Tanner Bradley

HHP 324 Paper 2

Dr. Buchanan

4/3/17

Coaching Philosophy

1. What do you want to be known for as a coach? What is important to you in terms

of your coaching identity? This should include consideration of various

definitions of a good coach ([1] good as in successful or skillful and [2]

good as in doing what is morally right) (Hardman & Jones. 2011. p. 45).

a. I want to be known for integrity, being honest, being fair/equal to all my

players, trustworthy, and humble. If I can exemplify those 5 things

throughout my career, and be known for those things at the end of my

career, I will be very pleased. To me, having integrity means making the

right decisions on and off the playing field/court. Being a morally sound

coach and individual would be ideal. Knowing how to make the best

decision for the team and knowing in my heart that it will be the right

decision is the type of integrity that I want for my life and my coaching

career. Being an honest coach is naturally a part of my coaching

philosophy; I feel that if I am honest with my players, they will be honest

with me. If I put myself into situations where I am being dishonest or less-

than-honest with my players, it will be nearly impossible to earn my teams

 trust, and the team chemistry will not develop as it should. Being honest

leads into being a trustworthy coach. I want to be the kind of coach that is

not only a coach but is someone who can still be a friend and be someone

who my athletes can talk with about problems or just life in general. Being

a fair/equal coach hits hard with me because I have had coaches that

were not fair and they did not treat their players equally, only playing the

players of parents who knew the coach well or who happened to be his

friend. I would want to be the coach that tests the ability of my team and

then go from there. The last, but definitely not the least, thing I want to be

known for is being humble. Having humility means not feeling as if I need

to take credit for everything, allowing someone else to get the credit, or

just giving the glory to God. I do not want to be known as a coach that

makes poor decisions and then blames them on others. I want to be the

one that wins games and makes a statement and then gives the glory

away.

b. A couple smaller things I would like to be known for include teaching my

players to love their sport as well as teaching them the Xs and Os of that

sport. The biggest thing I want to be known for is making a difference in

their life. I want to be a coach to my players, but I also want to be their

friend, someone they can come to when they need help or just need to

talk to someone. I want to be part of the reason my players love their

 sport, and I want to make such an impact that they want to coach because

of me.

c. I would like to be identified in a positive light as a coach, an identity that

reflects on the coaching style that I will use in my coaching career. That

identity should include having integrity, being trustworthy, being honest

and fair, treating players with equity, and having humility. To me, these

attributes would create a complete identity as a coach. Of course, I will

want to win and will want to make an impact through winning, but if I can

teach my players the game of life and can be the person on whom they

look back and say, wow, I sure am glad that I had Coach Bradley as a

role model, that will be true success and will make me most happy.

2. How does your coaching philosophy align with the statement that sport provides

coaches the opportunity to realize a range of [1] technical, [2] physical and [3]

moral excellences (Hardman & Jones. 2011. p. 72)?

a. I believe that my philosophy does align with the statement that sport

provides coaches the opportunity to realize a range of [1] technical, [2]

physical and [3] moral excellences (Hardman & Jones. 2011. p. 72). I

believe that the technical side of my coaching philosophy meets up with

that statement because I do teach the Xs and Os of the sport. I teach my

athletes how to play the game, how to play it well and with the correct
 fundamentals. If they know the fundamentals, then I believe that the rest

will fall into place with the right coaching style. On the physical side, I

make sure my athletes are in good shape and can play for the full game if

they need to. Additionally, I make sure my athletes are not going to get

pushed around. I will make sure they can hold their own and be physical

with the other team. Thirdly, I will instill morality into my players. We are

not going to be the type of team to cuss out another team or get into

arguments. I know we will have disagreements, but I will make sure that

my team knows the difference in right and wrong. If they make a poor

decision I will point it out and communicate with them about it, then I will

do my best to continue coaching them and living out morals so they know

what it looks like to put them into action.

