It may come as a surprise to even the most ardent sports fan that John Gagliardi has the most victories in NCAA college football history.  But his record 484 wins over a 63-year coaching career (which came to an end in 2011), is not nearly as impressive – or surprising – as the philosophy he used to amass such an impressive total.  How he went about creating such a remarkable coaching legacy will interest all managers who aspire to leading their teams to new heights.

Before we take a look at a few of a coaching icon’s unorthodox tactics for success, it’s worth noting that he developed his philosophy through real-world experience.  During World War II, his high-school football coach was called to military service.  Left to coach themselves, Gagliardi and his teammates took a radical (for those days) approach – they scrapped calisthenics that had no application to football, drank water when they were thirsty (an unheard of practice then!) and simply practiced their plays over and over.  They won the league title.

That experience inspired Gagliardi’s “Winning with No’s” philosophy for practice that he used throughout his career:  no whistles (an irritating negative reinforcement), no tackling, no blocking sleds, no profane language, no calling him coach (“call me John”).

Gagliardi’s radical, creative and imaginative refutation of many of the conventional assumptions of thought-leaders in his sport, cannot be dismissed as an interesting experiment by a less-than-serious coach.  He has been described as a “worry-wart only slightly less miserable in victory than in defeat.”  Achievement is important to him.

 

Putting the Ideas into Action

  1. Consider your real-world experience as you develop your management philosophy
  2. “Thought-leaders” may be “thought-followers” – confirm the ideas work for you before adopting
  3. Radical, creative and imaginative ideas may be game-changers – encourage your people to share