The Locker Room

9The Six Pillars

Coach Smitty looked at the two questions on the whiteboard. He still had much to learn, but he had opened himself up to learning, and committed himself to listening. Now he wanted to see how much he had absorbed. He thought carefully about his words, and said, “We tell our kids all the time: ‘Everything you need to know to be successful in the game of life, you can learn through the game of football.’ I think it's time we plug in the Six Pillars to deal with our current opponent.” He started drawing on the whiteboard, putting on a Six Pillars coaching clinic for the next 10 minutes.

• Coach Smitty drew in big, bold letters: TOUGH PEOPLE WIN.

  “The conversation we're having is one of the toughest conversations a team or organization can have—that's why so many people, including myself, run away from it. So, if we really want to defeat this opponent, there is only one way—we must be tough! We must be tough enough to love one another, tough enough to give grace, tough enough to be humble, and tough enough to listen and learn. We must get tough to unite our locker room.”

• Next, he drew: INTEGRITY OVER EVERYTHING.

  “We ask every member of our program to commit to the ‘harder right over the easier wrong.’” There are so many different choices our kids have to make in a day—this makes doing the right thing simple. No matter where you are, or what the details of your circumstance, choose integrity over everything. It's a simple choice that can guide us through complex ...