Going into our game with Texas a week ago, I wasn't pleased with our defense.  We were missing the buy-in and the commitment needed to sustain a good defensive effort that makes up a good defensive team.  After a few days (and nights) of thought, I came to the conclusion that I'd fallen short in teaching the "why" -- concentrating only on the how and what of defensive play.  So a few days before heading to Austin we sat the team down and addressed them on "Why Defense Is Important."  Here are some notes from that talk: TELL ME WHY DEFENSE IS IMPORTANT... ◄Most will tell m ..read more

This is Part III of a series of clinic notes.  During the past 6 months I have had the opportunity to attend 37 zoom clinics.  It has been an outstanding opportunity of growth for me -- learning and listening to coaches I great respect and many I had not gotten the opportunity to hear and what I'm doing over the next few days is to share a few quick hitters. Buzz Williams: "Our team of coaches is the example of being a great teammate for our teams." Chris Beard: Adapt to technology — big in sending clips to players on their phone.  Mike Neighbors' recommendations:   ..read more

This is Part II of a series of clinic notes.  During the past 6 months I have had the opportunity to attend 37 zoom clinics.  It has been an outstanding opportunity of growth for me -- learning and listening to coaches I greatly respect and many I had not gotten the opportunity to hear before.  Obviously 37 zoom clinics have created a mountain of notes and what I'm doing over the next few days is to share a few quick hitters. Mike Lombardi on Bill Belichick and the message to his staff:  “this who we are — go find players that fit.” Tom Cream on recruiting: "If a kid isn ..read more

During the past 6 months I have had the opportunity to attend 37 zoom clinics.  It has been an outstanding opportunity of growth for me -- learning and listening to coaches I greatly respect and many I had not gotten the opportunity to hear before.  Obviously 37 zoom clinics have created a mountain of notes and what I'm going to do over the next few days is to share a few quick hitters. Alan Stein: "You truly know the culture of a program when the head coach is not around." Buzz Williams: "The three questions I constantly ask of myself...      What do I know? &nbs ..read more

Having been blessed to have coached some of the best to play the game, I have been able to study their approach.  One of the most important attributes I've found is their ability to constantly look to improve -- even after big wins or great performances.  An example of that comes from "Thinking In Bets" by Annie Duke -- a fascinating take on the decisions we make.  Shoutout to Mike Neighbors for recommending this book.  The story as told by Duke is about Phil Ivey, one of the best poker players in the land: "In 2004, my brother provided televised final-table commentary fo ..read more

The following is the address given by Ciera Johnson at the Unity March for Black Lives Matter on the campus at Texas A&M, Thursday, June 11.  The event was sponsored by the A&M Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.  Ciera is a senior captain for the Aggie women's basketball team: Howdy! I want to start off by saying thank you all for coming out and thank you to the group of people that put this together.  Over the past few weeks I have been trying to process everything that has been going on. One thing I can conclude is that the level of ignorance and disrespect toward ..read more

A few weeks ago our program was blessed to have the Dallas Wings head coach Brian Agler stop by to watch us practice.  Afterwards Coach Gary Blair asked Brian if he'd mind saying a few words to our team.  What followed was an amazing message that he left with us -- here are few of the nuggets he gave us: "If you want to play at the next level, it's important to refine your skill work and that comes from your work ethic." "Are you ready for the next thing to happen." "Eliminate Distraction." "Never forget that rest is a part of preparation." He referenced Angela Duckworth's book "Grit" by ..read more

On this date today, 49 years and a day, I was sitting in my living room on a rainy Saturday evening in Teays Valley, West Virginia (approximately 40 miles from Huntington) when WSAZ sports broadcast Bos Johnson broke in local programming. Choking back tears, he reported that Marshall's football charter plane had crashed on approach into Huntington. Over the next half of century, the story of Marshall football has been an amazing journey of overcoming the most difficult of adversities.  The rise from the ashes was long and painful but it showed the greatest of resiliency for a community and c ..read more

Our athletic department was blessed this opening week of school to have Tim Elmore speak to our student-athletes and then to our coaches and administrators.  While there was several great take-aways from Tim in our challenge to better communicate, teach and inspire a new generation of young people, one really resonated with me. Tim held up a bottle of water and talked about the difference in "timeless" and "culture."  He explained that water is timeless -- it's been around forever.  Yet here we are today consuming water out of a bottle instead of a faucet -- that is the change in culture. W ..read more

I always like to pass on a good book when I run across one and "The Coach's Season" by Jason Fry is excellent.  My first thought is that a young coach just starting out in the business or a coach who just grabbed their first head coaching gig would find this an amazing resource.  But it's also invaluable for the veteran coach who is always looking to improve their program or take it to another level.  I would add that while this is a must-have for high school coaches, there is great information to benefit coaches at other levels from junior high school to college. The structure of the book is ..read more