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

I Believe . . .

Team leaders are special. They are as rare as football games played on Thursday nights.

Leaders are kids brimming with confidence, pride, determination, mental and physical toughness, a positive attitude, and rock-solid character.

Leaders CARE about the people around them — they are unselfish kids who want everyone in the football program to be successful.

Leaders are important for their ability to pass on those intangible winning qualities to teammates. All sports teams require these magical qualities in the hearts and minds of the players to win.

I believe leaders are leaders because they made an emotional investment in the challenge at hand — they are committed heart and soul to that effort. A leader’s willingness to make an emotional investment, and his willingness to support the emotional investment with hard work and sacrifice is quickly recognized and respected by teammates and coaches. From the respect a player garners, he receives a tacit mandate to lead — anyone else is a pretender. Kids can’t appoint themselves as leaders.

I Believe . . .

Leaders care about what they are doing, and who they are doing it with.

Leaders know where they want to go and how to get here.

Leaders know what to do, how to do it, why to do it, and do it well.

Leaders take responsibility for the mistakes they make.

Leaders don’t mind practice and work hard to improve all the time.

Leaders take the game seriously and expect teammates to do the same.

Leaders don’t like to lose — regardless of the odds.

Leaders take the good and bad things that happen in stride, then move on with what they have to do.

Leaders hold their heads in time of crisis. They don’t panic — they don’t point fingers.

Leaders know what to say and how to say it when a need arises to talk with teammates about team matters.

Leaders congratulate a player who makes a great play and tells a teammate who makes a poor play not to worry about it.

Leaders have the presence to treat a first teamer and the scout teamer with the same respect.

Leaders can control teammates in difficult situations in practice or games.

Leaders aren’t into hollering, screaming, or posturing.

I Believe . . .To win a team needs a few good leaders and a lot of good followers.

I Believe . . . Harry Truman, our thirty-third President, had a unique perspective on leadership. He said, “Leadership is the ability to get men to do what they don’t want to do and liking it.”

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

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’.

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

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