Nick Taylor

I’ve never understood being proud of a game plan because it’s complicated. The goal isn’t to impress the other coaches in the office. It’s to give your players something they can execute when they’re tired, nervous, and the game is moving fast. Simple isn’t necessarily the same as easy.

Coaching gets a lot harder when the right decision for the team is the wrong decision for your own popularity. Eventually every coach has to decide which one matters more. And there’s no guarantee anyone will thank you for it.

Some of the most important people in a football program will never have their names in the newspaper. They show up early, stay late, coach kids who aren’t stars, and ask for absolutely nothing in return. Good programs don’t exist without those people.

You can win a lot of football games and still fail your players. You can lose a lot of football games and change the direction of a kid’s life. The scoreboard matters, but it doesn’t measure everything that matters.