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Gerald McCoy video provokes positive response from coaches, but are we missing a larger point?

By Andy Ryland | Posted 6/19/2018

(Photo via ftw.usatoday.com)

Over the past few days, the video of Gerald McCoy from Tampa Bay Buccaneers minicamp, which took place last week, has been making its rounds over social media.

I personally love McCoy’s view on the situation and the classy way he handled the interview. That idea that coaches are “supposed to coach you hard,” and most importantly, players need to “separate the message from the tone” are truths, especially in the high-performance level. 

As the days progressed, I have seen many more coaches push this message and video along. USA Football’s home account and our Football Development account did, too.  

The thing that struck me was, with all the support for McCoy’s handling of the situation and message to younger players, were we missing a crucial point?

While it is important for players to separate the message from the tone, what responsibility does the coach have to not hide the message in the tone? 

Even in the heat of the moment or when frustration sets in, don’t we know somewhere deep down that hiding a message in harsh or aggressive tones makes it harder for a player to recognize, internalize and use the information to become better?  What role do we have as coaches to make the message as clear as possible and help the player learn?

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The world is obviously not all sunshine, rainbows and unicorns, so coaches will yell, and players need to react appropriately, but the follow-up questions still abound.

How often do I hide my message in tone? 

Do I use a player's responsibility to separate message from tone as a crutch for my preferred style of yelling instead of the player's preferred style of learning?

What is reasonable of the players I coach (based on age and maturity) to be able to separate the two?

Am I providing instruction or mental skills ‘training’ to help them understand the methods of coaching and separating message from tone?

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Do I know my player well enough to know who will respond to the two distinct types of instruction?

The coach/athlete relationship is a partnership.  The more trust and respect I build with a player, the more I can probably expect that player to react well to negative reinforcement, but do I need to try to not hide in tone my instruction? And they need to be able to separate tone from instruction, but what is the balance in each unique relationship?

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I don’t know if I have ever come across a coach who yells all the time, and I also don’t think I know a coach who always instructs and never yells. The real world is usually somewhere in the middle. Knowing that coaching is a partnership in a relationship, I would love to hear coaches chime in on their experiences at different age groups and navigating the instructional process and the situation that was presented. 

What are your thoughts on this topic? Share them on the USA Football Twitter or Facebook pages.

Andy Ryland is senior manager of education and training at USA Football. A former Penn State linebacker and member of the U.S. men’s rugby team, Ryland helped develop the Heads Up Football and Master Trainer programs.

TagsBlog High school football Coaching Motivation
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