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Being a National Football League head coach comes with little to no job security. You can easily round up the coaches that are untouchable in the league at the moment on just one hand. However, coaching jobs in the NFL will always reign supreme for those that are insane enough to choose this career. We frequently see head coaches in the NFL get sacked after one or two years due to minuscule reasons, for something out of their control, or due to the fact that they simply bad at their job. We, therefore, decided to showcase NFL coaches that were not capable of leading a team to glory during their careers.

Mike Mularkey

Mike Mularkey replaced Ken Whisenhunt after Week 8 of the 2015 NFL season, giving him the perfect opportunity to prove his worth as a legitimate head coach in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans who decided to make him permanent during the offseason. Including the 9 games for the Titans in the previous season, Mike has been made head coach on three occasions, 2 years for the Buffalo Bills and only 1 season for the Jaguars, giving him an 18-39 overall record. This does not instil loads of confidence as a head coach.

Bill McPeak

As a Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end, Bill McPeak managed to find loads of success. He went to the Pro Bowl on 3 occasions during the 1950’s. However, as a Washington Redskins head coach, he didn’t find the same glorious success. During 5 season on the sidelines for the Redskins, the team never managed to finish with a .500 record. During his brief tenure, the team could only muster up a record of 21-46-3. Although he never received another head coach position after that, he did manage to become the Miami Dolphins’ offensive coordinator.

Darryl Rogers

Darryl Rogers managed to receive the ultimate opportunity in 1985 to coach the Detroit Lions, a team that he loved for pretty much his entire life. However, his time as a head coach did not work out too well. In less than 4 seasons as the head coach for the Detroit Lions, Darryl Rogers only managed to win a total of 18 matches and lost a total of 40 during the same time frame. Therefore it’s no surprise that the organization decided to replace him after only 11 matches in the 1988 season.

Dave Shula

Shula is undoubtably considered the worst head coach when it comes to the modern era of the NFL, spending 5 years trying to lead the Cincinnati Bengals to glory. During his time with the team, he only managed to accumulate an awful record of 19-52. Obviously, after 5 years with the team, Shula never managed to receive another head coach position within the NFL.

Bert Bell

Bert Bell was the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach from 1963 to 1941 and was far too familiar with losing as opposed to winning as he only managed to win 10 matches out of 58 games.

Before we start discussing what skills and qualities a good coach needs to have, we first need to understand how difficult a coaching profession truly is. Coaching is considered a frustrating, thankless, ‘no win’ kind of occupation. It’s a job that is usually performed in a public fishbowl. If you are a coach, you are constantly in a visible position that continuously exposes you the evaluation and scrutiny of the public. It’s a profession that allows the general public to weigh in on your job whether you want their opinions or not. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the qualities that make a good coach and how you can improve on your current coaching skills going forward.

Athletes Need To Believe In Themselves

Good coaches always inspire their athletes to believe that they can do more that they could possibly imagine. Even good teachers do this for each of their students. They managed to get their students to believe in possibilities that stretch the limits of what they believe in. To inspire athletes, you essentially need to build them up as oppose to breaking them down. Good coaches build on self-esteem instead of undermining their athletes.

Avoid Using Humiliation and Embarrassment as Teaching Tools

Really effective coaches don’t humiliate or embarrass their athletes as they fully understand that humiliating and embarrassing an athlete for a short-coming, failure, or mistake is an aggressive assault on them that doesn’t enhance their performance or build on their mental toughness. There’s nothing constructive or educational about it. All it actually does it tear down the athlete and undermines their self-esteem which will eventually create performance issues.

A Great Coach = A Great Life Teacher

Good coaches are fully aware that their teaching goes far beyond the simple X’s and O’s. A good coach doesn’t just teach the strategy, technique, and skills that encompasses a specific sport. They also provide important life lessons such as integrity, honesty, fair play, good sportsmanship, emotionally dealing with losing and winning, sacrificing individual desires to benefit the team, trusting teammates, rebounding and handling setbacks and failures, and mastering hardship.

