes that he only gets players six months of the year, but they are in the strength and conditioning program year round. That means head strength and conditioning coach Rob Glass “establishes toughness and accountability” during the players' first two months with the program. According to Gundy, it's important because of the 130 players on the team, only a few “leave themselves out” by failing to demonstrate the responsibility and positive attitude coaches expect of Oklahoma State players.

Gundy said that hiss staff's focus on recruiting the right kind of players, those with responsibility and accountability, has paid big dividends, as the program basically “runs itself” because the “kids understand accountability.”

Trust is key

By the end of the 2016 season, USC head coach Clay Helton had the Trojan football program on the winning track, with a 9-game winning streak that included victories over two Top 10 opponents, including a victory over then-No. 4-ranked Washington and a Rose Bowl win over Penn State.

What does Helton pick as the driving force behind a winning culture? It boils down to being able to trust those around you.

“A leader is only as good as the men that you surround yourself with,” Helton said. “That’s coaches and players. You have to hire the right people and there’s got to be trust between those groups. You establish your character, you establish that you have the knowledge to develop a player and you show that you care. If you have that trust and surround yourself with good people, you’ll go a long way.”

Three thousand miles away is Harvard head coach Tim Murphy, who consistently fields some of the winningest teams in college football. Under his leadership, Harvard has compiled an 81.8 winning percentage over the last 16 seasons. It's the best record in the FCS during that time. Coaching at an Ivy League institution, Murphy is limited to players that can perform at elite levels both on the field and in the classroom.

Like Gundy and Helton, he pointed to players as the starting point for the team's winning culture.

“It all starts with recruiting,” Murphy said. “Recruit high character kids, not just in terms of someone who is going to represent our program and university well, but recruit kids with great work ethic, self motivation and resilience because those are the kids who are going to reach and exceed their potential on and off of the field.”

Talent matters, but so do character and passion

To Murphy, character is critical and it’s about finding the guys who have the intangibles to exceed whatever you perceive their physical and academic ability to be.

Helton believes this is a huge aspect of the landscape that college football provides as well. Though his roster is loaded with former five-star recruits, Helton asserts that it’s not just about how great an athlete is, it’s about the person and student behind the facemask.

“There are a lot of great players out there,” said Helton. “But we have to bring in great people and great students into our culture.”

Coaches want people who are passionate about what they do. True passion is often the difference between talented individuals that reach greatness and those that don't. Bringing in players that truly love football is also an aspect of winning culture creation.

“Football is a rough game,” Gundy said. “It takes players with real passion for the game to sacrifice what it takes to excel at this level.”

In 2010, the New Orleans Saints were named SuperBowl XLIV champions with the help from their cornerback Reggie Jones. Now, Jones runs one of the country's leading football development institutions, Rise Football Academy, in Puyallup, Wash. The academy focuses on developing the skills and attitude athletes need to succeed at the highest levels of both football and life. 

For Jones, empowering team members is vital when it comes to developing a winning culture. Like Gundy, he believes accountability is an important building block for creating this type of culture.

“My former defensive coordinator with the New Orleans Saints, Greg Williams, would always tell us, ‘It’s not about Xs and Os, it’s about you, the player. This is your defense and your team.’ When that type of message is sent to a team, it automatically places ownership on the players of the team,” Jones said. “Leaders emerge, accountability is created from within, and a heightened sense of pride comes over the team.”

The role of competition

Successful organizations also thrive on competition. Jones says it plays a key role in building a winning culture as well and that competition breeds success.

“When players believe that they truly have an opportunity to move up and it’s not just lip service, they will try much harder during practice,” he said. “This puts pressure on everybody who knows they could be called up or moved down at any moment if they aren’t giving their all. Compete to win, compete without fear, compete within the rules of the game.”

For Helton, it’s the job of the coach to establish the type of culture they want for the program. For him, it’s a culture of winning, academics, compliance and of respect for the people that surrounds them.

“It’s a day to day grind of establishing the culture that you want and upholding it,” he said.

The standard should be set and upheld by the coaches when it comes to how they want their players to perform, on and off the field. All four coaches agree that accountability, effort and trust are what it takes in developing a winning culture within their organizations. It’s about choosing the right team members from the start and empowering them with the responsibility to achieve greatness.

Whether you're a youth football assistant coach, NFL head coach, or Fortune 500 CEO, these vital leadership principles are the keys to long-term success. In the end, it comes down to individuals. As a leader, are you choosing the right ones, and bringing out their best?

“Set the standard and stick to it,” Jones said. “This standard must be upheld and exemplified. Do not be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone in order to create a winning culture. Effort can never be compromised.”

Steve Faber is a freelance writer and content strategist who specializes in email and online copywriting. He's been marketing online since the first Internet boom. His firm, Most Pixels Marketing, helps organizations to create content and formulate effective content strategies to get noticed, engage customers, and drive sales. His son is ready for his seventh football season this fall and is currently playing 7on7.