Beyond the Yelling: The Power of Belief in Coaching

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Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Michael Lewis, author of bestsellers like Moneyball and The Blind Side, recounts a pivotal moment from his high school baseball career that illustrates the profound impact of belief. His coach, Billy Fitzgerald, was a complex figure—an “old-school coach” known for his fiery temper, smashing second-place trophies, and grueling practices. Lewis recalls one particularly brutal session where the team's jerseys, stained red and brown from slides, were left unwashed for ten games as punishment. While such tactics seem unthinkable today, they weren't the defining characteristic of Coach Fitz's influence.

What resonated most with Lewis was the coach's unwavering focus on his players. "It never once felt like this was about anything but the players," Lewis says. "Coach Fitz never talked about himself or how he fell short of the big leagues; it was always about them."

The most significant memory for Lewis centers around a crucial game against the state's top-ranked team. In the final inning, with his team leading 2-1 and one out, Fitz pulled their best pitcher, a senior, and, to everyone's surprise, put the skinny freshman Lewis on the mound. With runners on first and third, a terrified Lewis faced the opposing team. As he took the mound, Fitz pulled him close, looked him in the eye, and declared, "There is no one else I'd rather have in this situation." Lewis, looking back, recognizes the statement's ridiculousness, yet in that moment, the coach's conviction transformed him.

Lewis pitched that inning, as he says, “with the strength of his coach inside him, and it was like a superpower.” Just as his coach told him he would, he picked off the runner at third and secured the final outs, winning the game. Afterward, Coach Fitz praised Lewis's courage, telling the team if they wanted to know what courage looked like, to look at Michael Lewis. This moment was transformative for Lewis. "I heard myself being described in an entirely original way and wanted to believe it," he recalls. "What that coach did in that moment was to hand me the start of a new identity. By giving me a new narrative, I was no longer this pointless human being, this nightmare of inertia. I was brave. A hero almost. And I ran with it.” This belief propelled Lewis to take his academics seriously. Four years later, when he was accepted to Princeton, the first person he shared the news with was Coach Fitz, to thank him.

Coach Fitz's true gift was helping his players forge new identities, ones that transcended mediocrity and embraced greatness. He chose to see potential in individuals and nurture it until they saw it in themselves. While I’ve written much about effective coaching techniques, and the negative effects of yelling, blaming, and shaming, Coach Fitz's story highlights a deeper truth. It's not just about what you say or how you say it, but what they hear. Can your players hear that you believe in them?

Perhaps the emphasis on coaching behaviors lately has overshadowed the crucial mindset of a transformational coach. This mindset isn't just about caring for a player's development; it's about seeing greatness in every individual, even those whom others have given up on. It’s about looking beyond surface behaviors and recognizing the inherent goodness within each person and their potential for greatness.

Over time, Coach Fitz softened his approach, reducing the trophy smashing and yelling. But he didn’t stop being demanding, and his unwavering belief in his players never wavered. He simply found new ways to instill that belief, to inspire them to embrace a new, powerful identity.

Decades later, in his retirement speech, Coach Fitz eloquently summarized his coaching philosophy: "Coaching means finding ways to awaken students to new and different possibilities. You can see this awakening in students' eyes as they begin to reach those possibilities.” His legacy is a testament to the enduring power of belief, a power that can shape not just athletes, but individuals, for a lifetime.

Notes

Michael Lewis. "Don't Be Good, Be Great." Don't Be Good, Be Great, hosted by Michael Lewis, 22 May 2020, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-be-good-be-great/id1455379351?i=1000474336483