Don’t Let Self-Worth and Egos Get Tied Up In The Outcome

Good coaches don’t feel diminished when their team fails in a match, and they don’t get overexcited and feel good about themselves when a team succeeds either. A good coach fully understands that coaching is only one factor of many and therefore don’t allow their professions to define them as a person. Coaches that are in serious trouble with athletes are usually more vulnerable emotionally and often feel threatened by failure or a loss.

Understand Differences Between Individual Athletes

A good coach is always aware that each individual in their team is different in sensitivity, response-ability, personality, attitude, and how they handle adversity and criticism. A good coach takes the necessary time to understand each athlete on a personal level. They then use this information to hand-tailor each individual to get the maximum performance out of them.

A good coach has the ability to transform a mediocre team into a potential playoff team, while a great coach has the ability to transform a playoff team into a contender for the Stanley Cup. Coaches are essentially responsible for more than just calling for changes and settling lines. They plan and run practices, develop young talent, put several systems in place, and deal with the quirks and personalities of today’s NHL players.

There’s basically only one thing that matters most in the NHL, and that’s winning. To have a long-lasting career and be successful, a coach is required to win. It’s for this reason that we decided to take an in-depth look at the best NHL coaches of all time and what made them so phenomenal during their NHL coaching careers.

Scotty Bowman

The coaching career of Scott Bowman started with the St. Louis Blues in 1967 and ended with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002. During the 30 seasons as head coach, Scott was behind the bench for a total of 2,141 games during the regular season where he managed to win 1,244, the most wins by any coach in NHL history. He claimed 9 Stanley Cups which included four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1976 to 1979 with the Canadians. He also claimed the Jack Adams Award on two occasions and was included in the Hall of Fame as a builder in 1991.

Al Arbour

After spending three seasons with the St. Louis Blues as a coach, Arbour decided to leave the team and become New York Islanders head coach where he accumulated 19 seasons of coaching. He managed to lead the team to 4 successive Stanley Cups, ranging from 1979 through to 1983, missing 5 in a row against the Edmonton Oilers. During 2007, Arbour made a return to coach his 1,500th match at the age of 75.

Joel Quenneville

Quenneville started his coaching career with the St. Louis Blues, leading the team to the playoffs each year until the last season where he was fired when they couldn’t make it through to the playoffs. After a couple of seasons coaching the Colorado Avalanche, he was hired to coach the Chicago Black Hawks. However, after four games he was promoted to head coach. Since then, the Black Hawks have made it through to the playoffs and managed to win 3 Stanley Cups. Quenneville has managed to coach 1,375 matches and won 754.

Dick Irvin

Irvin enjoyed a long-lasting career as an NHL coach, enjoying 37 seasons from 1929 through to 1956 where he coached the Montreal Canadians, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Chicago Black Hawks. In fact, Irwin only managed to miss the playoffs a total of 3 times during his coaching career. He managed to win the Stanley Cup 4 times, 3 times with the Habs and once with the Leafs. He coached a total of 1.449 matches and managed to win 692 of them. Irvin was also included in the Hall of Fame as a player in 1958.

Over 300 qualified men have attempted to be head coaches in the National Basketball League. Surprisingly, most of them didn’t last very long. In a league that devours coaches like Elizabeth Taylor goes through husbands, only a handful of them have managed to enjoy successful careers that span for more than ten years. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the best NBA coaches of all time as we look at winning percentages, wins, impact on the game, and championships.

Lenny Wilkens – 53.6%, 1,332 – 1,155

It’s rather easy to dismiss Wilkens’ NBA record when it comes to coaching wins as he was surpassed by none other than Don Nelson, but that’s only due to longevity. Lenny Wilkens only had one title to show for a total of 32 seasons while coaching six different teams and had a total of 11 losing seasons which is 11 more than the famous Phil Jackson. It was Wilken’s unflappable and calm demeanour that allowed him to be such an extraordinary coach over the long term.

Don Nelson – 55.7%, 1,335 – 1,063

The new owners of the Golden State Warriors pushed Nelson out the door which is actually no surprise as the head coach is now 70 years old. Don Nelson never claimed a title during 31 seasons. However, he didn’t coach players like Bill Russel either. He did manage to do a sensational job with small line ups, including Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, and Tim Hardaway in Golden State. He was also the inventor of the ‘point forward’ concept which most teams utilise to this day.

