With the coaches, you don't want to hear everybody saying, 'Move over! Back up! Do this!' Let's find out what the players know.
Our coach was absolutely out of his head. He must have read Bear Bryant's book. We had 78 players out. The first day 35 quit. Twenty quit the second day. We ended with 17 players. It was depressing.
You hear peewee coaches teaching the 'trap'. What the heck are we doing teaching the 'trap'? Let the kids go, let them have fun; that's how you improve.
You finally have to learn to pull all the different kinds of teaching and training and coaching together on you own, so that your voice and body and technique for a sound that is consistent and solid.
I'm trying to coach the team and that's what I want to do.
Teaching players during practices was what coaching was all about to me.
Coaching really is an individual philosophy.
I look at films every day. I study. I coach.
To show my quarterbacks how much I believe in them, I let them pick their favorite plays that we'll run in the game. On the nights before a game we'll sit down in a hotel conference room and we'll have six third-down calls for certain distances.
Chuck Noll knew how he could help people. He was a teacher. He was a guy that was very good at selecting people, getting them to fit in. He wasn't the guy that was going to sit there and motivate you, intrinsically. That wasn't what he was best at. So he hired people that were good at that.
I grew up an Urban Meyer fan. I loved the way he coached, loved the way he did things.
The Porto players were with me for two and a half years, they believed in me, in my methods, in the way we do it. The next day I go and a manager arrives who works completely differently.
There are different psychologies that different coaches have.
Imagine going into an office and telling the staff that they have to follow your philosophy. Imagine the reaction you would get if you said that in any other walk of life. Why would I offer that to my players?
So much in football is touching, feeling, walking through, writing it on boards, drawing Xs and Os. And all those are the best for me.
I never had a coach teach me, my style of batting, nor do I believe in coaching at an international level.
All managers have a different playing style and football philosophy. What's important for players is being able adapt to those different styles.
When I was young, we were taught not to dunk. We were taught not to stand out from the rest of the team. It's different now.
Some coaches are on power trips. I've never needed somebody to tell me I'm not working hard enough.
I always keep busy it gives you an opportunity to go through your coaching methods, your files, to see how other managers are working and re-educate yourself.
When I first came to England to play I saw coaches having a go at players when they made mistakes and they would literally be talking them through the game.
In Seattle, I've talked about how Pete Carroll is such... I'm kind of surprised at the variety of styles that successful coaches can have. Some are very communicative and positive and energized - like, Pete Carroll has all that in spades. Some of them are more cerebral; some are more directive.
When I was trying out for my first Olympics at 16, my family and coaches tried to regulate what I ate. But the stricter they got, the more I rebelled.
Every time I have a chance I'm going to make a pass to one of my players in practice. Every time I have a chance I'm going to clear the puck just to see how far I'm going to be able to shoot it.
Zidane is a Real Madrid legend. He teaches us things in every training session - even just by playing with us.
