C.O.A.C.H Part 4: Coachable

By Don Ebert

    Whenever I ask players what they think the second “C” in C.O.A.C.H. stands for, I am amazed at how many guys have no clue to the answer.  It is indeed very rare when any of the players get this one correct.

    So, let’s get right to it.  The second “C” stands for COACHABLE.  All players have to be Coachable, but it is so much more important for first year players.  For incoming freshmen, everything is going to be a new experience: new teammates, new coaching staff, new living environment, new school, new “freedoms.”  New, New, New.  The one constant all players think is that at least the “soccer will be the same.”  Wrong!!!

    Being Coachable means that you are willing and able to adapt and change your game to fit in with what your coach wants from you.  It is as simple as that.  Sounds simple?  Well, how will you react when you are told to play the first scrimmage as a left back even though you were the leading scorer on your team and have played forward all your life?  How will you react when you are asked to play a totally different system that you have never seen or played in ever?  How will you react when you are used to playing a short passing possession style of soccer and now your coach wants to implement a direct, over the top style of play?  How are you going to react playing in cold weather, hot weather, and rainy weather?  How are you going to react when your role with your new team might be playing 10 minutes a game to spell the senior starter even though you have always been a 90 minute player and have never came off the bench before ever?  How are you going to react when the coach tells you that you have to be more physical on the field even though you have always been the playmaker and never really engaged in the physical side of the game?  How will you react if the coach calls a training session for “all non-starters” for early Sunday morning and you just sat the entire game the night before without seeing one minute of action?  What will your attitude be like at that session?  How will you react if your coach asks you to redshirt your first year “for the good of the program?”

    As you can see, being Coachable is not always easy.  As a new player, you will be asked to play different positions, different styles and systems, different minutes, different techniques, and how you handle all these different changes by the coach is critical to how successful your first year will be.  I have seen plenty of players be overwhelmed by all the changes and they basically just get lost in their first year, it is just too much for them to handle.  They were not very Coachable.

    I always tell players to “embrace change,” don’t be afraid of it.  Change is a vital part of player development and once you stop changing and improving your game, that is the time you have stopped developing as a player.