Old School Coaches- Locker Room Motivation

I am hoping to do this segment- "Old School Coaches" on a regular basis. I have put together a crew of retired coaches, who were highly successful in their high school coaching career. My hope is to post one question to them every two weeks. 

Bob Anderson- Williamsfield HS

Bob is retired as boys basketball coach at Williamsfield. At a school of only 89 students, in 45 years, his teams won 732 games along with numerous tourney and conference championships. His 1997 team made it to the Elite 8. 

Mike Cooper- Ottawa HS

Mike is the retired Athletic Director at Ottawa HS. He was varsity girls basketball coach for 22 years, as well as sophomore football coach for many years. He was inducted in the the IBCA HOF.

Tim Engebretson- United HS

He was varsity head football coach for many years at United HS. He also has coached basketball at different levels. His 2005 team won the Illinois State Title, and Tim is in the Illinois Football Coaches' HOF as well as the United HOF.

Greg King- Sterling HS

In his head coaching career at Sterling, his football teams went 78-28, and had 10 straight play-off appearances and 5 conference titles. In addition to his success as a football coach, he was inducted in the Illinois Athletic Director's Association HOF. 

Mark Massey- Clinton HS

Mark was the head volleyball coach at Clinton for 38 years. His teams won 818 games, and twice took second in State. He is in the Iowa Volleyball HOF and Clinton HS HOF.

Thom Sigel- Rock Falls/Rock Island HS

Thom coached basketball for 32 years. His teams won 502 games, and he has the distinction of winning the State Title at both Rock Falls and Rock Island. Thom is in the IBCA HOF.

Mike Tracey- Alleman, UTHS, Moline HS

Mike coached football at Alleman, UT, and Moline for over 20 years. By most, he is considered the premier football coach in WB6 history. His teams won 140 games, and twice finished second in State. Mike is in the Alleman HS HOF and the Illinois Football HOF. He was also selected Illinois AD of the Year. 

Tom Wierzba- Farmington HS

Tom coached basketball for 38 years, coaching 26 years at Farmington. At Farmington, his teams won 7 sectionals and made 5 trips to State, including a third place and fourth place finish. For his career, his teams won 611 games. In addition, he coached softball at Farmington for 10 years- going 225-50. His softball teams won the State title twice and took fourth once. He has been inducted into both the IBCA and Greater Peoria Sports HOF's.

My Question

What quotes, sayings, or motivational messages would you want to put up in your locker room?

Mike Tracey- Alleman, UTHS

At Alleman we had our own stand alone building. We were a private school. It limited some of our choices for signage, etc. The locker room at UTHS  a facility for kids to dress for PE class and other fall sports usage, specifically soccer and cross country. Moline had a deserted locker room basement at an alternative school that used to be a thriving junior high . It was old and beat up.

We did not use many signs or quotes. The  one l used for football at all three schools was our simple game requirements: PLAY HARD, HAVE FUN , BE PHYSICAL.

We also posted a simple goal sheet for the players:

1. Be the best person you can be.

2. Believe in something. (This was personal and individual in scope. We hoped it would be of a spiritual slant.)

3. Be the best student you can be. (This was highly personal and individualized.Basically it was the ultimate do your best thing.)

4. Be the best football player you can be.

We had the kids create their own definitions for 1-4. Every team was a different animal. The answers for each team were similar yet quite varied . Each team was often similar yet different. The important thing to stress with the kids was that there were no wrong answers..

Thom Sigel- Rock Island

There was some carryover from Rock Falls, but we essentially went with 3 locker room signs in the locker room in Rock Island.  We had them up from 2002, and while we added some decorative things on the walls and a conference standings board, they stood the test of time over the next 20 years.

  One was "Everyone wants to win, but only a SELECT few do what it takes."  We talked a lot about how hard it is to recognize how much a team/player wants to win.  I believe everyone wants to win.  However, the actions of teams/players reflect what they are willing to do in order to win (or to play for players).  I understand what people mean when they say a team "wanted it more", but I don't really agree with it most of the time.  One team may have been more willing to get on the floor, execute, play together, defend, prepared better during the week, etc. but I think both teams stepped out there wanting to win to the same degree.

