Dennis Teegarden - Coaching Philosophy

Coaching Philosophy
Why I want to coach, or why do I coach.
My question is "why do I coach". I say this because I feel as if saying, "Why do I want to
coach", sounds as if coaching is something I am considering as a career or just starting out as a
coach, and my answer is meant to justify this choice. So since I have been coaching for quite a
long time now and coaching is my career I will answer the "why do I coach" question.
I don't often get to say how I feel to an audience. So I'd like to first address a few things
that have allowed me to get to where I am to be who I am. In my adult life it is my wife, I am so
grateful that I have her in my life; she endures my discussions about education and sport...even
when she'd rather not. She listens to me ramble on, puts up with my ups and down, offers advice
and support, comfort and corrects me, keeps me focused on the now and she does this all with
compassion and tact. The life of a coach's wife can be very frustrating and sometimes very
lonely. She allows me to coach, to be the influence in young peoples' lives on and off the athletic
fields'. She knows that I feel that this is my calling. I will always be indebted to her for these
precious opportunities.
Secondly it is my mother and father. From an early age I always loved athletics, the
exercise, the competition, the socialization, the challenge, the hard work and dedication all done
with your teammates...your friends. I know now that I was blessed, two parents at home that
loved and cared for me and my sisters and an extended family with that same love and support.
They never pushed athletics on me, it came naturally. Not to mention the influence of my father,
a lifelong educator and football coach of 51 years. I was the kid who followed him everywhere;
he was and still is my hero, my idol, the one who I respect more than any other man. I always
wanted to be like him. So it is not surprising to look back and see the road I've traveled to today
and see how closely to my father's career I have followed. The one thing that stands out in my
mind that my father taught me is the characteristic of perseverance. To me this is the number one
success characteristic, the number one survival skill. I rate it as my best overall attribute and it
has served me well throughout my life. I believe that I can do anything if I keep at it, keep
focused, and never allow any obstacle to deter me from my goal. It always works, some goals
take longer to reach, some take more work, some more energy, some more faith, but if you
persevere you always get there. I know there are so many other important characteristics to
success and to be successful but perseverance is the one that unlocks all the others. I would say
it is the key to success, it has always been mine.
Why do I coach? This can be an easy question to answer and sometimes it can be very
hard to answer. A paradox if you will. Why do I coach? I coach to teach, encourage, inspire, and
motivate young athletes. I love the challenge of figuring out what makes different athletes "tick".
I think you must know this to be of help to them. Some athletes are self motivated, their motors
are always running and then others you have to stimulate. This is the challenge of the coach. I
coach to teach perseverance...to never ever quit...to compete every day. Not just on the athletic
field, but in the classroom and in every faucet of their life. I coach to teach effort. I never
undersell effort; each athlete has a much greater ability than they think they have, particularly
when they use that ability in a concentrated effort. I coach to teach belief in one's self, to coach
confidence. Athletes, teammates have to believe in themselves and in one another. They gain

Dennis Teegarden - Coaching Philosophy

confidence little by little from little successes each day. The last thing I say to the team before we
leave the practice field, before we leave the pregame meeting room is, "Believe in yourself,
believe in the guy next to you, believe in your teammates, believe in your coaches, and believe in
our plan...and never stop believing!" Why do I coach? I want the coaches and athletes to feel
that we have a family friendly environment; that we are more than just teachers and coaches. I
think it is a very positive experience for them to see us as loving fathers and husbands as well.
Why do I coach? Well because athletics, especially team sports, is as much or more about people
than about X's and O's. It is about leading people, developing chemistry and morale more than
anything else. Simply put, you succeed with character; with athletes' and coaches with a positive
mental attitude and good character. The responsibility of the coach is to help them make the right
decisions, to make mature choices in all areas of their life, not just on the playing field. The
coach is responsible to help the athlete develop character, discipline, self-motivation, self-worth,
confidence, and an excitement for life.
These are the core reasons why I coach. That is why I am still in education, still coaching
football after 44 years in the sport, 11 as a player and 33 as a coach. All the things I love about
football and athletics all the good things are what make sport so fun, so rewarding, so necessary.
I don't consider myself perfect. I have plenty of flaws. But what I do have is perseverance, a
passion and enthusiasm for the development of one's self. I really bought into the, "be the best
you can be", stuff as a kid. I believe this is the only road that leads to success.
Personal Coaching Philosophy
Coaching to me is much more than schemes or just having a great plan. It's also more
than following a set of principles or establishing a great program, or winning championships. I
believe all those things are important to the overall program, but they are just parts of a
successful program. To me there is one thing that stands out the most in coaching; the glue that
binds all those afore mentioned parts together. It is the relationships we develop with everyone
involved with the athletic program. Most importantly the coach's relationship with the athlete is
what defines you as a coach and your program. This is an athlete-centered approach; our
philosophy will always be aligned with our program goals and objectives and the schools goals
and objectives. The athlete is the focus when determining these goals and objectives. The coach's
interaction in the athlete's life is what determines the athletes overall experience. Our approach
will always be about providing the athlete with the best possible educational and athletic
experience. We view the athletes on our team as students, family members, as brothers, sisters,
sons, or daughters, and friends to all. They are experiencing the same struggles we all had once.
They are developing their personalities, values, and character on their journey to adulthood.
The responsibility of the coach is to help them make the right decisions, to make mature
choices in all areas of their life, not just on the playing field. The coach is responsible to help the
athlete develop character, discipline, self-motivation, self-worth, confidence, and an excitement
for our game and for life. In order to accomplish these objectives the coach must constantly work
at gaining and maintaining the athletes confidence and trust. The athlete must believe in you and
what the program stands for. Everyone needs to believe in something, to be a part of something
bigger than themselves. Our belief mantra will always be; "Believe: believe in yourself, believe
in your teammates, believe in your coaches, believe in our plan, and never stop believing."
The coach must guide the program and the athletes; setting goals, helping the
athletes raise their own standards, forming those valuable lifelong interpersonal skills which are

