Belief in yourself, team something to celebrate

If I had a nickel for every coach who’s told me his or her team had to learn how to win, you wouldn’t be reading this and my beach tan would be coming along nicely, thank you very much.

Yes, it’s a classic coaching cliché. But it’s also a truism.

Winning is something you have to learn.

Good coaches teach their players the fundamentals and the skills needed to play the game. Great coaches teach the fundamentals and skills needed to play the game of life.

Great coaches know how to build the biggest, strongest and most important muscle in the sporting body: heart.

When you get down to it, teaching how to play the game is the easiest part. Teaching skills is integral to success, and practice is always necessary to hone that skill into a fine edge in a game.  And, to be sure, having the skills to play the game is a huge building block for that desired end result: winning.

Early on in an athlete’s career, individual skill is the dominant part of their success, and a good athlete can get by and have success simply because he or she has superior skills.

But eventually, there comes a day when skill alone will not determine success. Sooner or later, everyone will run into an opponent who can match them skill for skill.

There’s a cottage industry for college and professional coaches to write books about how they motivate players. The more success a coach has, the more the world clamors for their insights.

John Wooden’s autobiography, “They Call Me Coach,” is in almost as much demand now as it ever was. Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari has at least four books out. Phil Jackson has more than twice that number. Pete Carroll has one and so does Mike Leach.

They all offer some insights into what it takes to win at the highest levels – in sport and in life.

All talk about how, ultimately, the journey to success is an inner journey. It becomes less about building great muscles, although that is an integral part of any sport. It’s about developing inner strength.

Listen to what the Seattle Seahawks said after Sunday’s thrilling comeback win over Green Bay. Listen to what Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and the rest had to say. Each one stressed the same things.

The entire team, to a man, believed it would win. Not could win. Would win.

They all continued to do their individual jobs.

And they all continued to believe, wholeheartedly, in one another.

None of them talked about the great play calling – even after the team had scored on a fake field goal and recovered an on-side kick. No one talked about how much better conditioned they were or how much better prepared the team was.

They talked about how much they believed in one another.

Russell Wilson had one of the worst games of his career. He had the kind of game that would make most quarterbacks hang their head in shame and slink off the field. But still, after throwing four interceptions and playing awfully, his teammates still believed he would get them into the end zone and get them into the Super Bowl.

There may have been just four or five dozen people at that stadium who believed it there in the fourth quarter of the game. But 3½ dozen of them all wore the same blue jerseys, and at least in part, the realization of just how deep that trust and belief runs within his teammates brought him to tears.

Earl Thomas Jr. and Sherman both were injured during the game. Thomas had to be ordered off the field to get his shoulder checked, but he was back in the game. Sherman sprained his elbow and was in intense pain, but he refused to leave the field. Both insisted they would be ready to play in the Super Bowl.

Don’t for a second think either player was “just being macho.” Playing in pain wasn’t in the slightest about them. Neither was willing to let down the teammates who believed in them and placed their faith in them to do their job and who had their back.

It’s easy to throw out another coaching – “If You Can Believe, You Can Achieve.”

Belief like what we saw Sunday and will continue to celebrate through Super Bowl Sunday goes far beyond the cliché.

It makes all the difference.