(Photo via acu.today)

To close out 2017, USA Football is re-publishing the 12 best podcasts of the year. This is the fourth podcast of the series. Look for the remaining eight podcasts in the coming days.

Adam Dorrel, the winningest active head coach in NCAA football, was named Abilene Christian (Texas) University coach in December 2016 after guiding Northwest Missouri State to a 76-8 record and three NCAA Division II national titles, including the 2015 and 2016 crowns. He was voted the American Football Coaches Association National Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2015. On the podcast, Dorrel discusses the move to Abilene Christian, his emphasis on academics and community involvement, and the importance of family and culture in his program.

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Coach Dorrel moved on to Abilene Christian looking to take his ability to build a winning culture with him and implement it in a new situation.  Building a culture is a huge aspect of what Coach Dorrel does and it starts with “being yourself,” which has been a consistent piece of advice from many of the coaches who have appeared on the show.  One aspect that coach really emphasizes is academics.  Over 200 of his athletes earned all-academic honors at NMSU.  He wholeheartedly believes and points out, “If a kid is gonna let you down in the classroom, if because he can’t go to class, because he can’t turn projects in on time, because he can’t sit in the front row, if he can’t take his hat off, if he can’t be engaged, that kid is gonna let you down on Saturday.” The holistic approach of developing the student-athlete is something Coach Dorrel still believes in.   Coach recruits players who buy-in to the culture of being both a student and an athlete.  Although coach believes that they are not always the best team on the field physically, he believes that this approach helps them win.  In addition, Coach has his team take part in community service and finds it very rewarding.  This helps players understand that they are playing for more than themselves and it pulls them through adversity.  

RELATED CONTENT: 12 Podcasts of Christmas: Rick Jones (12/20/17)

Coach believes that mental and physical toughness is brought out by making the players feel uncomfortable.  It’s about fostering grit, toughness, and competitiveness in workouts.  He points out the difference between putting in time and putting in work.  They try to make them quit and get them to the point when they fight through it individually then fight through it collectively.  Toughness is reflected in the schemes that are run and how they are practiced.

We touched on how to build a new offense as you take over a new program as a coach.  Dorrel does this with a common sense approach.  By having a very diverse and multiple scheme coach can plug in kids to do things they are good at.

RELATED CONTENT: 12 Podcasts of Christmas: Mike Abrashoff (12/22/17)

Coach talks on how important it is to have good, unselfish people within an organization.  He believes in having humble, hungry and smart coaches.  He is proud of having a reputation of being easy to work with.  He wants to have fun and then shut it off and finish for the day.  Family is important to coach and he wants coaches to rally around that.  “Happy” and “fun” are two words that coach believes are important to have in the culture.

Finally, for coach, the winning edge is “love.”  If kids and coaches learn to love each other…it’s one thing that has made us great.”

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