Dennis Teegarden - Coaching Philosophy

the foundation of their character, their belief system. Striving to reach those standards, to reach
those goals becomes the focus of the program. The coach's job then becomes helping the athlete
to reach their goals; to develop appropriate relationships with the student-athlete based on
respect, caring, and character. I believe when character development becomes the focus and
foundation of the program is when the athletes will get the most out of their athletic experience.
This is when the athlete begins to reach their potential. They begin to evolve into the young
adults they have aspired to be. Through this experience they become champions, if not always on
the field, they become champions in their life
Program Goals
Imbedded within my philosophy are program goals that are universal to any sport. We
start with the expectation of how the athlete will represent themselves, their family, the program
and the school. We are responsible to teach them that with recognition from our successes comes
responsibility. We will ask the athlete to hold themselves to a higher standard than others expect
of them. The athlete as a leader should be the ones who set the standard for everyone else to
follow. We will teach the key ingredients for success. Morale will be our most important
objective and this will always come first. We will teach patience, once again perseverance as a
key. I believe by doing the little things right, it allows the big things to happen. Attention to
detail takes patience. We must have the ability to overcome adversity, the ability to adjust to any
situation. We will set high standards and goals with the expectation that we will continually
strive to reach them. People do not rise to low expectations. We will constantly work on teaching
the will to succeed. We will only worry about the things that we can control. That's the only thing
we should ever worry about, the things we can control.
Character Education
We will help build character by first emphasizing academics and a good school attitude
and work ethic. The emphasis on the importance academics will start with our feeder program
and continue on through till graduation. We will teach goal setting and goal achievement for both
academics and athletics. We as coaches are responsible to inspire the student athlete to dream, to
have dreams, and to dream bighave dreams beyond their neighborhood. We want the athlete to
aspire to be a contributing member of society. We will provide learning experiences to teach
character on societal issues of importance: alcohol, drugs, lifestyle, sacrifice, the law and
morality, their role on the team or in an organization and in society. We will teach and constantly
work towards a team concept where all athletes understand no one individual is more important
than any other individual and the team is more important any one individual. Our team will be
built around the belief that we will be difference makers; that we will be champions in every
faucet of life. Our team priorities will be; Faith, Family, Future=Education, Friendship,
Fun=Athletics. These priorities will be emphasized in that order. We have always uses the motto
"One Heartbeat" and the short version of our priorities is the acronym F-5 / OH.
Conclusion
Successful programs and coaches are not always the ones with the most wins or the most
championships. The best coaches that run the best programs are ones that focus on and achieve a
team atmosphere; a focus on team cohesion. These are the teams that focus on character
development. It my desire as a coach to see all athletes learn, to see them grown physically and

Dennis Teegarden - Coaching Philosophy

mentally, to improve their skill, and to ultimately reach their goals. So in closing let me say that I
am committed to using all of my knowledge, abilities, and resources to make each player on our
team successful. It is my focus to promote an atmosphere of teamwork, mutual respect, and
commitment. By achieving this we will be a successful program, we will win games, and we will
win championships.