Coach, Welcome to the first edition of The Wednesday Coach Report. After 33 years of coaching, I've collected a lot of stories—some from my own teams, some from great coaches I've been fortunate enough to learn from, and some from conversations with coaches across the country. Each Wednesday this summer, I'll share one of those stories and, more importantly, the lesson behind it. My goal isn't to give you one more thing to read. My goal is to give you one practical idea, leadership lesson, culture builder, or coaching takeaway that you can use with your team the very next day. All of them will be written with one question in mind: "How can this help a coach build a better program?" I hope you'll find something useful in each report. ----------------------------------------------------- SUMMER EDITION #1: Do you know them? Summer is one of the few times of the year when you actually have a chance to get to know your players. Don't waste it. Every coach wants a team where players would "lay in traffic" for each other. We want trust. We want connection. We want a locker room where teammates genuinely care about the guy next to them. But that kind of culture doesn't happen because we put a slogan on a shirt or hang a poster on a wall. It happens when people know each other. How many of your players know your story? How many know why you coach? How many know about the people and experiences that shaped you? Now flip the question. How many of your players have told you their story? How many know what a teammate is dealing with at home? What he's proud of? What he dreams about becoming someday? Relationships create trust. Trust creates connection. Connection creates culture. One of the best things we ever did during the summer had nothing to do with football. Every Wednesday, I would invite six or seven athletes and one assistant coach to lunch. Usually it was pizza. The goal wasn't football. The goal was relationships. We'd sit around a table and talk. Questions like:

8th Grade Signing Day. Something I started last year. School Media guy comes and takes pictures. I give them a t shirt and the certificate that we both sign. Something fun and I post all the pictures on Social Media.

Do any of you coach in a state where 8th graders are able to play High School Football? Iowa is close to passing this law, and its very interesting. How do you handle this?

Coaches — I want this to be the most valuable community you’re part of. But I don’t want to guess… I want to build it with you. Quick question — what would help you the MOST right now? 👇 Drop a number (or comment if you’ve got something else): 1. Spring ball practice ideas 2. Culture / team building 3. Leadership & captains 4. Offense (Fast N Wide / scheme) 5. Player accountability (tracking, discipline, OVR-type ideas) 6. Motivation / weekly messaging to players Or just tell me straight—what do you need?

If you’re here, you’re serious about building your program. This is where we’ll talk: - Offense (Fast N Wide) - Culture - Leadership - What actually wins games I’ll be posting here every week. Let’s get to work.