Teacher Rather Than a Thug
In his book, “The Genius,” author David Harris shares some wisdom from former San Francisco 49er coach Bill Walsh that easily applies to all basketball coaches.
“There was this religion of “toughness” in coaching circles those days and all coaches were trying to be like marine drill sergeants and scare people into playing well. I got caught up in that for a while but I concluded it didn’t come close to working. It was kind of a mass delusion.
All the coaches thought the players loved them despite how badly they treated them, and all the players were doing were putting up with the coach so they could play football. They wanted the fellowship, they wanted the association, they wanted the excitement, and only put up with the bullying because they had to. Most played football in spite of the coach.
By the time I left Cal I had decided that if you taught people to play the game better – that was real coaching – being a teacher rather than a thug.”