Jerry Sloan – 60.3%, 1,221 – 803

Sloan managed to stay with Salt Lake City for longer than most owners in the NBA. He continued coaching the team for more than 22 years and only had one losing season where he never changed his no-nonsense, hard-edged style. His teams were always hard players and never avoided his coaching styles throughout the game.

Chuck Daly – 59.3%, 638 – 437

During his first debut as head coach, Daly managed to go 9-32 while coaching the Cavaliers which caused him to get fired halfway through the 1981/82 NBA season. Although he had a horrible start, he was placed in charge of the Pistons two years thereafter and never had a losing season in a total of 13 seasons while coaching in Orlando, New Jersey, and Detroit. He managed to win titles in 1989 and 1990 for the Pistons as helped the Dream Team of 1992 to avoid any unnecessary ego problems.

Larry Brown – 54.8%, 1,098 – 904

Although he is considered one of the biggest winners when it comes to basketball, with almost 1,500 victories as a head coach for both the NBA and ABA, Larry Brown looks permanently displeased. He always complains, frets, and frowns and no one can understand why. Well, he is undoubtedly a perfectionist. He is considered the greatest team builder and teacher and is the only coach to claim NBA and NCAA titles with the Kansas Jayhawks in 1988 and the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

Every sports commentator, athlete, coach and fan know that skill is the fundamental element of any sports. When it comes to football it is passing and kicking the ball, in baseball and cricket it is throwing, in swimming and fishing, it is turning and diving, in rugby it is passing and tackling, and in netball and basketball it is shooting and passing.

The foundations of sports coaching are practising, learning, and the mastering of basic skills, although mastering the basics is only the first step. Athletes never fail due to a poor skill level. They fail because their ability to perform that skill is poor and that is due to poor coaching.

Sports Skill

The definition of a sports skill is that it is the ability to perform any sporting skill consistently well under fatigue, at speed, and pressure condition in a competitive environment. Perfection is to find a coach, learn how to and then to practice till you perfect it, what every athlete want is to learn the basics, perfect that and then to master the sports skill so that they can enhance their personal performance no matter the conditions. In mastering a sport, practice is no longer all it takes, it is learning the sports skill, and this is where a great coach can do wonders. Once the athlete can perform the skill well at speed, technical perfection comes with adding under pressure and under fatigue to the equation.

Coaching to Perfection

Coaching is even more needed when the athlete manages to perform the skill perfectly well during speed, under pressure and under fatigue as this is when it is necessary to record how many times the ball was dropped, the number of errors made at critical moments, how many times the ball was missed. This is also where mental pressure and emotional stress have a huge impact, and the coach working through the process with the athlete can make all the difference.

Champions Enjoyed Real Coaching

The next step is to check that the athlete can perform the skill perfectly under fatigue, at speed, and under pressure, this time consistently is added to the list. Being able to achieve perfection under all the mentioned conditions could be luck but being able to perform it consistently is the sign that a real champion is in the making. It is what many refer to as the no-compromise training approach. It is training the brain that poor skill, sloppiness and inaccuracy is not accepted. As the next step in training is adding competition conditions to all the other areas of perfection. It is entering the athlete level where competitors have already mastered the skill, the level of competing against champions, where the slightest misjudgement or losing of focus could cost you the game. It’s a level only available to sports superstars that enjoyed the luxury of being trained by a real sports coach.

Motivation is something some coaches talk about, others read up about it, some try to master it and learn all its secrets, motivation is what everyone believes is what get athletes to achieve what is otherwise impossible. This search to find motivational success gets some to spend large amounts of cash on motivational speakers with their goal being to motivate their team of athletes. There are also several coursed to attend, workshops are available and all claim to teach the skill needed to master the mysteries of motivation.

