Most Coaches Get This Wrong About Motivation | Herm Edwards

In this conversation, legendary NFL coach and ESPN analyst Herm Edwards explains how great teams are built when players take ownership and why the best coaches know when to be encouragers instead of just disciplinarians.

In this episode, we cover:

•  Why hope is a coach’s greatest gift
•  How to know when to encourage versus discipline
•  The balance of being coach-fed and player-led
•  The importance of letting players feel ownership and leadership

🎧 This conversation originally took place inside Momentum Sessions, a free community for coaches who take culture seriously.

If you’d like to join future sessions, ask questions live, and connect with other coaches working on this, visit:
 👉 momentumteams.com/sessions

About Momentum Sessions
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

They're either committed or you're interested. Most people are interested. Most people want to be interested. They don't want to commit. Because when you commit to something, that means, oh, I gotta show up. Yeah, you gotta show up. And you got to get them to commit. And the key is this will they commit to their teammates?

SPEAKER_01 0:24

We are joined today, really, by a true legend in the game. One of the most respected voices in all of football. And not just because of his coaching record, but because of his passion for leadership and culture and life lessons that athletes can take with them far beyond the field. Coach, we're thrilled to have you here today with us. So I definitely want to get into all the leadership and you know culture and how you kind of see things and give these coaches some real actionable things. But first, everyone knows obviously from that famous line you play to win the game. Do you think it would have followed you 20 plus years down the line?

SPEAKER_00 0:59

And no, I did not. And it was uh it wasn't in it, it wasn't intentional. It was uh we were in a situation when I was in New York on my second year, actually. First year me we go to the playoffs. And we're heading to our second season, got a pretty good football team, and we're not playing up to our capabilities. We're not coaching up to our capabilities, we're not playing up to our capabilities. And um it was a press conference in New York. The press conference generally in the NFL are on um they're on uh Tuesdays, and the players' day is off on Tuesday, right? And um so uh they were asking questions, and a reporter was about to ask, you know, was the team going to quit? Well, in life, you don't quit. In anything you do. When you start something, you finish it. You don't you don't get to tap out when it's hard. You don't you don't get to do that. And um, we were two and five, and and I basically said what I said. I said it one time in my life, that day in the press conference, and have never said it again. Don't even say it's followed me, obviously. And I think the uniqueness of it all was this. It was on a Tuesday, the players weren't in, they came in on Wednesday, and when I was getting ready to address the team, um, because we were going to play that weekend, obviously. Chad Pennington, the quarterback, stood up in the meeting room and said, Coach, we heard what you said. And I looked at him, and then I looked at the team, and it was quiet. And I said, Are we good? I looked at all of and they shook their heads and said, Yeah, coach, we're good. And I said, Okay, go to your meetings. Well, it ended up, it ended up being pretty good. We won a division. And so it goes to show you, I think, that there will be some times and some moments uh during the course of the season where words are powerful. And I think sometimes you need to use those words, not you don't have to use them a lot, but you got to pick your spots when it's time to say something. And that's what coaching's all about. You know, the opportunity presents itself. What do I need to say to encourage, encourage people? There's enough people saying negative things. You have to be the encourager. You have to give them what I call is the greatest word ever, ever, ever, ever invented, hope. You got to give people hope. And sometimes you sit in a position as a coach and you can see it unfolding, and your staff needs hope too sometimes. Someone has to give them encouragement. And generally, that's the head guy's responsibility. You know, you got to know your players, you got to know your staff. Uh, you you pick and choose what you say, and you have to know when to say it.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

What, in your opinion, actually really works to keep athletes locked in beyond maybe, you know, fear or punishment? What really works in your mind around that?

