Before I became a head coach, I started to organize my thoughts and beliefs to develop my own coaching philosophy. Rather than recreate the wheel, I used my research and adapted the beliefs of great coaches that meshed with mine. One of the philosophies I included in my coaches manual was something that Joe Paterno wrote. I review and update my coaches manual every year, even though I am not a head coach at the moment.

Here is my coaching philosophy as well as my notes interjected in italics on exactly what a coach should do to help himself succeed in his job.

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A coach above all other duties is a teacher. Coaches have the same obligation as all teachers, except that we may have more moral- and life-shaping influence over our players than anyone else outside of their families. When a player comes from a family that is not strong, our influence may become foremost.

The job of an academic teacher is to implant facts, ideas and ways of thinking and so expand children’s minds. In teaching excellence in football, we have to reach the soul of a player. Football is played, above all, with the heart and mind. It’s played with the body only secondarily. A coach’s first duty is to coach minds. If he does not succeed at that, his team will not reach its potential.

Therefore, at the heart of the curriculum, as important as skills and tactics, are the purposeful uses of emotion, commitment, discipline, loyalty and pride. In facing the realities of competition, a person learns the meaning of excellence and professionalism. Not only to an athlete but to any person who makes a decisive difference in how he feels about himself.

Excellence and professionalism are the key to being successful as a coach. Regardless of the level you coach, you should always act as a professional. Coaching is a profession. Too many guys think they can walk off the street and be a coach because they played the game. It’s a ridiculous notion. It has as much validity as thinking you’ve made a meal before so now you are qualified to run a restaurant. Good coaches spend as much time on learning how to teach/coach as they do teaching concepts. The reality is that many people get that opportunity to work with youth because there really isn’t a certification process. That doesn’t excuse a new coach from training himself. Materials are readily available, and the coaching profession is full of people willing to share their knowledge. All coaches must be learning and developing themselves. Those not willing to develop as coaching professionals should not step on the field. It’s not fair to the kids.

More than just himself, a good coach helps a person make a difference in the world – in whatever he does. A good athlete learns the will and determination to come back after a tough defeat. An athlete absorbs that from the air around him, on the bench, in the locker room, from good coaches and from good teammates.

As coaches, we have to push kids – more correctly get them to push themselves – to reach their potential. Those kids look to us for examples in struggling to learn poise, class and the handling of adversity.

Kids see too much of the selfish, ego-driven reactions of players on TV. Just the other day, Johnny Manziel used an inappropriate gesture on national TV. Young players need to understand that much of what they see on TV really shouldn’t be part of the game. When a player gets frustrated and acts out on the field, it must be corrected. We are teaching them how to handle successes and failures with poise and composure so that they can handle those things in life. The high fives, pump-up chants, pregame entrances, etc., have gone over the top. It’s time to reel it back in by teaching them the right way. Vince Lombardi always said, “When you go into the end zone, act like you've been there before.”

The best teacher is not only the person who has the most knowledge but the one who has his knowledge best organized and knows how to state it in different ways. If a student doesn’t get it when you teach it one way, you’ve got to teach it another way.

In learning how to get the most out of football practice, kids have to learn that they’re going to be just as tired if they practice poorly as if they practice well. So they’d better use that time to make themselves better. The theme every day has to be, “Let’s get better. Let’s get quicker. Let’s play more intelligently.”

Yelling, and screaming are not coaching. If I were to walk around a youth football field and close my eyes, I pick up too much in negative tone and too much yelling and demeaning. Learning the complexities of football can be difficult and frustrating for young players, but that’s where a coach needs to look at his methods and approach. The frustration needs to be focused on: “How can I better explain or teach this idea?” This will be more productive than verbally abusing or expressing anger and threats. Physical punishment (extra running or up downs) does not necessarily teach the player to get it right.

Another important rule is that a coach must not waste his player’s time. Each coach has to have his area of practice organized for maximum efficiency. The practice should be organized in a way that each player gets maximum coaching time. Players learn by doing, so it’s important to coach on the run rather than stopping progress to correct one individual. We must not waste a moment. Time is our enemy.

I always spend at least an hour and a half each day carefully planning and evaluating practice. I detail it for every position down to the minute. Too many coaches operate on the fly. Every coach should have a schedule and a script and a watch and a whistle. The kids and the game deserve more in terms of efficiency. At the youth level, the same plays are run every week with little adjustment. That’s a good practice, so why not just have a script ready that can be used over and over each practice? Have a set practice plan that you adjust as needed. Organize drills so that there isn’t standing around time for coaches and players. I’ve seen situations where there are enough coaches to work with groups of two to four players, yet one coach is doing all of the instruction and players are waiting in line. That drill that is taking 15 minutes to complete could be more effectively repped in just minutes, and thus practice either shortened or time used in another manner that is more effective. The key for us as coaches is to find ways to be more effective and efficient. 

Keith Grabowski recently completed his 25th year in coaching, serving as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. He previously was a head coach at the high school level for eight years. Grabowski is a columnist for American Football Monthly and writes his own blog at coachgrabowski.wordpress.com. He's the author of "101+ Pro Style Pistol Offense Plays," available on Apple's iBookstore and operates Coaches Edge Technologies. Follow him on Twitter @CoachKeithGrabowski.