This past Sunday, September 1st, the 23-ranked USC Trojans defeated the 13th-ranked LSU Tigers by a score of 27-20. Afterwards, Tigers head coach Brian Kelly’s frustration over his team’s performance boiled over in a postgame news conference. You can watch a portion of his outburst by clicking the image below.
Kelly said, “It’s the first time since I’ve been here (at LSU) that I’m angry at my football team. First of all, from a big picture, we didn’t play complementary football. When we did some good things on the offensive side of the ball, we didn’t complement that defensively and vice versa. But the thing that is most concerning for me are the personal fouls, the penalties that are selfish. Both of them led to scores, and they’re undisciplined penalties, and effectively they fall back on me.”
He concluded, “I’m not doing a good enough job as a coach. I’ve gotta coach ’em better. Because it’s unacceptable for us not to have found a way to win this football game. It’s ridiculous.”
3 Lessons from LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly’s Postgame News Conference Outburst
The following are three lessons from LSU head coach Brian Kelly’s postgame news conference outburst:
Sometimes Anger Is Warranted
Coach Kelly had a right to be angry. When your team’s lack of discipline causes you to lose games or miss goals, it should cause a certain level of frustration and anger.
It is acceptable to make mistakes. Mistakes are a sign you are trying hard and attempting new things. It is the reckless and undisciplined mistakes you want to eliminate. When this happens, the key is to be angry and sin not. Address the behaviors, not the people and then move on.
Target Your Communications
When a coach does a news conference, they are usually talking to three groups of people:
- The fans
- The players
- Someone else (the administration, media, coaches, etc…)
I would suspect Coach Kelly was using this news conference to speak to his players and coaches.
As a leader, when you do any spoken or written communication, make sure you identify who your true audience is and target your message specifically to them.
Leaders Take Responsibility For Poor Results
What I appreciate most about Coach Kelly’s news conference was when he said, “I’m not doing a good enough job as a coach. I’ve gotta coach ’em better.” What a great leadership statement!
First, Coach Kelly is accurate. When something happens on the field, coaches are either coaching it or allowing it to happen. The undisciplined play and personal behavior hurt the LSU team, and Coach Kelly was ultimately responsible. I’m confident this will be addressed in practice.
Second, when the team performs well, the leader should stand behind the team and allow them to take the credit. When the team performs poorly, the leader must stand in front of the team and take full responsibility for the results.
This is what Coach Kelly did. It’s what you and I should do as well.
Conclusion
LSU lost the game but their coach provided us the following leadership lessons:
- Sometimes anger is warranted.
- Target your communications.
- Leaders take full responsibility for poor results.
What is one thing you learned from Coach Kelly’s press conference which will make you a better leader?
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