Coaches are important educational leaders in our schools, communities, and universities. The Sport and the Growing Good (SGG) podcast provides embedded, front-line insights on winning and positive development. The SGG podcast can be heard here and on all major podcast platforms.
Dick Bennett was one of the great coaches in Wisconsin basketball history. In part 2 of our SGG conversation, we discussed:
1. The “brotherhood” among coaches.
2. How his son Tony and bible study influenced the formation of Dick’s beliefs and core pillars: humility, passion, unity, servanthood, and thankfulness.
3. Modeling his life and ways of coaching after Christ.
4. Getting “players you can lose with” – those who will stay the course.
5. How do you get players to play defense like that? “Every night!” (…and pay attention to the ball pressure)
6. A lesson from Vince Lombardi: Execution comes through repetition…and keep it simple.
7. The third great coach in the Bennett family.
8. Wisdom from Ben Hogan on how to get really good at something. “It’s every day.”
9. “Stay the course, push them – without being nasty.”
10. His annual summer gathering with former players.
11. The importance of the time you spend with players, especially at the high school level: “They’re like sponges.”
12. Owning up to mistakes and apologizing.
Bonus content: