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What The Greatest Champions Think About Success, Failure, And Beating Your Rival

on December 15, 2019 in Sports Leadership

I recently wrote a post John Maxwell’s Difference Between Successful And Unsuccessful People.  John’s premise is the difference between the two is how people think.  Recently, the ACC Network created an incredible resource called Champions: Coaching Conversations.  This one-hour episode featured interviews with a fraternity of six current ACC coaches who have won national championships.

The following were the coaches interviewed:

Their insights were fascinating.  For example, you can see Coach Williams’ interview shown above.  The first four coaches listed were part of three panel interviews.  Coach Williams and Coach K were featured individually.

The following are breakdowns of their interviews and leadership insights:

Coach Mike Krzyzewski

  • “What motivates me is the next moment.”
  • “I’m the luckiest guy in the world because I get to do what I love to do at the best place you can do it.”
  • “You have to learn how to win a championship.  You learn how to win a championship by not winning a championship.”
  • “I never doubted we would be successful.  I thought I was supposed to win.  At West Point they didn’t teach you how to be a loser.  They taught you how to succeed.”
  • “Every season is its own entity… It’s always different.  As a leader, it’s important to remember change is essential and how you connect.  I’m 72.  I have to continually adapt to how I connect to the group I’m coaching.”
  • “(Leadership) is not a recipe book.  You have to be a lifelong learner of leadership.”
  • “I love when players make plays.  That’s why they call them ‘players’.  They’re not making shots.  They make plays.”
  • “The greatest entertainers rehearse at the same level that they do their performance.  Hopefully, the audience lifts them… I’m big on performance and being ready, and being in the moment.”
  • “If you have to get up more to play North Carolina than you do for another opponent, then you don’t deserve to coach the team that’s playing North Carolina.”
  • “Why would the opponent determine your level of performance?  Our performance should be terrific all the time.”
  • “Your championship can’t be beating your rival… There are no banners in Cameron Indoor Stadium for beating our rival.  There are a heck of a lot banners for being Number One, being in the Final Four, ACC Champions, and there are five national champions.  They got there because we were trying to win every game.  It’s fundamentally simple to think that way.”
  • “We don’t put out goals.  Our goal is to win a national championship… That’s why we’re here, right?”
  • “Winners and high-achieving people don’t do things because of what other people will think.  They do things because of what they feel and think and what they want to strive for and achieve.”

Advice To First-Time Champions (Panel)

  • “Enjoy it.  It’s not easy.” – Coach Boeheim
  • “It’s an amazing thing but don’t be distracted by it… Turn the page quick and get excited about a new journey and new challenge and don’t live in the rearview mirror.”  – Coach Swinney
  • “The hardest thing is the expectations of next year and how are you going to manage that.” – Coach McGraw
  • “The difference between losing in the national championship and winning is amazing… When we lost, no one sent a single note… When we won it was national news.” – Coach McGraw
  • “You get a grace period when you win it.” – Coach Boeheim
  • “You’re overwhelmed with thankfulness.” – Coach Bennett on how felt winning his first championship

On Failure (Panel)

  • “It humbles us.  It almost broke us but it did draw us closer together as a team.  It made us understand what really mattered.” – Coach Bennett on previous year’s loss in the first round to UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County).  It was the first time a top-seed ever lost to a 16th-seed in tournament history.
  • “You’re going to win the national championship.  Let the light that shines within you shine brighter than the light that’s on you.” – Coach Swinney’s text and advice to Coach Bennett heading into the 2019 Final Four
  • “The Spirit… Enjoy it.  Have peace.” – Coach Swinney on what led him to send that text to Coach Bennett
  • “You don’t lose on the last shot.  You lose on whole 40 minutes.” – Coach McGraw
  • “It’s just so devastating when you do lost that (championship) game.” – Coach Boeheim
  • “I never wanted my teams to feel like we failed.” – Coach Swinney
  • “Where is your identify?  How do you define yourself?  You’re never going to please everyone.” – Coach Bennett
  • “It shouldn’t be about the players when you lose.  It should be about the coach… You have to understand that’s part of coaching.” – Coach Boeheim
  • “Everybody’s not going to like.  It’s the best advice a coach can have.” – Coach Boeheim
  • “I was an assistant at Alabama for 13 years.  I saw criticism at the highest level.” – Coach Swinney
  • “A very important perspective for a coach to have is to not get distracted… I don’t get any negative mail.” – Coach Swinney
  • “I was a D+ hire… ESPN rated me a D+.  I was so happy to get that +.  I come to work everyday with that mindset.” – Coach Swinney

Advice To A Coach Yet To Win A Title (Panel)

  • “Our success in the postseason is on who we play and who we practice against every day.” – Coach Swinney
  • “It prepares you for the tournament.  We’re not going to see anything in the NCAA Tournament we haven’t seen in the ACC.” – Coach McGraw
  • “You always want to test yourself against the best.  That’s how you prepare your team.” – Coach Bennett
  • “Ever tried?  Ever failed?  No Matter.  Try Again.  Fail Again.  Fail Better.” – Coach Bennett
  • “Confidence.  Knowing you can do it.  Thinking it and knowing it are two different things.  It’s (also) about recruiting, the kids you have, the culture you have.” – Coach McGraw
  • “Have a vision for it and a belief.  Are you willing to put the work in?  There’s no elevator to greatness.  There’s no shortcuts.” – Coach Swinney
  • “You’ve got to be willing to get in a car to drive 10 hours to get a job.  You’ve got to have that to make it in coaching.  If you have that drive in anything you do, you’ll be successful.” – Coach Boeheim

Coach Roy Williams 

  • “The most inadequate feeling you have as a coach is what do you say to your team when you just lost the national championship game.”
  • “I care.  I am emotional and that’s who I am.  I hurt.”
  • “The change (when you win a national championship) is the bond you will have with those teams for the rest of their lives.”
  • “Every year for our team to have a chance to win the national championship.” – on his goals
  • “I talk them about our dreams (before national championship games).  Be led by your dreams and not pushed by your problems.  We got to this spot because you had a dream.”
  • “Their pain is enough (when losing a national championship game)… Have compassion for that guy who lost.”
  • “Players gotta play on game day.  Coaches gotta coach on game day.”
  • “(I look most forward to) the relationships with the guys… Statistics are important but relationships last a lifetime.”
  • “Relationships is what I love the most and when I decide to quit, it’s what I’ll miss the most.”

What is one thing you learned from these amazing coaches which will make you a better leader?

To receive leadership insights from Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, click HERE or on the image to the left for my new ebook The Leadership Of Nick Saban: Timeless Truths From The Incomparable Head Coach Of The Alabama Crimson Tide.  Enjoy!

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