3. How does your coaching philosophy align with the statement that the coach as a

central cog in the sports environment, has moral responsibilities reaching far

beyond the purely technical and tactical (Jones et al. 2004; Jones 2007 as cited

in Hardman & Jones. 2011. p. 72)?

a. I believe my coaching philosophy covers that topic very well. I want the

best for my athletes. I want them to learn the game and to love the game,

but there is so much more to life than a game. I believe that in my

coaching philosophy. I hit all the points required to show my athletes what

a good moral athlete and person should look like. I will teach my athletes
 life lessons along our journey, and I will show them there is so more to life

than games in high school and college.

4. What secrets of successful coaches helped you to solidify your own

philosophy?

a. One secret of successful coaching I believe helped me is the Seven

Secrets of Successful Coaches chapter (Janssen and Dale 2006., P. 31.)

This chapter helped me by showing me what a credible coach looks like.

There are seven ways in this chapter that tell what a credible coach is and

they are: Character Based, Competent, Committed, Caring, Confidence-

Builder, Communicator, and Consistent. Those seven things show me that

I need to be those in order to be a good coach. The FLIAA (The Federal

Library Information Center Committee) states that A good mentor or

coach is someone who: Leads by example, can listen, has integrity, wants

their players to succeed, give advice, etc. (Characteristics) Those are a

few things they say is what makes up a good coach. To me, these ways

are a good bar to for a self-goal, and that is if I can reach that bar I will

be pleased with my coaching philosophy. That is one thing that helped

solidify my philosophy, because I feel if I have a need to be better for my

team, they will want to be a better team also.

5. What are your abilities / strengths and what are your limitations specific to

coaching?
a. Some strengths of my coaching are that I am very knowledgeable about

the game, I know how it is supposed to be played and I can teach it very

well. I am a very confident coach, I rarely second guess myself, because

by the time I have second guessed myself I have already made up my

mind and done what needed to be done. I am a go getter, if I want

something I will go get it.

b. Some limitations I have are that I am a very independent coach. I have

worked with assistants before and I work well with them, but if there is

something to be done I am not going to ask them to do it. I will just go

ahead and do it.

c. One thing I have been working on is that where I will not be as such an

independent coach. One way I have done that is I have asked for

assistants before and I have given them a few tasks to complete and I

didnt worry about them.

3 Things Which are Important to Me and My Coaching Philosophy

 1. Being a Humble Leader
a. A humble person is someone who sticks out to me when they dont stick
out to others. Humility means not feeling as if I need to take credit for
everything, allowing someone else to get the credit, or just giving the glory
to God. I do not want to be known as a coach that makes poor decisions
and then blames them on others.
2. Teaching the Game of Life
a. I want the best for my athletes. I want them to learn the game and to love
the game, but there is so much more to life than a game. I will teach my
athletes life lessons along our journey, and I will show them there is so
more to life than games in high school and college.
3. Having Integrity
a. Having integrity means making the right decisions on and off the playing
field/court. Being a morally sound coach and individual would be ideal.
Knowing how to make the best decision for the team and knowing in my
heart that it will be the right decision is the type of integrity that I want for
my life and my coaching career.

Concept:
There is more to life than just sports. Yes, I am a coach, and yes, I want to win and be
successful. However, there is more to being successful in life than just a game. Life is
tough and sports are a good way to learn those life lessons without being fully emerged
into that situation.

Tanner Bradley, E&H 18

Sources
- F. (n.d.). Characteristics of a Good Mentor/Coach. Retrieved April 2, 2017, from

https://www.loc.gov/flicc/about/FLICC_WGs/hr/mentor_program/good%20mentor2.pdf

- Hardman, A., & Jones, C. (2011). The ethics of sports coaching. London: Routledge.

- Janssen, J., & Dale, G. A. (2006). The seven secrets of successful coaches: how to

unlock and unleash your team's full potential. Cary, NC: Winning The Mental Game.