Coaches make their greatest contributions to their players’ lives.
Published by Simon and Schuster
In David Maraniss’s biography of Vince Lombardi, When Pride Still Mattered, the portrait of the legendary coach often defies the one-dimensional image of a taskmaster. Lombardi is remembered as a hard-nosed, stubborn coach full of grit, discipline, and demanding standards.
But a closer look at his philosophy suggests that the perceived gap between “old school” and “modern” coaching is largely a myth. At its core, successful coaching—regardless of the era—rests on a singular, timeless foundation: the holistic investment in the athlete as a human being.
That lesson matters especially at the high school level, where athletics exists not as a separate enterprise from education, but as an extension of it. The playing field, gymnasium, pool, track, and court extend the classroom. The coach is not simply responsible for preparing an athlete to compete; the coach is entrusted with helping educate a young person.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) describes education-based athletics as an opportunity for students to learn both in the classroom and through participation in athletics. That philosophy offers an important lens for viewing Lombardi.
Some might say his methods belong to another era, but his purpose was remarkably consistent with what the best high school coaches are doing today. Lombardi’s coaching highlights that the line between “old school” and “new school” is largely artificial. He combined firm convictions, moral clarity, and an unwavering system with a deep, personal investment in each player he coached.
Lombardi demanded discipline and fundamentals—hallmarks of “old school” —but he also learned players’ backgrounds, adapted his approach to their needs, and worked to develop them as fathers, sons, husbands, and community members. His faith and standards gave teams identity and consistency, while his willingness to adjust tactics and mentor individuals brought out peak performance.
At his core, Lombardi understood coaching as fundamentally an educational endeavor. He was not simply teaching football to young men; he was teaching players how to live and be better men for their teammates, their families, and their communities.
While examining Lombardi, the distinction between a teacher-coach is critical to understanding the true purpose of education-based athletics.
Education-based athletics begins with the simplest premise: an athlete is a student first, and athletics extends the classroom. Believing and understanding that purpose does not diminish competition. Education-based athletics is about more than what happens on the scoreboard; it is about who students become through the experience of being part of a team led by a teacher-coach.
It means that the larger objective for high school coaches extends beyond competitive outcomes. It involves developing character, responsibility, leadership, and lifelong skills.
Yes, winning matters, but so too do preparation, being on time, honoring commitments, working through struggles, and putting team above self. What really matters, then, is the athlete’s development as a human being.
That vision is what Lombardi had, and what all successful teacher-coaches must also have. David Maraniss put it this way: “He (Lombardi) was a teacher who happened to coach football. It is about setting standards, holding athletes accountable, and building meaningful relationships to motivate the athlete.”
Lombardi preached that freedom exists in discipline, and I (among others) view it as the Lombardi Way. It means ….
–The best coaches are teachers first.
–The best coaches teach technique through teaching responsibility.
–The best coaches teach strategy and decision-making.
–The best coaches teach and prepare for competition while teaching how to respond to adversity.
–The best coaches teach athletes to win with grace and respond to defeat properly.
–The best coaches teach athletes how to accept corrections and learn from mistakes.
–The best coaches teach students how to work with people who are different from them.
–The best coaches teach players to focus on the greater good rather than individual recognition.
While athletics and coaches in and of themselves cannot magically produce good citizens, there is ample research that indicates interscholastic athletics – when put into proper context – can create an environment in which citizenship, responsibility, leadership, service, and character can be intentionally taught, practiced, and developed. High school coaches have the opportunity and obligation to help produce better people through their craft.
None of this means that winning is irrelevant or that winning doesn’t matter. We would be foolish to think otherwise. In fact, Lombardi certainly did not believe that. He believed in winning. Like Lombardi, coaches should seek to pursue excellence – near perfection – for all their athletes.
Athletes should set ambitious goals and work relentlessly to achieve them. However, education-based athletics creates a deeper purpose than just winning. As NFHS expressed it: “In education-based athletics, winning is a goal, but the growth and development of student-athletes is the larger purpose.”
Ultimately, the greatest legacy coaches can leave behind is not on the scoreboard – it is in the deposits we make in the lives of our athletes. Lombardi taught us how.
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Nathan O. Brown, CAA, is the District Athletic Director for Cumberland County Schools in Crossville, TN. He can be reached at nbrown@ccs-tn.net