Understanding the Concept of Motivation

No matter the amount you spend, the more desperate you are to master motivation the less you’ll be able to understand it. First of all, you need to know what motivation is, it is a desire, basically, a fire that ignites outstanding victories fuels great performances, and drive persistence and perseverance. Motivation is what gives athletes a winning attitude, it’s the basic of mental-toughness, the character and strength that empowers athletes to overcome setbacks, injuries and disappointments, the cornerstone of success.

The Magic Pill/Miracle

Coaches often think of motivation as a miracle or a pill, a technique or breakthrough, yet it is so much simpler and so much more powerful.
Motivation starts with you the coach, it is fuelled by your desire to be a better coach, to be someone your athletes can trust, relate to and want to win for.

Difference between Inspiration and Motivation

Motivational speakers talking about success, glory and money is what most people think off as motivation, although it is actually an inspiration. Motivation and inspiration work hand in hand together to inspire people to change their behaviours in order to realise a dream. Inspiration comes to the outside from the speaker to another person while motivation comes from within, it is ignited by passion.

Sports Coaching Motivation

In order to motivate the team, a sports coach need to provide opportunity and create an environment for athletes to express their true motivation in everything they do. The coach is there to support, encourage and to help athletes to discover their passion. Athletes that are motivated stand out, they attend every practice, arrive early and are eager to help set up the equipment. They always willing to help clean up afterwards and if coaches allow it, motivation will express itself.

Motivation does not come from providing high enthusiasm, or high energy or always talking about psyching-up, it is providing an environment where athletes feel free to show how motivated they are. It is feeling safe in an environment where the coach understands the wishes of each athlete, the will to achieve, the disappointment when it takes a bit longer and knowing they have the space to enjoy their strengths and work on their weaknesses. An environment where no one is ever judged, only the doorway to bigger things achieved via practising and the identification of areas that needs the most attention.

Being labelled as mentally tough is the highest compliment any athlete can receive, mental toughness is not a quality that individuals are born with it, it is an attitude that must be learned or adapted, a positive mindset that changes perspective and increases production. The most influential or ideal people to help and teach young athletes to develop this special talent, philosophy or ability are parents and coaches. It is a balance between ability, tolerating setbacks and staying mentally strong. Most coaches call it a priceless gift that influences the athlete’s whole life and not just his attitude towards his sports career.

Sports are Fun

There are a few specific outlooks or attitudes that should be communicated to younger athletes; the first and most important of those is that sports are fun. Whether a match results in a win or a loss the match itself remains a fun activity enjoyed with the rest of the team. Every teammate or athlete should enjoy every second of participation and the most important thing to imprint in young athletes’ mindsets is that winning is not a measure of enjoyment.

That Worth Achieving Rarely Comes Easy

The process of achieving mastery is challenging, long and often requires commitment, hours of practice and exercise, as well as a positive “, can do” attitude. The coach famed for leading the Green Bay Packers to victory, Vince Lombardi, often refers to the saying that the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. The price of success is hard work. To master any sport requires practice, more practice and them some practice.

Mistakes Are a Vital Part of Mastering any Sport

Whether in life or sport, mistakes are a vital part of learning, without them we won’t learn as fast or a much, legendary UCLA coach, John Wooden sees mistakes as the stepping stones to success and achievement. It is important that coaches emphasise to athletes that making mistakes is better than avoiding the opportunity to shine, they are performance enhancements and shows where improvement and adjustment are needed. There is only one mistake in sports and life, and that is the failure to learn from our experiences.

What Really Counts is Effort

Highly successful coaching includes praise and emphasis on both efforts and the outcome, repeatedly communicating to athletes that their efforts are as important as the outcome is vitally important in motivating teams. Youngsters react on both their coaches’ words and actions, and therefore all efforts should be acknowledged in the same important light as winning results are.

Worth Should Never Be Confused with Performance

Young athletes should be sure of the fact that their performance in sport or their academic performances is not what identify their worth. Coaches play an important role as they should show athletes that they accept all unconditionally no matter the result, the effort and being part of the team is always acknowledged. By showing young athletes that even the coach has failures and mistakes, which he/she gracefully accepts, teach young children that everyone is fallible humans and that we move past mistakes to reach new heights via the lessons we learned from it.