SPEAKER_00 3:46

You know, I believe coaches are teachers. And um, I no coach in the history of coaching any any sport has ever given a player talent. You know, God gives them talent. You are an information provider. And they all accept information different ways. And this is what you got to know. You know, how you teach, you're a teacher, and how do you deliver the message and how do you get the message across? That's more important than anything else for me. You know, how you communicate, and it's a it's it's a give and take. You know, it's don't ask players to do something they're incapable of doing. You know, your job is not allowed a player to fail. That's your number one job. And that's what I told coaches. I said, look, our job is don't let them fail. You know, we can't let them fail. And we may want to do something, but are they capable of doing it? And if they're not, then that's our fault. Put them in position to be successful, right? I mean, that's that that's your number one job. And you know, understand their talent, understand their deficiencies. And this is why you'd have a team. There's 11 people out there, it's not one.

unknown 4:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

How do you put them in position to be successful? Their success, a lot of that depends on how you use them, right? And the position you use them in. That's kind of important. So don't lose sight of that. Don't lose sight of I want to do this as a coach, but what can the player do? Right. At the end of the day, you may want to do that, but the player cannot do that. But maybe he can do something else. Well then use them that way.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

What role does recognition you think play in keeping athletes, especially more at a youth level, motivated?

SPEAKER_00 5:31

For me, when you're at a young level, all of them have dreams and aspirations of going to the next level, right? And most of them are not. They're not gonna go. I mean, most athletes, when they leave high school, that's it. Most of them won't go to college and play football. That's just and so I think the enjoyment of playing the game, because the game of football, when you think about it, and I've said this many times, think about it this way. The one thing football provides you is this wonderful thing called the huddle. And when you walk in the huddle, just think about where all the those guys came from. Different backgrounds, you know, just different economical situations, different nationalities. It don't matter. Because when you walk in that huddle, it's 11 of you. And you got to play for each other if you want success, right? The huddle's a powerful thing, boy. You know, and and and I love it because all these guys come together and they get in this huddle and they all need each other to be successful. You know, I mean, that's how it works. It just works that way. And once they buy into the huddle, then they understand the importance of team. They understand the importance of I can't do this by myself. As good as I am, I can't hike the ball, throw the ball, catch the ball. I can't do all that by myself. I have I need help to do this, right? To be successful. And I just think that you can't lose sight of that, you know, of the huddle and uh how the huddle really works. So for me, it's just look, you you you prepare your football team, you give players and put them in position to be successful, and then uh you go from there.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

If we look at uh now kind of culture and accountability, what does a team first culture look like, in your opinion, you know, beyond just slogans on the wall?

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Yeah, I I think the number one thing is you're accountable to your teammates. You don't want to let them down. To me, that's the most powerful team you can have. And um, you know, once I started playing football, uh like I said, I played, you know, I played high school football. And then high school was uh it was 10, 11, 12. Now it's nine, I in ninth grade, you but it was 10, 11, 12, and then from there you went to college if if you if you were good enough. And then from there, if you were really good enough, you went to the NFL. When I first started playing football, I understood something that was very important. I didn't want to let my teammates down. That was more important than me than I was accountable to them guys, you know, and and and I and I tell people, you know, all the time, my my claim to fame is real simple. Um, and I received some things as a player and you know, and made Pro Bowls and did all, but no, and I tell people all the time, I say, you know, the most important thing for me was I was available. I was always available. And from the 10th grade when I started playing taco football to all the way until I retired from the NFL, from high school football to college football at the NFL. And this is something that I pride myself over as a player. I never missed a practice, I never missed a start. From high school to college to professional football. Never missed a practice, never missed a start. I started as a 10th grader to college as a freshman and in pro football as a rookie. So I never missed a start, never missed a practice, never missed a game. And if anything else, that's that's my proudest accomplishment as a football player. And you know why? Because I didn't want to let my teammates down. I was accountable to them. Talent is a gift, but teams are brought together. And some kind of way, when all that talent comes together, you got something special. But the most the most important thing is those guys in that huddle, they got to feel obligated. I don't want to let these guys down. That's when you know you got a good football team.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Are there ways? Because what I think you're talking about is really powerful. You were committed to showing up every day and you were not wanting to let someone, your teammate, down. Is there a way as a coach you can tap into that to get other athletes thinking about there's something bigger than just myself and how I'm feeling at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

What's the standard? What's your standard? Like you say, committed. You know, there's there's two types of people in the world. Yeah. They're either committed or you're interested. Most people are interested. Most people want to be interested. They don't want to commit. Because when you commit to something, that means, oh, I got to show up. Yeah, you got to show up. And you got to get them to commit. And the key is this will they commit to their teammates? They got to understand that. That's what you got to build. They don't want to let, I didn't want to let those guys down.

