Teams Win With Character Not Characters


What Is Football Really About?


football players


"It amazes me that so many coaches think this great game of football is about x's and o's."
--- Coach Bill E. Williams


Here Are Key Words And Their Definitions

  • CHARACTER - the mental and ethical traits marking a group or an individual

  • TRAIT - a specific quality of a person

  • QUALITY - the degree of excellence

  • ETHICS - a set of moral principles or values

  • VALUES - something that is important to an individual

  • MORALS - principles of right and wrong

  • PRINCIPLES - a code of conduct

Teams win with character not characters. Character is the mental or ethical traits that mark an individual or a group. A trait is a Quality of a group or an individual and ethics are moral sets of principles or values. A principle is an individual's code of conduct. A value is something that is important to an individual.

To have character, as individuals and as a team, one must first have a code of conduct (principles). This code of conduct is the standard of behavior that individuals and teams hold themselves and teammates accountable for (morals). This code of conduct is something that becomes important to the individual and the team (values).

The task of instilling a set of moral principles and values (ethics) lies in the hands of the head coach. The head coach instills the specific qualities that he desires his team to have (traits). With this, the individuals now hold themselves to a higher degree of excellence (quality). This is how you win with character and fail with characters. Character is the mental and ethical traits that mark an individual.

The following is a list of traits that my football teams will know and hold each other accountable to:

14 Leadership Traits

  1. JUSTICE- a reward or penalty as deserved.

  2. JUDGMENT- the ability to come to a sound opinion

  3. DEDICATION- to devote to a purpose

  4. INTEGRITY- acting honestly and sincerely

  5. DISCIPLINE- being efficient in controlling oneself

  6. TACT- the ability to say something without offending

  7. INITIATIVE- the action of taking the first step or move

  8. ENTHUSIASM- an intense or eager interest

  9. BEARING- the way one carries and conducts oneself in pressure situations

  10. UNSELFISHNESS- showing a concern for the interest of others rather than yourself

  11. COURAGE- the quality of being consistently brave

  12. KNOWLEDGE- how well you understand a specific task

  13. LOYALTY- faithful to ones family, friends, colleagues, and obligations

  14. ENDURANCE- the ability to last and withstand pain

These traits are the road map to character. They separate a team with character from a team of characters. A team of characters will never be successful, no matter how gifted they are, because they lack the traits that give them standards for the degree of excellence that they hold themselves and teammates accountable for day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute.

If we teach character, we can go to bed knowing that we sent young men into life with the tools to succeed. Because in the long run, if we are just teaching them how to play football, what are we really teaching them?

Copyright © 2005 Bill E. Williams

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