From another coaches perspective: Having McDaniels is just not fair.....to the rest of the NFL.

I have never witnessed any of my coaches change their approach to suit the players as individuals. When we do something, we do it one way and that’s it.

But it is a sure fire way to have athletes stop believing in you.
Mangini looks to me to be the “my way or the highway” type guy…and you can see whats going on in Cleveland.
If you dont know the individuals on the team, how do you BUILD a team….cause you will not know the strength of the team as you dont know the strengths of the individuals.
Thanks Nation for the comments…would be stoked to hear what more athletes or ex athletes think!

I am only becoming more and more impressed with McD.

And the players seem to be responding well too!

I was thinking of making a “McDaniels Is My Coach” T-Shirt to wear to a game.

G’Day Boydy,

The first time I had the differnet cognitive learning techniques explained to me, was by Dean Hill if you remember him, who was the head instructor at perisher many years ago, and it stuck in my mind ever since.

Wasen’t Mike Holmgren a teacher before he became a coach?

Great write up mate.

I love this article and agree with all of your conclusions. This fellow is a pretty rare find. At 33, his ideas are still cutting edge. He was the coordinator for the most prolific scoring offense in history. I don’t expect much less in the future, even though he’s using a somewhat different approach right now. Great post, Ben

is based on what I have seen him do, but mostly on what I have heard him say during various interviews or in quotes I have read. I recognize the lingo, the style, and in the interview from Monday he gave an impromptu lesson on how to get through to each type of learner in the NFL environment. I was indeed impressed.

I believe that he would require the same kind of teaching mentality in his coaches, but I have not had the pleasure of hearing interviews with any of the other coaches. As such, I can’t say that all of the coaches are up to speed on the same type of visual/aural/tacile teaching model.

Is there anything concrete that anyone has heard out of the mouth of Nolan, Martindale, Nunnely, etc?

I recall quotes from Champ on what a great teacher Nolan was, and how he played to the strength of each player. Similarly with Nunnely, he has a teaching video out on the 3-4. The way things are broken down on this tape are pretty awesome. SImple, concise and to the point.
I ahve heard the same things about Bobby Turner from any running back interviewed. It seems to be a co-operative of like minded coaches. I am psyched!

I think of it like signing up for college classes. There’s a section you want with a specific teacher and there’s one where you don’t want a certain teacher. McD is the teacher you want and everybody is going to fill up that section first and there will be a massive waiting list for the class and everybody is gonna be super mad because they WANT IN THE CLASS AND THERE IS NO MORE ROOM LEFT!!!!!!

Sorry………… bad experiences. lol

You can now call McD Jedi all you want, as I now feel it is warranted.

Any advice on how I can improve my surfing backhand? I’m pretty good frontside but my backside snaps just don’t feel right. I can’t really get vertical, and they seem more like cutbacks than snaps.

I’m sure an Aussie like yourself knows how to do it properly.

Augie, Augie, Augie………Oi, Oi, Oi!!!!

More and more we are seeing more sides of this multi-faceted young man. There’s something there for everyone. He has earned the respect and trust of his players, staff, owner and finally, many of his detractors. The first three are the only ones he considers important. He’s right! Good for him!

Thanks, mate, and rec’d.

McD actually paid attention and learned in college (academically) and through all of his playing/coaching experiences. I want to make a distinction between learning and just mimicking. I think there are quite a few coaches who simply parrot the coaches they learned under instead of truly learning the nuances behind how a particular coach taught/motivated/etc. This might explain why some coaches who come from good coaching trees (Walsh, Belichick) fail as head coaches when given the opportunity and others such as McD (signs are point that he’s the real deal) succeed.

Great post! Rec’d!

I’m still a relative newby here on this site, joined up in the offseason during all the Cutler craziness. I have commented over and over how much I’ve enjoyed reading all the posts from the various writers/posters, but must say this is one of my favorites.

At one time I thought about becoming a teacher but ended up going in a different direction. But I did help feed the “jones” by coaching my son’s baseball team for years.

Had to re-read the back and forth with you and Scotto a few times to fully get it, but really enjoyed that as well.

Thanks again all, for helping to enlighten and educate a hockey and baseball guy….:)

Great perspective, and I know exactly what you’re talking about with the different learning styles. Personally, I’m a “do-er”, as I’ve figured out over the years – I like getting inside things and seeing what makes them tick.

I’d love to see you post more on your McD observations as the season progresses, especially as other teams begin (inevitably) to get a read on what’s happening in Denver.

Thanks for the great perspective Boydy!

Among the greatest feelings are teaching someone how to do something, and then see them surpass the teacher in their achievement. And as we saw in Coach’s comments, he also knows that different students learn differently and that teaching is most effective when it is individualized to the pupils.

Your post was totally spot-on in correlating teaching/coaching as a universal skill, no matter what the sport.

McD has been spot on, and I think your post is spot on on explaining why and how. Thanks for reminding me of my father. ( a high compliment in my mind). Recd

Why does your post make me suspect you are an exceptional coach in your own right? Could it be greatness recognizes greatness? I know modesty dictates you minimize self focus but your post struck a cord with this board that reflects an exceptional ability to connect with people. Thank you for an excellent post.

I got a feeling if our families lived near by we would end up being good friends…. great post!!! If I didn’t love ya before (which I always did) I sure as H@## would love ya now… there is just something about the way you have such a pure passion for everything you do and say… tons of respect and keep it coming!!! Congrats on the twins I have a 4 year old myself… an oops that has brought a ton of fun into our lives!!!

Excellent. I just got home tonight and found this excellent article for my enjoyment!!!

Great stuff. I often wonder about this in the schools as well. Each student has an individual learning style, yet we cram them through like cattle.

Thoroughly enjoyed the read!

Additionally, really makes me think about looking in to coaching more and more…. Shannahan truly started that vibe in me, then We got McDaniels… and this post just may have made me have an epitome… or was that an epiphany… Which one’s in the pancreas, because that’s where it hurts right now?

; )

Seriously though, thanks again!

“Trying to Catch Lightning in a Bottle?’” McDaniels has impressed me with his attention to detail and thoroughness. I saw these things first hand during Camp. Being so young, the results I saw made me believe he was the real deal. Especially when the Veterans were happy with him as their leader. I also noticed the hands on approach in Camp. Anyway, It didn’t take me long to be convinced that Pat Bowlen made the right choice. A great read Boydy. Thanks for sharing.

Super stoked you have enjoyed the post.

Love this stuff. I spent years as a technical trainer in the Navy and your abosolutly right he uses all the techiques to get the individual to understand his teaching points. I can see him covering material for the say the offense as a whole and then going back to each individual or the individual and his position coach to fine tune the bigger concept. Man I’m jazzed by this. How could a team not be ready to go with this type of coaching.

Thanks for the excellent insite Boydy. I went to training camp and loved how he would do the individual drills and incorporate that drill in to team drills later to show how the two relate.

I work in military simulation which is pretty much games with better hardware interfaces. I wonder how long before coaches start using games(Madden) as tools to teach…

rec’d btw.

but I’ve got to thank you Boydy.

I recognize the learning styles you bring up. We have different terminology but, as I try to tell my students, I don’t get hung up on terminology. The ideas are the same. I think if you don’t adjust your teaching strategy for the individual student, you’re just making it harder for them to succeed. Student success must be your ultimate goal or you shouldn’t be a teacher.

I’ve always thought it was strange that more coaches (and teachers) don’t look enough at other sports and even other disciplines for better ideas. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time. Somebody may have already done it and if you have an open mind you can make it work for your students too.