unknown 10:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

As much as the coach is coaching, they give you, you know, coaches are information providers. They give you information. Okay. But at the end of the day, when I walked in the huddle, I didn't want to let them guys down. I said, I don't want to let these guys down. They're counting on me. Right? And that's when you know you have a good team. When you build it around the guys in the huddle and the guys that that play on special team. Everybody has a role. And when guys understand how important that role is to the success of the team, then you got something special.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

How can a coach, do you think, set some non-negotiables without losing buy-in?

SPEAKER_00 11:06

On every team, you got to figure out who your core players are. Right. Okay. And you got to know that going and you can you can sit as a coach, you got to kind of look and you got to understand the locker room and who has the voices in the locker room. And that's kind of your committee. You know, they may be four to five guys. That's it. And I'm not even saying they don't even have to be captains, but they're the guys that kind of like, okay, I got to count on these guys. These guys are my messengers, right? They kind of deliver the message. You know, I and you check with them. You always check with them. How we doing? You know, how such such doing how coach. And it's not like they're telling you that, but you want to know, you want to know how you feel, where the team is, right? And those kind of are those guys are your lieutenants, right? And and you don't, you don't, you know, just kind of will them say, How are we doing? You know, and and they kind of let you know the mood of the locker and the mood of the team, right? And so that's kind of important. You know, we pick team captains in the team, both of team captains. And some of these guys ain't even team captains. They're just the guys that have influence. And on every team, you know, as a coach, you sit back and you go, okay, who's the guy that influences the offensive linemen the most? Who's the guy that influences the defensive lineman the most? Who are my influencers? Who are my guys that when they say something, all the rest of the guys listen? Right? So that's kind of important, Sugar.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Love it. Okay. The way I understand it, you're big on leadership is earned daily. What separates athletes who grow into leaders from those who just don't? Some of them don't want the responsibility to lead.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Right? Because leadership is hard. You know, it's it's not convenient. It's inconvenient to be quite honest. You have to have a certain standard of yourself as a player. You know, you gotta you gotta say, hey, this is what I'm doing, right? I mean, you you can't you can be with the guys, but at the end of the day, when you got to make the call and say, hey man, we ain't practicing good enough, boys. Right? We we got to pick this thing up. And I think on all good teams, you have guys like that. Um, in college, I did, even in the professional football when I was with the Eagles. Um, Dick Vermil was our coach, he was a taskmaster, but we had guys on offense and defense that when it wasn't looking right, we'd be like, hey man, this ain't good enough, boys. We got to pick this thing up. You know, and and that's what you want. As you as you build in your team and you want success, this is what winning teams do. The coach don't have to do nothing. All the coach just bowls whistles, he just bowls the whistle and go, hey man, we're going to this period next. The players run it. The coaches make the decisions, but the players get to run it. You want player, you want coach fed, player led. You know, you want coach fed, player led. You want the players to run it. Then they've got, they've got all of a sudden, it becomes their deal. They get it. It's their deal, right? And all of a sudden they go, hey man, I'm invested in this, right? And that's when you know you got a good team.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

To really dig into that coach-fed, player-led, I think, is really powerful. I think a lot of coaches might struggle with that uh initially or their whole career.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

Yeah, because you know, and this is why, yeah, and you know, you it's not like you don't set parameters as a coach, but there's a group of players that you have to entrust that, hey, this is what it looks like. This is what I want done. Now, if you're struggling with that, then I can get involved in it. But there's certain things where, you know, when practice is not going good, you can go to what squall you want and say, hey man, we got to start over. But it's more powerful when a player says, hey man, what we doing? Sometimes players are uncomfortable because they want to be everybody's friend. Well, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'll be your friend, but you know what? I'm trying to win. Okay, and this ain't good enough. And I just think once you develop that in your in your organization, you know, like especially in high school, they go from nine to 12 and then they graduate. You got to get young guys, grooming the young guys. So when the old guys leave, you have another, you have another group that kind of leads those guys. And they're all different, they're all different. Every year it can change, you know, but you got to know who those guys are, and they're not afraid to call their teammates out and say, hey, guys, that ain't that that that that ain't enough, right? And so once you establish that, then the team kind of they go, okay, we get it. But this is where coaching, this is where you got to decide. And sometimes it's not the best player. It's not, it's not, it's the players, it's the players that the players on the team respect. Who do they respect, right? Who do they respect? And and that's that's when you look when you look from afar as a coach, you got that that's you gotta figure that out.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Are there specific habits or behaviors that you feel like coaches can reinforce to grow leaders?