   Another sign came from hearing some commercial on the radio.  I didn't take it seriously while I was driving, but I gave it more thought and figured it might be something we could weave into our culture.  The saying was "When the goin' gets tough, the tough don't notice."  Everyone knows the original saying, but I liked this version.  We talked about how tough teams are prepared for adversity and just play through it.  More recently, I have heard "get comfortable being uncomfortable."  I think it is the same message.

   Finally, we had "We Are ROCKTOWN" (and ROCK FALLS previously) posted above the locker room door heading out of the locker room.  The players would slap it on the way out.  It came from the famous Penn State slogan when I was at Rock Falls, and I used it at Rock Island as well.  It was meant to represent who we were, what our program stood for, and all that went into being a part of the program.

Evan Massey- Galesburg

Play Hard, Play Together- This was on the wall outside our locker room. The tradition was that the players as they left the locker room, they slapped the wall as they head out on the floor. It was simple, but valuable because it had been used year after year- it kind of tied teams together. After their starting lineups, when they circled up as a team, they said,"Play hard, play together, Silver Streaks." It is interesting that at two of the colleges my son has been at, their version of this quote, "Tougher Together." I began to use this alot more when we were on the road to talk about staying connected and picking each other up. 

Next Play- This was on the door leaving the locker room. The message was whether things were going well or going bad, go onto the next play. It became easy during time outs, especially on the road, to bring up that we are not going onto the next play. 

Know Your Role, Believe in Your Role, Star in Your Role- This came from Doug Collins. This was part of a message that everyone was important to our team. Part of the discussion was that the best way to change your role was to star in your existing role. 

Greg King- Sterling

One of my favorite quotes is from Pete Carroll.  Always Compete.  Be true to yourself and let nothing hold you back.  Compete to be the greatest you, and that will always be enough and that will be a lifetime.  Always Compete.

His Always Compete mindset is competing against yourself..we are our toughest opponent.  We can control our self…but not our opponents. We can control the things we need to be successful and that is our basic fundamentals

Another quote I love was by a Division 3 Football Coach Frosty Westering. He said, We don’t “have” a great day, we “make it” a great day. 

In other words, we control how we feel.  Our attitude is ours. Others should not influence it. Many times HS kids are influenced by others and it influences everything from grades, to relationships, and athletic performance.

Tim Engebretson- United

We did not have any go-to quotes but we would plaster a bunch up on our bulletin board with a variety of messages. We hoped the variety of messages would make a difference with the numerous personalities. I am not sure if they ever had the desired effect we were looking for.

The one constant message we posted was choosing substance over style. Unfortunately, sports has morphed into an entertainment industry at the college and professional level. We really tried to stress that respect, points, yards, tackles, and wins were never awarded for being cool or having style. That message was not always well received but we tried.

The best and most effective messages were notes sent by former players.  We didn’t receive them every year but when we did, they were very inspirational and motivating to our players. Our players usually knew the individuals who sent the notes and appreciated the fact they recently experienced what they were going through.

One quote I really liked was something Dennis Larson said all the time:  "It's not the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog." I tried to use it but I usually said it backwards and I would confuse my players. 

Mike Cooper- Ottawa

One of my favorite quotes is MTXE Mental Toughness and Xtra Effort! I noticed it when Gene Smithson former Illinois State University and Wichita State head coach used it and had it on their uniforms. I had a former player make me a street sign that I put in our locker room with that saying. You can win a lot of games with Mental toughness and giving a little extra on the floor.

The second quote I used to use was "Obstacles are what you see when you take eyes off the goal". Today's players have so many outside influences trying to take their focus off the team aspects of the game. I was constantly using this quote to keep players working within a team concept and not letting parents or friends change their focus.

I think quotes that coaches believe in can be very beneficial to a program! Players take pride in traditions and quotes that have been part of a program for a long time. Especially programs that have had a lot of success.

Bob Anderson- Williamsfield

One sign we had up was, "Everyone wants to win, but not everyone wants to prepare to win." Meaning if you want to win, you have to practice and work hard if you want to win. 

Another sign located on the wall just before we went upstairs to play the game- it said, "first to the floor." I think if you watch a game and you see a loose ball, the first to the floor usually gets it. 

We didn't have a sign that said this, but if I had it to do over again, I would have a sign that said, "Playing hard, the most important thing in basketball." We always felt if your team played hard, you had a chance.  

If you have a question for the Old School Coaches, email emass70@yahoo.com