The document outlines the key steps and qualities needed to become a successful coach. It discusses that coaches must study the sport, learn new techniques, motivate and communicate effectively with players, discipline players and lead by example. It also emphasizes the importance of commitment to the team and putting in hard work. The document uses Coach Krzyzewski as an example of a highly successful coach who exemplifies these qualities through his long and storied career at Duke University.

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Duncan Jones
Ms. Bennett
British Literature
7 October 2011
Steps to Coaching Success
Players are not the only ones that work hard to win championship; it takes a coach to lead
the players to victory. What does it take to become the coach who leads the team and players to
championships? To be a successful coach all the details of becoming one are important. For
example some of the details a coach needs to succeed are to first study up about the sport, and
also find new information about it. To be a good coach one must learn to motivate, and
communicate with the players to provide strong stable team. Also a coach must discipline the
players and lead by example to receive any respect. Finally to complete the details a coach must
be 110% committed to the team and sport. Coaching takes everything from motivating to leading
a team to championships, and commitment is what makes it all possible.
To be a successful coach, coaches have to start by knowing the sport being played. Study
the sport learn all about it, and become close with it. As a coach one must read up about the
history of the sport and also learn about the school in which they will be coaching. No coach can
just fill a coaching spot and expect to be successful without the knowledge of the sport and the
history of the sport being played. “At first Krzyzewski struggled at Duke University” (Sumner)
and was not very experienced, and still learning about the pieces that would make him successful
in the future to come. All great coaches start at the bottom and with knowledge and new ways to
make teams‟ better coaches work their way to the top. In conclusion, to start off a coaching
career a coach has to educate the brain about the sport and know it well.

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Coaches do not learn everything they need to know about the game by themselves. To
become a greater and better coach one “must continue to learn and develop new training
techniques” to make a team better (Quinn). Within these new techniques are “training and rehab
information, attending coaching clinics, camps, and also recruiting” (Quinn). A coach wants to
be able to be updated on everything that makes coaches successful, and improve in later seasons.
Coach Krzyzewski took these camps and clinics seriously and also recruiting. Coach Krzyzewski
“became an especially effective recruiter, consistently signing the nation‟s top high-school
players” to improve the team at Duke University (Sumner). As a coach one must also watch film
of opposing teams, to help the players perform, and to produce a win by knowing what the
opponent is going to do. Coaches also need to have a playbook and plays to run against other
teams to win the edge over the opponent and gain the victory. These techniques and coaching
skills will make a coach successful in the long run.
Motivation is a key component to becoming a successful coach. If a coach does not
motivate the players then what do the players have to play for, or what picks the players up when
they are down on their game? A coach has to display “a positive attitude and enthusiasm towards
the game and the players” (Quinn). Motivation does not just come from the coach; it comes from
the players as well. Coach Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils once said, “The only way to
accomplish what we want to accomplish is to do it together” (DuPree, David). Another example
of motivation is expressed by Phil Jackson when he said, “Good teams become great ones when
the members trust each other enough to surrender the me for the we” (Top 10 List Basketball
Quotes & Quotations). These coaches look for ways to motivate the players and to help their
players to want to win. The best motivator any coach could tell their players is “Don‟t give up,
don‟t ever give up” (Top 10 List Basketball Quotes & Quotations). In conclusion, a coach should

