Climbing The Mountain Of Football Excellence

Climbing The Mountain Of Football Excellence

Climbing The Mountain of Football Excellence is a symbolic concept I use with teams. The summit of the mountain represents your goal, a state or national championship, while the mountain represents the obstacle one must conquer to reach it, yourself and your season. The journey up The Mountain of Excellence marks the self-improvement endeavor an individual must take to become a peak performer.

CAIN'S COACHING POINT:

If you want more success on the field, you must become more off the field. Winning a championship is a by-product of becoming a champion. The concept of The Mountain of Excellence is to demonstrate that the achievement of performance excellence is a long, but worthwhile, journey.

Similar to mountain climbing, football is about training to conquer one mountain at a time. Once that mountain has been climbed, it is time to return to base camp and set your sights on the next mountain's summit and get to work. Each mountain is scaled one step at a time. It does not matter if you are climbing Mt. Everest, one of the big boys, or the local hill in your town - all mountains are summited one step at a time and all football games are won one play at a time. Base camp is your video room, practice field and weight room. The next mountain to climb is your next game.

"We're living our lives together; we will never again be together as a group this way when this season is over. Never. We all know how things change. We should remember that on every single play. All we need to do is make every play in every game important. Play it as if you'll never play the game again. We do that and then, whatever happens, we can walk away when it's all over and feel good about ourselves and about each other. Every single play. That's what football is. I pledge to give you everything I have on every single play. I want all of you to pledge that to yourselves and to each other."

- Ray Lewis 2 x NFL Super Bowl champion Future NFL Hall of Fame Player

ONE STEP TO THE SUMMIT - STAY & YOU DIE

Mountain climbing also serves as a great activity to compare with football because when a team scales a mountain, they cannot simply live on the summit: They must return to base camp, regroup and climb another mountain, or their climbing career is over. Similarly in football, an individual or team cannot win a championship and be champions forever. They will forever be champions of that season, but as soon as the next season rolls around, the slate is swept clean and all the opposition is ready to become title contenders. This forces the champions to start the season anew in their quest for that season's championship, the climb's summit. Therefore, your time at the summit is only temporary.

After The University of Alabama defeated Notre Dame 42-14 for the 2013 NCAA National Championship, somebody asked Alabama coach Nick Saban if he could appreciate what his team had done: three national titles in four years, dominance over a sport we thought could no longer be dominated.

"One day, when I'm sitting on the side of the hill, looking at the stream, I'll probably appreciate it more," Saban said. And then he paused. "But what about next year's team?"

Saban clearly understands that you can't live on the summit. That you must get back on the horse and ride or you will die. After the game he also said that he was going to take 48 hours, enjoy the win and then get back to work.

CAIN'S COACHING POINT:

It is key that you give yourself a certain time frame to enjoy a win or lick your wounds from a loss. Giving both a deadline where you re-engage back into the moment and into the next game gives you the best chance to prepare and perform consistently at your best.

Ultimately, there is no end to the pursuit of excellence, no one final summit to reach. Excellence is a constant journey that demands personal responsibility in your daily commitment. Use of the mountain climbing analogy will assist your understanding and application of the mental game as you strive to become more.