What does it take to be a great coach? Sports reporter Adrian Seconi lists his top 12 keys to success.
GREAT PLAYERS
A great coach has great players. It is as simple as that.
Winning is easier when you've got a team of champions.
Example: American basketball coach Phil Jackson forged an impressive NBA career on the backs of some fairly useful players. Heard of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant?
Enough said.
CHARISMA
The best coaches know what motivates people and how best to squeeze every last drop of talent from their athletes. Who wouldn't want to play for someone like that?
Example: The great Vince Lombardi made his name with the Green Bay Packers and inspired athletes to go the extra mile.
DEEP POCKETS
You might have to find some creative ways around any salary cap but there is not much in sport a blank cheque won't fix. Not everyone can be bought, of course. But not everyone is in it for love, either.
Example: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has had a dream ride with the club, reportedly spending $NZ1.8 billion between 2008 and the end of last season. Who says money can't buy success?
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
A little help from a well-placed board member or a key player or two is invaluable, regardless of whether the results have been positive or otherwise.
Example: Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is still clinging to power despite a miserable run.
Australian chief executive John O'Neill is one of Deans' few remaining fans.
RUTHLESSNESS
A good coach is not afraid to trade on or abandon loyalty and sentiment whenever it is expedient to do so.
Example: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is more dictator than democrat.
Anyone who challenges his authority gets a quick transfer or a seat on the bench.
WISDOM
An obvious one, really. You can't become a great coach if you don't know what you are doing.
Example: Lois Muir already knew plenty about netball when she started coaching the Silver Ferns. After 15 years, what she didn't know about netball wasn't worth knowing.
LADY LUCK
If only. It is the oldest excuse in the book. If only so and so had not got injured, or if only the referee had seen that forward pass. A little luck never hurts.
Example: All Black coach Laurie Mains' bad luck was Springbok coach Kitch Christie's good fortune. If only the All Blacks were fully fit for the final of the 1995 World Cup.
ORGANISATION
The best-laid plans can unravel in seconds but a good plan helps promote confidence and that is half the battle in elite sport.
Example: New Zealand cricket coach Mike Hesson does not have the playing credentials but his organisational skills have seen him rise to the top. Pity the Black Caps can't bat.
CONFIDENCE
The importance of self-belief is regularly emphasised by athletes. But it must start at the top. Every great coach has a high level of confidence.
Example: Real Madrid football coach Jose Mourinho called himself The Special One.
SCHEMING
Be it gamesmanship, plotting or even the willingness to exploit a loophole and send down an underarm delivery, good coaches will take big risks.
Example: Former Australian netball coach Norma Plumber is well-versed in stirring up controversy when she thinks it will unsettle the opposition. She famously called the Silver Ferns "a bunch of scrubbers" and regularly uses the media to put pressure on players or officials.
THICK SKIN
When a team wins, the players get most of the credit, but the coach always fronts when there has been a loss. Sometimes it gets a bit ugly.
Example: Graham Henry endured endless criticism, some of it quite personal, following the All Blacks' loss to France in the quarterfinal of the 2007 World Cup. He returned four years later to lead the team to glory and pick up a knighthood in the process.
MANA
Some leaders just look the part and command respect. They might not give the greatest halftime speeches but there is something about their personality which just inspires people.
Example: Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph inherited a team down on its luck but through force of personality, helped turn the franchise around.