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put effort into motivating their players to play hard as a team and become successful as a team.
As a coach one has to be able to know the differences in their athletes. Coach Krzyzewski
is not an amateur of picking the players for the spots he needs to fill. Coach Krzyzewski “excels
as a motivator and a tactician, demonstrating a disciplined attention to detail and an ability to
fine tune each team to best take advantage of the players particular skills” (Sumner). To create
the perfect team a coach must recruit and handpick their players, and pick the players who can
play the position the coach wants them to play. As an example of how important it is to pick the
right players for the team, Coach Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils, “Began a nine year
period of basketball dominance in which they complied a win-lose record of 264-59 from 1986-
1994” (Sumner) showing that if a coach picks the right players for the right position they will
have success and win many games. Coaching is about finding all the qualities in a player and
using them to the advantage to create something special within the team. In conclusion when a
coach picks players to play for them choose the players that best fit the team the coach wants to
coach.
As a coach communication is key because being able to be on the same page with the
players lets players understand the rules coaches set. Also communication helps well on the court
letting coaches communicate with players during the game, and letting the players play more
under control knowing what they have to do. Communication on and off the court will result into
a successful team in the future. A coach must communicate with the players and let them know
the rules and expectations they want to see out of the players. To communicate with players on
and off the court, a coach must “communicate Face-to Face being able look each other in the
eyes, and tell each other the truth which develops trust between player and coach” (Lodge). As

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Coach Krzyzewski put it, “Anytime you‟re in a scary situation, you don‟t want to do it alone. I
want to be there with a group. I want to be linked arm-in-arm with one another. It‟s all about
developing trusting relationships” (Lodge). A coach‟s team is more than a team it is a trusting
family, and communication brings both the coach and the players together.
Coaches will not earn any respect from players if coaches do not have any discipline
towards players, or themselves. A “coach is responsible for discipline if a player ignores both the
set of rules on and off the court” (Quinn). Discipline during practice prepares players for any
game situation. As coach Krzyzewski put it “If a team cannot perform with excellence at a
moment‟s notice, they probably will fail in the long run” (Krzyzewski). Coaching with discipline
takes effort and hard work to make players tougher and stronger on and off the court. Discipline
“isn‟t all about „I love you‟, and „Lets hold hands and skip‟. It‟s also about „Get your rear in
gear,‟ „what the hell are you doing?‟ and „why aren‟t you in class?‟” (Krzyzewski). “Discipline
is doing what you are supposed to do in the best possible manner at the time you are supposed to
do it. And that‟s not such a bad thing” (Krzyzewski). Discipline is a key component to every
team and the success of the team. In conclusion a coach must let the players know beforehand
who the boss is and how the team is going to run.
As a coach one must lead by example and set standards at what a coach wants to see out
of the players. There are many types of ways for a coach to lead by example, for instance
“Bobby Knight, also known as “The General” leads through discipline, and intimidation”
(Silverthorne). Coach Knight leads by working the players and making the players tougher all
around. Coach Knight also uses intimidation to set fear in the players eyes, so that when players
are in the game players fear nothing except when they do something wrong and have to face
coach Knight. Also another great coach that leads by example is coach Krzyzewski, but instead

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of leading by discipline and intimidation, Coach Krzyzewski “heavily relies on positive
reinforcements, open and warm communication, and caring support” (Silverthorne). Leading by
example can occur in many ways and whatever way a coach can successfully lead a team is the
way to go.
Commitment for a coach means giving one‟s life to the team and putting one‟s heart and
soul on the line for the team. A coach must be there for the team during both good and the bad
times. Coach Krzyzewski once said, “when my relationship with Duke was put up against my
relationship with a storied franchise, I found myself even more committed to what Duke has”
(Quotes). When a coach becomes close and in love with a team it is a sign of commitment.
Coach Krzyzewski said “turning down the Lakers was tough, but it is always good to renew your
vows to the loves of your life” (Quotes). This quote shows all kinds of commitment, for example
coach Krzyzewski turned a better offer down to stay with his long time Duke Blue Devils
showing love and happiness. In conclusion coaches must put their time and effort to making a
team great and also making it a family to be successful.
These points that are presented make successful coaches out of anyone. As stated earlier
motivation, and commitment are key to becoming a coach that will go down in history. For
example Coach Krzyzewski is one of history‟s most famous coaches, and if a coach follows the
points one has a chance to be successful just as coach Krzyzewski is. Make the right decision and
takes a basketball team to the championship and show off the skills that were learned.