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Yeah, I I you gotta show them how to be responsible, right? I mean, responsibility is like little things, be on time.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:43

How hard is that? They struggle with that. People struggle with being on time. You know, I used to tell those guys all the time, hey man, they kick the ball off at 105. We're kicking the ball off. And if you ain't ready, boys, it ain't gonna matter. They're kicking it off because TV coverage is at 105. We're going on television. And 105, we're kicking it off. And if you ain't ready, next guy gonna go. I'm not waiting on you, right? And I just think sometimes you got to establish parameters and you gotta establish standards that you want and say, these are the standards, boys, and we're not giving into them. And players understand that, you know, players are goal driven when you ask them, what do you want to do? You want to win the championship? Everybody raise their hand, right? It's the old saying, you know, who wants to go to heaven? Everybody raise their hand. Who wants to die? And all of a sudden, you don't want to put their hand up. Well, what do you mean? You want to go, or we what are you willing to give up? Right? And so you got to give up something to be special. And I think we all understand that in life, and that's the hardest thing. What are you willing to give up, you know, to reach that next level as a player individually and collectively as a team?

SPEAKER_01 17:57

So do you see power in that where you set a goal and then it's like, what are the commitments to get to that goal that you yeah, and you you always set goals and you set little ones that they can meet.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

There's always little perimeters, you know. Okay, they met this, now can we meet this one? And you don't even have to tell them that. You just say this is what we're trying to do, right? You know, like I always say, you know, the football's four quarters. All right, until you say, hey man, you know, we could have won this game, but we don't know how to play four quarters yet. You know, we got to the third quarter, and all of a sudden, eh, not so much. But you always got to give them a little sugar, okay? We're getting better, you know, and and you can break it, you can show them how you've gotten better, but say, look, we had 20 plays that were really good, but these other five plays, how do we fix that? Right? We got to fix that. And and once you show them that, they go, Oh, okay, I got that, coach.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

How can coaches make sure they're not just developing athletes, but you know, developing people that are prepared for the real world? Because as you said, most of us aren't going to be playing even college and definitely not pro sports.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

This is what's so unique about sports. Um, you when you think about it, all different walks of life, different socially, economically cultures come together as sports. And this is the great bond of football. Because football, when you think about it, in sports, it has more players than any other sport, right? It's not 10 guys, it's it's 50 guys. Only 11 get the player or 60 guys. I don't know how big your team is. You got all these different personnel, all these different how does that all come together, right? And that's the great mixing pot. You know, that's that's that's the great suffer you're about to, you know, prepare. And um, I think what you realize that as a coach, uh, most of these guys, high school guys, what is it? Uh probably two, three percent go on to play, you know, pro football, maybe at the most. So most of these kids, when they leave high school, they're not gonna play anymore. Yeah, I no less go to college, right? And so you have to make it enjoyable, you have to make an experience that they can carry on with the rest of their life because at the end, like for me, my coach is 91 years old. And I tell people all the time, best coach I ever had, high school football, high school football. I didn't know anything about football. I went to this man, his name is Dan Alp. And I he taught me how to play football. And I talked to him all the time, even right today. And he's my and I told him, said, Coach, you're my best coach ever had. You taught me how to play football. You taught me, you know, when you're growing up, you're playing, you know, in the street and you're playing in the parks, and but when you play organized football, you go, okay, this is organized football. And you go, okay, who's your coach? Dan Allen. And it was like, he he taught me the principles of playing football. I mean, of what it looked like, you know, and how difficult it was to put a team together. And we had a lot of success. I mean, we were very, very good, but it was him as a coach that really things that I learned from him as a player, I didn't use him as a coach, to be quite honest. Some of the things he would do and say, I remember that growing up. So, you know, you have an influence on these young guys' lies. Most of them, that will be their most excitable experience in the fact that they played high school football. Because most of them are not going to college to play football. There's an ending point. It's okay, high school. Is he good enough to play in college? Okay, he got to college. Good. Is he good enough to play pro football? Uh he got to pro football. Okay, how long does he play? Life expectancy, three point 3.5 years to be a professional football player. Then what do you do? There ain't no more football. That's it. You're done. It ends. You're 20, you know. If you play pro football and you play three or four years, you're 25, 26 years. Well, now what do I do? Right? Football prepares you for life. Everything you want to know about life, go play, go play in an organized form. And it'll teach you life. It'll teach you life skills. And for me, that's what these coaches sometimes don't realize what they're teaching. These are the skills that these guys would take for the rest of their lives, become fathers, become husbands, go in the real working world, uh, might be in a manager or or somebody that that you know that uh that is the leader of young people in an organization. You you learn all that through football. I mean, that's where I learned all my my skills was through football. Are you kidding me? And it's it's a game, but it's really it's bigger than a game. It's all these different things you have to do right to have success. And you need people to do it with. You can't do it by yourself, and that's the first thing you learn. You cannot do it by yourself, it's impossible.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Is that the most important life lesson you think athletes should be taking away from their sports experience?

