We enter our Spring practices embracing the idiomatic expression “Less is More.” Such a phrase is a confusing concept to wrap your head around. How can less of anything be more? I know the term is often used in architecture and interior design but that’s not my specialty, nor do I really understand the nuances of that arena.
However, as it relates to football, I understand that things of a smaller quantity can be of higher quality. In other words, we would rather excel at 3 things than just be ok at 10. For our 6 spring practices spread over this week and next, we will focus solely on excellence in the essential aspects of the game. There is no time to spend on superfluous things while we establish the foundations and patterns underpinning our efforts through the Summer and into the Fall.
Readers may recall the 14 leadership traits we worked on over the course of 14 weeks last season. This week and next, we’ll also focus on core fundamentals of Honor, Courage, and Commitment.
Honor: Do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason.
Courage: Not the absence of fear, but the recognition and acknowledgment of fear, and the decisions to act in spite of very real and rational fear.
And Commitment: a conscious effort to put the good of the team, and the team’s collective goals above my own.
In doing so, we’ll begin to lay (and in some cases reinforce) the foundations of individual character and our collective culture right alongside the fundamentals of blocking and tackling.
Brilliance in the basics.
The basics of the game, and the basics of who we want to be as a team.
Less, actually can be more.
Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!
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