Coaching a football team is a lot more involved than calling plays and planning strategy. As a coach, you need to be able to flush out any players that can be potential leaders on football field while still maintaining order during each practice. Having a few candidates that are your go-to players both on and off the turf can go a long ways in keeping your team headed down your intended direction.
A playmaker can be counted on to get the ball in the endzone when it matters most. These players don’t back down from a challenge, but aren’t always natural born leaders on football field. While both football skill and leadership traits can be taught, it usually is easier (and quicker) to find someone with the characteristics inherent already.
Your players that are consistently making things happen, those are the ideal candidates to start with. The playmakers. Figure out which of them is able to hold a conversation with peers or teammates easily, regardless of topic. These are your core leadership pool. Every team is different, but not everyone who has the ability to lead needs to be a leader in every situation. Sometimes you’ll find that you have a lot more potential leaders on football field than you need. Very rarely, will you find an entire football team without at least one natural leader that you can count on to keep the team on track.
Out of your leadership pool, you have a choice. You can either wait and see which playmakers rise to the occasion when you drop a hint or leave the door open to take the reins, then discuss with them afterwards what you’ll be expecting of them from now on. Or, you can call in a few selected playmakers after practice and let them know you’ll be giving them more responsibility as leaders on football field. If they’re right for the job, they won’t question your judgement or turn you down.
Any football player who’s stepped on the turf has probably daydreamed about getting the coveted ‘C’ and assuming the title of Captain. While your captains are distinguished among their peers, quite often the title of captain and role of leader are not the same. A leadership role doesn’t necessarily require a title, or the approval and awareness of others. On the other hand, the captain’s title can be used to signify a playmaker who is responsible for the team’s success not necessarily because that player is a leader, but because the team is successful whenever the captain is on the field.
If you’re worried about finding leaders on your football team, don’t be. Sooner or later, you’ll discover the leaders among your roster without even trying. And if the need ever arises and you don’t have a leader on football field to count on, they’ll probably find you as well.