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VINCE LOMBARDI.
Term Paper ID:28445
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Essay Subject:
Examines career of pro football coach; his skills as a teacher & motivator; his philosophy, principles, ruthless techniques. Key to his success.... More...
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7 Pages / 1575 Words
6 sources, 16 Citations,
MLA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Examines career of pro football coach; his skills as a teacher & motivator; his philosophy, principles, ruthless techniques. Key to his success.
Paper Introduction:
This study will examine the career of Vince Lombardi, Super Bowl-winning coach of the professional football team the Green Bay Packers, focusing on his success as a coach and a motivator. The study will concentrate on the techniques practiced and principles espoused by Lombardi which prepared his players to give all they had, both physically and mentally, for the sake of the team and victory.
Green Bay Packer quarterback Bart Starr, writing in Super Bowl: The Game of Their Lives, writes of the pride for the National Football League which Lombardi instilled in his players as they prepared for the first NFL-AFL Championship Game in 1967. This was not an idle build-up based on pride as individuals, but was instead a part of Lombardi's overall approach which stressed the giving of the individual's all for
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This study will examine the career of Vince Lombardi, Super Bowl-winning coach of the professional football team the Green Bay Packers,focusing on his success as a coach and a motivator. Lombardi did not suddenly acquire his unique approach to coaching andmotivating with the Green Bay Packers. New York: Putnam's, 1985.Loehr, James. . Super Bowl. . Wright isan unusually amiable man, and he was not broken by Lombardi's tirades assome players might have been. But toLombardi, the game of football was a special reality where victory is theonly true goal. His coaching did not eliminate individual pride andindividual accomplishment by any means, but instead taught that on awinning team every individual will indeed accomplish his best. "He had the will of a perfectionist, the mind of a fundamentalist, and the heart of a father," recalled Father Guy McPartland (O'Brien 71). Works CitedKramer, Jerry. He's one of the most likable men on our squad. When you criticize him, he laughs. He wasmerciless on the practice field, berating players for mistakes andrepeating drills until the bodies and minds of his players were trainedlike machines, but machines bent on not simply utility but victory. He taught them about life as well as sports. He was a tremendous salesman in that from the time he took over a very bad Packers team in 1959, he had the style and ability to sell us on the idea that his system was so fundamentally sound that it had to work if we executed properly (Peary 2). . Certainly, the coaching aspect was based on techniques andpractice, but the sources make clear that at all times Lombardi continuedto motivate, to send the message that victory was the only alternative andthat if the players executed his lessons on the field, they would emergevictorious: Confidence is what Coach Lombardi instilled in us. Not that he would have ever advocatedillegal plays or unnecessary violence with intent to do bodily harm on thefield, for he would not and did not, but he was not above using everypsychological ploy or tactic to inspire his players to do their best. We were convinced. New York: Macmillan, 1997.Thorn, John, ed. New York:Simon & Schuster, 1989.----------------------- 9 Starr notes that Lombardi was "an outstanding teacher and tookgreat pride in that because he thought coaching was the epitome ofteaching" (Peary 4). Cecilia players assumed thecards were legitimate. Loehr also concludes that Lombardi's ruthless discipline in practices(which were likened by some players to the games themselves for theirintensity) was a part of his belief that "repeated exposure toprogressively increasing levels of competitive stress" toughens a player'sconfidence and will. The key to Lombardi's success as a coach was discipline. Others also noted his incongruous behavior, leading some to judge his religious convictions shallow and his behavior hypocritical. It is alsoimportant to note that Curry changed his mind about Lombardi being a coldand cruel man, and ended up praying with Lombardi when the coach was on hisdeath-bed (Kramer 131). Lombardi knew that physical training was a crucial part of success infootball, but even more important than physical training was mentaltraining. Starr goes on to note that part of Lombardi's success as a coach washis ability to recognize (and to hire coaches who were also able torecognize) the unique skills of individual players "and then harness andhone those skills with discipline" (Peary 3). One might find it difficult to bring together the two sides of such aman--the highly moral side and the side which will use fear and hatred toinspire a man to do his best for the sake of victory on a football field.This contradiction remains unresolved in Lombardi, as this passage fromO'Brien shows: "It was religion in the morning and the language of the longshoreman in the afternoon," a Packer assistant coach observed of Vince. The Fireside Book of Pro Football. "Toughening does not occur without exposure to stress"(Loehr 143). AsStarr writes in Peary: We had such success because we responded to Coach Lombardi's approach, which was extremely demanding but very rewarding. . . Cecilia HighSchool, Lombardi sent highly insulting postcards to every player on his ownteam, signing the names of players from an opposing team which St.Cecilia's was scheduled to play: "The naive St. . Therefore, in 1967, Lombardi emphasized the pride of theplayers not only in their team, the Green Bay Packers, but also the leagueof which the Packers were a part--the NFL in its first head-to-head combatwith the upstart American Football League. . . Football was akin towar for Lombardi, and the effective player and team were inspired by ahatred for the enemy, just as in war. . Not all players took to Lombardi's relentless approach to coaching.Jerry Kramer, another Packer, writes of teammate Bill Curry's fear ofLombardi. Perhaps the most powerful motivating message delivered by Lombardi tohis players was the message that victory is the only option in the contestof bodies and wills known as a football game. New York: William Morrow, 1987.Peary, Danny, ed. . ," but was instead, "We must win; we can't lose" (Peary 2). . OfCurry, Kramer writes: Bill Curry was a very religious and a very frightened young man. In fact, of course, fear was an important part of Lombardi'ssuccess, as Kramer and others note. I'm sorry, but that is the truth (Thorn 3 ). This was not an idle build-up based on prideas individuals, but was instead a part of Lombardi's overall approach whichstressed the giving of the individual's all for the sake of a larger, team-oriented goal. That was the philosophy which guided Lombardi as coach and motivator.The two aspects of his career--coaching and motivation--were inseparable.In his relationships with his players, he was always coaching and alwaysmotivating. We felt privileged and blessed to be in the NFL and to be part of its growth, and now we took great pride in being its standard bearer (Peary 2). All week long he is the symbol, the epitome, of what you must defeat and then, when it is over, when you have looked up to that man as long as I have looked up to George Halas, you cannot help but be disturbed by a score like this (Whittingham 139). For example, coaching St. Writing again of the firstSuper Bowl game, Starr (in Peary) writes: Coach Lombardi wanted to win this game very, very badly and treated it like a personal mission, yet I didn't detect worry. Vince. . Most of the players held him in awe and admired his integrity. . The most powerful coaching and motivating tool Lombardi had washimself. At the same time, Lombardi himself acknowledges inWhittingham that his tightly focused approach to coaching and playing thegame of football did block out the more human elements at times. . In his private life, Lombardi was a loving husband and father, livingthe exemplary life of a respected citizen and community leader. "You moral integrity is the most priceless thing you possess," he said. Distant Replay. To the contrary, he practiced hisapproach with high school teams. I was trying to get him to hate me enough to take it out on the opposition, because to play the game, you must have fire in you, and there is nothing that stokes that fire like hate. . . The Armchair Quarterback. The study willconcentrate on the techniques practiced and principles espoused by Lombardiwhich prepared his players to give all they had, both physically andmentally, for the sake of the team and victory. Loehr writes that Lombardi'scoaching system includes "strict levels of physical fitness," in the beliefthat "mental and emotional fitness are closely linked to physical fitness."Lombardi taught that "physical fitness leads directly to improved self-confidence and . To Vince, though, the inconsistency was merely a confirmation of original sin. Essentially, physical training and mental training wereinextricably tied together for Lombardi. Toughness Training for Life. The "game" was simply a special realm for Lombardi, where he woulduse whatever motivating techniques he had to use to fire his players up todo their best for the sake of the team and victory. . "I'm scared to death," he once confessed. resiliency under pressure." Lombardi's coaching alsoincluded the admonitions never to show weakness on the outside, never to talk negatively, never to whine or complain, to think positively, to look energetic and confident at all times, to follow a precise way of thinking and acting after making mistakes (Loehr 143). . At the same time, the key to Lombardi's success as coach andmotivator was not a psychological trick, but was instead the man himself.Lombardi was a man who lived according to conservative principles: The source was Vince himself--his character, personality, enthusiasm, and example. Here is Lombardi's own explanation for theway he treated Wright and the coaching and motivating purpose behind suchtreatment: Did I hate him, or even dislike him? New York: Charles Scribner'sSons, 1982.Whittingham, Richard, ed. And this proved to be correct, because under Lombardi so many players who hadn't had any success on the pro level became All-Pro (Peary 3). Lombardi is accused by his critics today of being too focused onwinning, to the detriment of the more humanistic aspects of life. All week long there builds up inside of you a competitive animosity toward that other man, that counterpart across the field. . Lombardi truly believed he was training young men notonly to win at football but to win in life, to fulfill their potential,whatever that might be.Starr concludes: "We all learned great lessons from Vince Lombardi and heearned our respect and love" (Peary 4). They saw him at Mass daily and knew he didn't chase around with women or drink heavily. "I'm scared I'm going to do something wrong" (Kramer 13 ). Green Bay Packer quarterback Bart Starr, writing in Super Bowl: TheGame of Their Lives, writes of the pride for the National Football Leaguewhich Lombardi instilled in his players as they prepared for the first NFL-AFL Championship Game in 1967. . I've always believed that your best people will respond well to discipline because they recognize it as an asset, not a hindrance. . But on thefield, in the context of the sport of football and the realm ofcompetition, Lombardi was ruthless. Of course, Lombardi was not so sensitive when he was running up thatscore, but it is important to note that Lombardi himself recognized thedifference between what happened on the football field and what happened inhis own heart off the football field. Everything to do with the game itselffocused for Lombardi on winning, and winning was based on his ability tobring out the best in the individual not for the individual's sake but forthe sake of the team. That's his problem. 'Naturally, we got all fired up and went out andbeat Brooklyn Prep,' said one" (O'Brien 7 ). New York: Dutton, 1993.O'Brien, Michael. He has all the size and ability he needs to be a great one, but he loves everybody. During Mass and prayer Vince often thought about his work and his team, but he claimed he never prayed for victory, only God's will (O'Brien 187). For example, Steve Wright, a player for Lombardi on the Packers,recounts in Thorn the harsh way which Lombardi dealt with him in front ofthe team again and again for mistakes Wright made on the field. No, not for a moment. Of course, it is just such fear of failure which Lombardi instilledinto his players to make them drive even harder for victory. He approached the game as he always did, from a positive standpoint, so it was never, "What if we lose . He writes,for example, of a game in which his Packers routed the Chicago Bears, 49- .After the game, as is tradition, he searched for the Bear coach, GeorgeHalas, to shake his hand, but Lombardi said he was really hoping that I would not find him. Coach Lombardi intimidated him. Part of Lombardi's drive to victoryinvolved stark fear--the fear of defeat, and the fear of Lombardi tiradesif the team were defeated and/or if individual players made mistakes. Lombardi, writes Starr, said that the Green and Gold [Green Bay's colors] was meant to carry all its history, tradition, and prestige into the game, and to fulfill our obligation.
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