SPEAKER_00 23:09

There is no doubt. The team is the huddle. I say it all the time. There's nothing more powerful than a huddle. Your family is a huddle. It starts with your family, it's a huddle. When you decide to play sports, all of a sudden, those 50 guys on the team become a part of your family, they're in the huddle, right? And you to everyone kind of needs everybody, and once you figure that out, you go, hmm, I can't do this by you're correct, man. You cannot do it by yourself. And this is when you become accountable. I became accountable all of a sudden, whether I liked it or not, because I said, I don't want to let these guys down. They're counting on me to do something, they're counting on me to do this. I don't want I hurt the team if I don't do this, right? That was more pressure on me than anything. Put the guys in the hull. I didn't want to let them guys down.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

Very true. Coach, thank you so much for your time. Dave wrote in a nice comment, said your energy is inspiring. I can tell how sincere you are. Margot said she coaches tennis, but all this applies to her sport as well. Is there any quick thought on these individual sports like tennis and golf? And it still all applies, everything you're talking about.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

It all applies when you're dealing with young people. Um, look, I I've said this uh many a time. When you're a coach, you're accredited to perfection. And don't lose sight of that. And it's not about wins or losses, it's about growing them up and making them better people. And as I said before, the best, and I've had a lot of great coaches, but it all started with my high school coach. I love that man. I mean, he taught me so much when I was a young guy. I got bust to the predominantly white high school. And, you know, I can't thank that man enough. And I can't thank you, coaches, enough for what you do for young people. And sometimes you don't know that now, but when they get into their mid-20s and sports is no longer part of what they do, they're gonna reflect on you as a coach, no matter what you coach, and they're gonna say, you know what? That man or woman really, really helped me. You know, it's just don't lose side of that. You're growing them up, and it's a harder world than it was when I was growing up. But that's just, you know, we chose our professions. So just enjoy it, and uh, you're changing people's lives.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Great stuff. And Coach Sherman, who you just talked to, said, I thank God for you, coach. You were a blessing to me personally today. Kevin saying thank you, Coach Edwards, for providing your insights today. This was great. Well, thank you, folks. My thanks for making a difference today. Thanks for everyone for attending. And coach, I'll leave it with you for the final words. Just have fun. Remember.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Remember this. And sometimes it's hard to remember this. It's only a game. You're teaching more in the game. You're teaching life. You're teaching, you're giving them a life plan for the rest of their life as a coach. Just remember that.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Hey, it's Matt. Thank you so much for listening. This conversation that you just heard originally happened inside of Momentum Sessions, a free community for coaches who take culture seriously. If you'd like to hear the full conversation, join future calls, ask questions live, and connect with other coaches working on culture and leadership, visit Momentum Teams dot com slash sessions. We'll see you there.