Bob Ladouceur Defining Success

A favorite book of mine is When The Game Stands Tall about the De La Salle high school football program and Bob Ladouceur. The program there is one of the most dominant programs in any sport at any level.  The following comes from Coach Ladouceur:

"Success to us is understanding that where preparation meets opportunity--greatness

can be achieved.  Preparation is long, tedious and difficult and the

windoes of opportunity are brief, short and intense.

We prepare well and, when ready, we welcome, not fear

our opportunities.  Hard work is the cornerstone up

which all achievement emanates."

Importance of Practice and Game Carryover

De La Salle Football—on practice preparation

“It’s a game of technique, repetition and getting it right in practice before you run it in a game. Discipline. The game is played aggressively, it’s hard and it’s tough.”

“You’re going to play just how you practice. You’re not some comic book hero who’s going to put on a cape on game day and go out there and star. It doesn’t work that way. You watch way too much TV if you believe that."

Bob Ladouceur's Program Beliefs-- De La Salle

Bob Ladouceur’s Program Beliefs

To be a successful coach—be vigilant and know technique.

His program is based on the belief that if you do everything precisely right, if you make a commitment to your coaches and teammates and sweat through all the grueling hours of workouts and bond with your teammates and play for them and not yourself, winning just happens. It’s a byproduct. But in the end the byproduct isn’t as important as paying attention to the details.

What Taking Ownership Means

While working on some post season notes and ideas for our Spring notebooks. I came along this thought from Bob Ladouceur, football coach at De La Salle High School. In the book, "Where The Game Stands Tall", he discusses what taking ownership means. This one of our key teaching points as we work with our team and especially our seniors this Spring.

• "Taking ownership means getting together as a group and saying, 'Look, on this play, we're going to do this. You can't come to us (the coaches) all the time because you are the ones playing the game, right next to each other. It doesn't matter what I know. It matters what the kid playing next to you knows. That's taking ownership. That's taking responsibility."