Laxicon006, An interview with Nick Myers, the Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach at The Ohio State University.

Nick Myers Interview Notes

Does exit interviews and a post season survey before the outgoing seniors move on to wherever they are headed next.
In year 2 of their leadership council

5 seniors-elected by team
3 juniors-elected by team
2 sophomores-elected by team
Add 2 freshmen once fall ball is over in the fall
Bi-weekly conference call with the group in the summer
Each player on the council will be charged with making 4-5 phone calls to teammates each week over the summer and share the content of those calls with the council. This includes making calls to the incoming freshmen.
Players refine and develop the rules and are in charge of implementing them.
They take a team trip together to West Virginia in the fall

ropes
white water rafting
campfire
No cell phones!

Every Wednesday when they return to school they meet and have “life skills” Wednesday
R-factor training with Tim Kight (E+R=O)
Different speakers from different areas of life skills come in and speak to the team on a regular basis.
300 hours of community service as a team since last May.
The Leadership Council acts as the “Board of Directors” for the team. They are selected by their teammates and it is work for these players but they consider it a great honor to be selected. Since it is work they do have a say in how things are done on the team.
Open communication is encouraged and demanded by Coach Myers.

Big brother program

Have to have a certain GPA
Have a certain number of community service hours
An upperclassmen is paired with a freshman and is responsible for the upbringing of the younger guy.
Treat your little brother like your actual little brother.
Lockers are right next to their little brother.

Captains

Coach Myers will select 2 or 3 depending on how their teammates vote. He thinks that a player should get 50% of his teammates vote in order to be a captain.
Captains lead the leadership group.

Ohio State’s character blueprint is

We not me

treating every teammate with love and respect

Do your job

know the why
train with purpose

All in

Above the line behavior is graded each day.

grade each player on the 3 character blueprint items above from 1 to 3 every day and post those grades.

Teaching is his primary role and mission. He considers coaching to be “one in the same” as teaching.

Both his parents were teachers and once they divorced each of them remarried teachers so he was raised a teacher by 4 teachers.
He majored in teaching and did his student teaching in college
Its about trust, relationships, and love
You need to get a feel for each of the guys, what does each player need. Assess the needs of your players as well as your assistant coaches.

Players who don’t grade out well in the “we not me” category aren’t making people better. A player needs to answer the question; “how are you making your team better” Coach Myers believes that his team’s focus on “we not me” is what separates them from other teams of equal or greater talent, much more than talent does. “Culture beats talent”
The “R-factor” is a toolbox, its training and a weekly reinforcement. They speak the E+R=O (event + response = outcome) language regularly on the team, and are constantly examining what their “R” is for every situation.

“what’s your R going to be when you’re down by 10 goals in the 4th quarter” They wrote down 20 different scenario’s and then discussed what their R is.
Be more intentional instead of impulsive (R1=press pause)

Below the line behavior

#1 problem is auto pilot, players not being present mentally and plugged in.

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