What Jon Gruden Learned about Practice from Indiana Basketball

I'm a huge Jon Gruden fan. I liked his passion and enthusiasm as a coach. I love that same enthusiasm in his game analysis for ESPN. I recently read his book, "Do You Love Football?!" He obviously has learned from many great football coaches, with experiences at Tennessee under Johnny Major and in the NFL with the Bill Walsh 49ers and Mike Holmgren Packers, to name a few. But here are the lessons he learned from Bob Knight and the Indiana Basketball Program when he was a ball boy, during the time his father was an assistant football coach at IU:

"Teach your players how to practice. That's even more important than teaching them what to practice, because if you don't establish the pace you want and if you aren't consistent about it, they're going to work the way they want to and it's going to change with each day. You have to let them know that you want them practicing hard, with a sense of purpose, every time."

Thoughts from "How Lucky You Can Be"

ESPN baseball guru Buster Olney recently authored a book about the Coach of Coaches", Don Meyer. Coach Meyer broke Bob Knight's All-Time College Basketball wins mark while coaching at Northern State University in 2009. Upon emergency surgery after an almost fatal automobile accident on a North Dakota highway in 2008, doctors diagnosed Coach Meyer with cancer. Olney's book in both motivational and inspirational...one of the best I've read. The following are a few highlights from Olney's book:

- Coach Meyer had three rules for all of his players in his program:
Rule No. 1: Everybody takes notes.
Rule No. 2: Everybody says, “Yes, sir,” “Yes, ma’am,” “No, sir,” and “No, ma’am.” In other words, be courteous to everybody.
Rule No. 3: Everybody picks up trash.

- Meyer coached that their goal should be small and immediate: Execute the next play properly. That’s all.

- Don Meyer focused on the process and taught his players to think more about the process than the results – but of course, he understood that a preponderance of correctly executed plays would almost inevitably lead to victories. (Sounds a lot like his mentor, Coach Wooden!)

- A student coach had once remarked to Baruth that in Meyer’s program, every person doing every job was essential, whether you were preparing a tray of food for the players at a meal or you were an assistant coach working with the guards on transition defense. No job within the Northern State program was any less important or any more important than any other.

ESPN has covered Coach Meyer's story...

To view a preview of Coach Don Meyer's story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_019GcX-lyc

To see Coach Meyer's ESPY's Awards Speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoOkHawZKa4