by Larry Beckish

This is an excerpt from the book “I Believe in Cream, Apples, and Football – Thoughts for Coaches”.

As I look back over the past thirty plus years of coaching, nothing I learned has meant more to me than the lesson I learned from Coach Howard when he told me, “Boy, that’s why they put coach in front of your name.”

The essence of coaching is accepting the responsibility to help and support youngsters grow as athletes and as human beings.

It’s IMPORTANT because kids are IMPORTANT.

I learned they put coach in front of your name to:

1. Encourage youngsters to strive for Excellence on the field, in the classroom, and in their personal lives.

2. set the Expectations which create athletic dreams and challenges in the hearts and minds of kids — Expectations point to the star.

3. Teach youngsters how to play the game; teach them what to do, how to do it, and why to do it.

4. Motivate kids to grow as much as their dreams and ability will allow them to grow.

5. Teach kids to Care about winning, Care about doing the right things on and off the field, and to Care about others as people and as athletes — reinforce the concept of  Sportsmanship.

6. help the Cream rise to the top and the Apples to ripen.

7. Punch a kid in the heart to help him alter his life for the better when he is not doing the right things on and off the field.

8. Make kids understand that Discipline is in their best interests.

9. Be a kid’s Friend and his Fan, regardless of his athletic ability, intelligence, or personality.

10. Coach kids like you would want your son or daughter coached.

11. Teach kids to deal with success and Support them through failures and disappointments.

12. Handle it.  Do the best you can to solve problems.  Don’t wait for someone else to do it.

I Believe . . . There is no better way to spend your life than coaching kids.

This article is an excerpt from the book “I Believe in Cream, Apples, and Football – Thoughts for Coaches” by Larry Beckish

Coach Beckish is a member of the South Carolina State University coaching staff, coaching the Offensive Line. The list of coaches that Larry his worked with reads like a “Who’s Who” among coaching legends. His coaching stints include stops in the ACC, SEC, and Big Ten.

Larry played for four years at Wichita State University (1960-1965), and was team captain in 1963. Upon graduating from Wichita State, Beckish began his coaching career at the University of Tampa where he coached both the offensive and defensive lines.

After two seasons at Tampa, Beckish headed north to serve as the receivers coach at Clemson under the legendary Frank Howard. He moved south again for a season at the University of Miami before returning to Clemson as receivers coach and he coached the Tigers from 1971-1976.

After Clemson, Beckish returned to his alma mater to work with the legendary Willie Jeffries, who made history by becoming the first African-American head coach in Division 1-A. At WSU Coach Beckish, the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator and the staff developed the Trap Option.

Following three years with Jeffries, Beckish became an assistant at East Carolina for a season before joining the Arizona Wranglers of the now-defunct USFL. He later coached three seasons at the University of Minnesota as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Lou Holtz.

After brief retirement Larry returned to coach two seasons at Ole Miss (1990-1992) as well as a season with the Charlotte Rage of the Arena League. From 1995 through 1998 he coached at Duke. Larry recently worked as a ‘volunteer’ coach at Hilton Head High School in 2001 and 2002 before returning to college football in 2003.

During retirement from 1987-1990, he wrote ‘The Trap Option – 40 Plus 60 Equals Option.’ He also authored, ‘I Believe in Cream, Apples, and Football – Thoughts for Coaches’.

Order Larry’s eBook, Coaching the Option Quarterback from the CompuSports Media Exchange

LISTEN TO Coach Beckish on The Coaches Corner Football Coaching Podcast and hear him discuss other thoughts and ideas from I Believe.