Coaching made fun is what everyone wants it to be, yet it is a bit harder than most think. You need to provide an environment in which players want to be, but at the same time you need to train them to do their best and to achieve all this requires a few pointers, so here is what the experts say.

Enjoyable Sport Coaching

It all starts by asking a few questions, during training you need to answer whether you think it is fun and if the players enjoy the session. You also need to answer the question that should you have been part of the session would you enjoy it, basically the coach needs to step into the shoes of the trainees. If the answer on any one of the above questions is negative, the next question would be how to change it. By coaching younger children, it is much easier to bring an element of fun into the training session, where it could be a bit more challenging when the team is older. Yet the fun element is almost naturally part when the group are familiar with each other and comfortable in the company of the entire team.

Team Challenges

Primary school aged sports coaching is ideal for bringing in little friendly challenges, this is to get the initiative going on how to succeed in every session, it helps develop the physical skills of the team. Many coaches use this technique to identify natural leaders who thrive when it comes to both the psychological and decision-making aspects of the sport. Coaching includes identifying what type of player each of the participants is and then to place them in an environment where they feel slightly challenged, just enough to keep them interested in the sport but at the same time to make them feel needed and comfortable.

Let it Flow During Practise

It is always best not to overdue structured training, by staying away from drills it could be a lot easier to implement a natural flow. Before practice starts in full swing allow players to have some free time interacting with each other and the ball. It is also a great time to have a quick joke or two going as it sets the tone for the remainder of the training session. Discuss something of interest and make sure everyone is comfy before the session starts in all seriousness, and at the end discuss the session and get their opinion.

Team Interaction is Most Important

More vital than any planning of the training is to provide players with a session that is engaging and that increase interaction amongst the team and you. It is vital that the coach get to know each of the players individually and the more the team interact, the better they will know each other. Everyone should know mistakes will happen, they good as it gives you and the team reason to brainstorm together about you will eliminate these from happening during matches.

One of the mentality epidemics that most multi-skilled coaches are eager to change is the “I Can’t Do” attitudes of society. Training, coaching and directing young children towards a “Can Do” attitude is what most aims for and sport coaching opens-up the opportunity to do just that.

There is a major danger that young children will struggle to catch-up, be left only on the starting blocks or will be completely lost from the enjoyment of sports altogether. This is only one of the areas where school have a major role to play, teachers have access to every single child in the country and it is here where the foundation of any strong nation can be built, it is like doing all the preparation, laying the strongest possible foundation to build a strong house that will be rock solid through life.

Sports Couches Supply Young Children with Fundamental Building Blocks

In the sports world, the most important people are coaches who are perfectly placed to offer their proteges with everything needed and they are the ones laying the fundamental building blocks, it is here where sports stars get the kick needed to reach their full potential. What leads to longer-term success and ability is multi-skill upbringing. Essentials to the upbringing of young children are travelling, stability, catching a ball and throwing balls. By allowing younger children to develop a range of skills, it improves their balance and coordination, speed and stamina, flexibility and agility as well as their power and strength. It readies them for a life in sports, improves their performances and at the same time, it influences the choices they make in the future.

It is a “Can Do” Attitude that Changes All

Sports coaches agree that the above skill-development is vital, yet what makes everything possible is a “Can Do” attitude. If young children believe they can do anything they are more open to try anything, which includes sports, academic achievements and how they approach their futures. Developing a positive mindset changes all, it makes it easier to get a new idea across and it provides the young child to look forward to learning new skills such as jumping, catching and throwing. Due to the variety of electronic entertainment available, young people quickly get caught up in games that gives them the feel of achievement, should they feel positive about themselves from an early age and learn how to use their physical skills, chances are they will never exchange the social aspect of sports and the great outdoors to hide indoors with a video game.

No Feeling is as Good as Being Outdoors, Partaking in an Action Sport

Coaches want younger children to get hooked on the high only sports can provide, since once they get accustomed to the feeling there is nothing to top it. Many younger athletes have a fear of rackets, how to use balls and by being open-minded they can master all these skills quickly and become the self-assured young people they ought to be.