Читать книгу A Legacy Unrivaled. The Story of John Gagliardi онлайн

20 страница из 56

John said to Jimmy, “Let’s see how you introduce yourself.”

Jimmy jumped up, and with a bit too much excitement and energy, he extended his hand and said, “Nice to meet you, John. I’ve heard a lot about you.” John shook his head in disgust and said, “I know my name! I want to know your name.” The class laughed at Jimmy’s expense, but he gave it a second try, and John affirmed him with a “Good job.”

John transitioned to his philosophy on football. “We tell our football team that we don’t have goals. Just do it, every day. I had that phrase long before Nike. Except I said it a little differently.”

His voice got kind of low. “I used to say, ‘Just do it, goddammit.’”

The class laughed as he continued. “As a coach, when evaluating players, you have to find a guy who knows what to do and then has the ability to get it done. And we only have one rule, the golden rule. Treat people how you would like to be treated, and that takes care of almost everything.”

When he said that, I thought about one of the first changes he made when he took over as coach of his high school football team back in 1943. Conventional coaching wisdom at the time was to not allow players to drink water during practice, as it would make them “weak.” In his first practice as a coach, John wanted a drink, so he got one. The other players watched to make sure he didn’t die, and then they got drinks themselves.