The Ten Most Important Things a Coach Should Do in the Off-Season

Even if the last game of the season ends in a victory, the off-season begins for me after the last out of that game. Next season, I know I must be better and my team must be better. I begin to immediately analyze the ways we met and did not meet our goals for our team becoming better people, athletes, and players. Here are the things I think all coaches should do during the off-season to maximize their chances of having the best possible outcome for the next season. You will note that everything I advise my players to do, I require first from myself.

Ensure there is balance in your life. One of my favorite quotes about coaching is, "Your family loves you not your job. Be sure they are getting the best of you, not the rest of you." The personal lives of many coaches suffer because during the season and in the off-season, the coach does not devote the same amount of time, energy, and effort toward the success and happiness of their family as they do to their team and sport.
Recruit more qualified assistant coaches and get to know them on a personal level.If the head coach is going to maintain a balanced life, they need to be able to delegate coaching responsibilities to other coaches they trust to have the same coaching ability and philosophy as their own. A head coach must not only get to know what and how their assistant coaches teach, but they must also know generally about their family life and their personality so they can effectively collaborate and communicate with them during the season.
Make yourself a better athlete and a better player. In amateur athletics, telling is not teaching. If your players are going to learn and improve, you and your assistant coaches must be able to demonstrate what you expect them to do. And this includes the athletic skills, e.g., dynamic movement and stretching, running, Plyometrics, etc., as well as, all of the sports skills.
Go watch other elite coaches in your sport and in other sports coach at practice and in games. When you study other successful coaches, you will see that while their personalities may differ, their methodology in establishing a winning culture and in teaching will have many similarities. You will be able to borrow and adapt what makes them successful to help you be more successful. Ask yourself; in what ways do they work to make the members of their team better people, athletes, and players? Do not watch the game as much as watch them coach. Do not watch the ball and the result of the play as much as what happens off the ball and the process of achieving the result.
Get better resources to improve your coaching methodology. Every day, read books and articles, watch videos, and listen to podcasts produced by the most respected people in coaching and in leadership generally. Do not simply do what every other coach does. Be better and be better for good reasons, your reasons. However, always remember, "Master teaching what you know before expanding what you teach."
Get more proficient at technology. In most sports, technology can provide valuable coaching tools to improve your team members as athletes and players. Technology may be the best way to connect and communicate with your players because they have been proficient with technology before they even began school. There are many technology programs and devices used in almost every sport. Coaches need to learn which ones are the best for their players and team. The head coach and/or the assistant coaches must be proficient at using them. Just be sure not to overuse technology to the point it replaces your eyes and what your coaching experience and your relationship with your players tells you. Technology can also be overused to the point where players cannot think or feel for themselves during competition.
Get to know your players on a personal level. It is essential that if you are going to train your team members to be better athletes and develop them as players, you must connect, validate, and support them as people so you earn their trust to coach them during vulnerable and difficult experiences. Meet with returning players socially outside sporting venues to get to know them. For new players, talk with their prior coaches about the personalities, the learning styles, and the personal challenges of those players.
Train your players to be better athletes and develop their individual sports skills. One of the primary goals of every athlete during the off-season should be to get bigger, stronger, faster, quicker and more agile. This will take months of work in a gym and at home (e.g., nutrition, hydration, rest, quality sleep, etc.) tailored to the individual's needs and not just from a white board in a P.E. class. The off-season will afford you much more time to develop the sport skills of the player than during the season.
Set SMART goals for the upcoming season for each member of the team and for the team itself. SMART = Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant and Trackable through Time goals. It is essential that these goals include all three of the Champions for Life categories: better people, better athletes, and better players. Better People = Better Athletes = Better players/Teammates = Champions for Life.
Prepare practice plan templates for the upcoming season. Do not wait until the week before the season begins to develop your practice plan templates. You and your assistant coaches should prepare, analyze, and revise them many times before the season starts. Of course, the templates will need to be adapted and revised as you get to know your team and how the season is progressing, but you need to have concrete plans for how you will make them better people, better athletes, and better players. Remember always, "We coach people not sports – it is the quality of the person, not the player that is the most significant outcome." Use quotes, acronyms, role plays, and guest speakers in your practice plans to be sure you are connecting the sport experiences and lessons to the other areas of your players’ lives now and in the future. "We coach life lessons proactively within the game for beyond the game."

Adam Sarancik is the Author of Four Amazon Top 100 Best Selling Baseball Coaching Books:

Coaching Champions for Life – The Process of Mentoring the Person, Athlete and Player
Takeaway Quotes for Coaching Champions for Life
A Ground Ball to Shortstop – How and Why Coaches See Their Game Differently Than Anyone Else
Teacher, Role Model, Mentor: Lessons Learned From a Lifetime in Coaching