What are coaches allowed to say to players?

Lombardi did that quite a few times. In Maraniss' book, he told of one player (not Kramer) who Lombardi was screaming at for an entire practice that was open to family. By the end, the player's kid was crying and his wife was pretty upset. At the team dinner that night, Lombardi walks up to them, tells the player, "You're starting tomorrow", and walks away, and the family's mood just skyrocketed.

Also in the book, Lombardi, contrare to popular opinion, didn't scream at certain players. Starr objected to the screaming because he felt that as the QB, he was the team leader and it would make him look bad in front of the rest of the team. Hornung, he would scream at all the time, but he also loved the guy, so it was accepted. McGee would get screamed at and fined for curfew violations, but Lombardi would frequently return the money at the end of the season.

A couple other players would get too nervous, so Lombardi would let up on them. Then, there's the story of Mel Triplett, who, during one film session in which Lombardi kept showing a mistake multiple times, finally muttered, "Show that again, and I'll cut you." Lombardi stopped.

 

Aye. When I was a young'n, I wanted to play for Norm Stewart. Legendary crotchety dude. I knew it was the "I'll-put-a-boot-up-your-ass" type that motivated me.

And I reject the assertion coaches shouldn't be allowed to curse or yell or whatever at their players. Kids the same damn age are getting it *much* worse (in most instances) when they report for basic training in the military. Yes, one is sports and the other is the bloody military, I realize they're not the same. But motivation is motivation. The guys who end up working in the Army radio station or as mess hall chefs deal with the same instruction as their comrades who are headin to the front lines.

 

I couldn't possibly imagine a working environment in which swearing regularly took place. What a ridiculous assertion. Now where the fuck is that story I've been waiting on for two fucking hours!

 

So you did not wish to experience postseason success?

 

I was under the impression drill instructors were (officially at least) not allowed to swear at recruits.

 

Oh that's right, Private Pyle, don't make any fucking effort to get to the top of the fucking obstacle. If God would have wanted you up there he would have miracled your ass up there by now, wouldn't he?

 

You immediately lost all credibility.

Seriously though, I think what a lot of coaches and bosses don't realize is that if all you do is scream and throw tantrums it loses all meaning and effectiveness.

 

From my dealings with Norm Stewart as a reporter, I can't imagine how bad his players had it in practice.

 

Not necessarily, I once worked for a guy who openly bullied, belittled, swore at and yelled at his employees. He is still gainfully employed. (and from what I hear is still a gigantic prick)

drill Sgts can't physically assault someone though (I've never been in the military, but this was in a piece in Slate last month http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2013/03/05/why_is_boot_camp_so_intense.html). Rice throwing a basketball at someone's head is way over the line. Plus the military is training people to be able to do a job while being shot at, not play a game.

 

One of my kids got corporal punished in first grade. I didn't bitch one iota. I tell the teachers when he's there, he looks at you people as authority and you have full authority provided you're fair.

He wound up an honors student.

On the other hand, I could name five whose parents were the first ones up there to blame it on someone else, a teacher most of the time, and refused to allow corporal punishment. Two were punks or brats that have been bailed out of DUIs. Three ended up in alternative school or juvenile jail.

Maybe one size doesn't fit all. But I still hold no grudge against the basketball coach who hit me hard in the face with a basketball. It pushed me to do the drill harder. I hated the SOB but he got more out of me than any coach I ever played under until my premature retirement from HS sports.

 

The old time Packers writers also tell stories about how you could hear Lombardi screaming the N-word when you got within three blocks of the practice field.

 

The thing with coaches (or any manger) is, their gifts at motivation come in learning how to push the buttons in each individual while keeping the team's respect. Not an easy task. The other thing I've learned in coaching -- granted, my experience isn't past the eighth-grade level, but it seems true at higher levels -- is that if your best player (and everyone on the team knows who that is) buys into what you're doing, everything gets much easier. If your best player doesn't, forget it.