Iowa State’s Wrestling Coach Kevin Dresser Sums Up Coaching in 14 Words
Kevin Dresser is one of the great college wrestling coaches over the last decade. Over the weekend, his team didn’t perform to their ability and lost a tough dual meet Dresser felt they should have won. During the post-match press conference, Dresser used his media appearance to send his team a stern yet caring message.
The main point in his message to his team was that they weren’t sacrificing enough to win the mental battle that proceeds the start of a wrestling match. Dresser is a stickler for accountability. He makes it clear to his team that he can lead them to water, but can’t make them drink. However, if you force him to, he will dunk your head in the water.
I highly recommend you watch for yourself to see what I mean using this link to the full YouTube video of his press conference.
Within his comments, Dresser shares a profound quote on coaching that sums up his coaching philosophy in 14 words:
Coaching isn’t about holding people accountable, it’s about teaching them to hold themselves accountable.
I buy-in to this viewpoint 1000%. Simply stated, coaching isn’t about micromanaging. You may have to micromanage when all else fails, but that’s not the goal. The goal of coaching is to transfer a philosophy / way to think. That’s why the best coaches have coaching trees. To put it another way, great coaches, develop great coaches, who develop great coaches.