Coach ,

I bet you know where these lines come from:

"Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives. All comes down to today, and either, we heal as a team, or we're gonna crumble. Inch by inch, play by play. Until we're finished.”

“To me, being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It’s not about winning. It’s about you and your relationship to yourself and your family and your friends.”

“How you play today, from this moment on, is how you will be remembered. This is your opportunity to rise from these ashes and grab glory. We are…”

If you didn't know, in order they were Any Given Sunday, We are Marshall, and Friday Night Lights. All great movies!

Hollywood loves to dramatize the pre-game speech and make it so much of the stereotype of who we are as coaches.  

While, the movies may overvalue the pre-game speech, it is a great opportunity to send your team out of the locker room with a positive mentality and focus.

There are many games where grabbing an early lead and building momentum are necessary for a positive result.  

Head coach of the #14 North Carolina Tar Heels Mack Brown has seen it over the course of his career, especially the five years when he was working on tv as an announcer, too many teams who are not ready to play.

Coach knows it’s about creating an edge for your team. He said,

“You may get beat because the other team is better than you are, but you should never lose a game because you weren’t excited about it or weren’t prepared and didn’t create an edge.”

Here is Mack Brown talking about the pre-game speech. He tells the story of how he talked to the Texas Longhorns before the 2005 BCS National Championship (click on image for video).

Don’t neglect those last few minutes before kickoff. 

The way you handle your team is so important. You need to read your team and understand what you need to say to them to send them out the door with some energy and emotion.

Good luck as you kick off the 2021 season. As Mack Brown says, “Go create that edge!”

Coach Grabowski