the coach who lost his playbook

Welcome back to another Leech Letter,

One of my favorite parts of a football road trip is getting to the hotel, flipping through the TV guide, and landing on a classic. This week it was one of the all-time great football movies: The Waterboy.

You flip it on for the laughs and to watch Bobby Boucher absolutely destroy people. But I'm a coach, so I can't turn my brain off. Somewhere between "Mama says" and the Bourbon Bowl, I started pulling out lessons.

Bobby taught us to master the little stuff. Nobody on earth knew more about water. Ridiculous? Sure. But the coaches who win care about the details nobody else does: warmups, sleep, hydration, attendance.

His mama taught us that keeping kids safe can keep them small. Real protection is preparation, not avoidance.

But the biggest lesson came from Coach Klein.

Years before the movie starts, Red Beaulieu stole Klein's playbook and took the credit. Klein never recovered. He stopped trusting himself, coached scared, and his program paid for it.

A lot of us do a version of that early in our careers. We build around what someone else did. We change the plan because one parent complained. We see a winning program doing something and bolt it onto ours without asking if it fits.

Klein turns it around when he stops looking over his shoulder and draws up his own plays. Trust your eye. Own your voice. Coach like it's your playbook, because it is.

Is this the deepest film analysis you'll read this fall? No. But it beats Red Beaulieu's.

Hope your season is rolling. If you ever need help or have a question, hit reply.

Keep the Fire Burning,

Leech