| Bret Simon |
This article was published in October 2006.
A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Bret Simon has been successful in every phase of his coaching career. Simon has been at Stanford for five years and has made the College Cup with Stanford three times. He is the first coach to reach the College Cup with two different teams. He coached at Creighton for six seasons before Stanford and led the Bluejays to the championship game in 2000. He has won coach of the year honors at every institution he has served. He entered the 2006 season with an overall record of 133-33-12.
When did you decide to become a soccer coach? Why?
I've always been a "gym rat" or "field rat," if you will, I was playing soccer at the University of Massachusetts and studying sports management. In between classes I saw a poster on the wall advertising a national coaching licensing program. It was a career avenue that I had never even thought to explore. I went to Tampa to attend a coaching course and was completely consumed to fin this outlet for my sports interest and soccer passion.
What are the most important ingredients for a successful team?
A successful team is one that exceeds the expectations of the members. The ways the expectations are developed and evaluated are the keys.
When building a team, what is the first thing you look for?
Most coaches don't start a team from scratch. Generally, they inherit part of a previous team, perhaps players, administrators, boosters, fans, even assistant coaches. Therefore, the most important thing to do is to evaluate what you have in place. Second, you need to have a clear vision of what you'd like your team and program to ultimately look like, on the field and off. Finally, you need to have a realistic strategy to take your team from point A to point B. This is a programmatic outlook rather than a narrow focus only looking at players' talents and abilities.
Who were your coaching mentors? What was the best advice you have received from them or anyone in regards to coaching?
I have had the good fortune to have known many terrific coches at numerous levels as both a player and coach. I have "stolen" ideas and methods of teaching from too many to mention for fear of leaving people I respect and care about off the list. But the most important lessons have come from those who have inspired me with their lpassion for soccer and their competitive nature and those who provided a deep philosophical underpinning for their relationships with the athletes they teach and develop. Certainly, Bob Warming fits the characteristics above and was the first to provide me the opportunity to learn and develop as a coach.
The best advice I've received is to understand your own motivation for coaching and to develop a personal philosophy of coaching to help guide you when you're under pressure or forced to make difficult personal and professional decisions.
How do you define a championship team? What are the most important aspects of a championship team?
There are many ways to define a successful team, but a championship team should be defined as the team that wins a specfic championship. It's important to use a tournament, conference or national championship aa a concrete measuring stick for success. Therefore, I believe we should be careful in measuring champions in a fuzzy manner. But we may define a successful team based on the one and off the field goals we agree upon.
Does a player come with motivation? Or, is that something a coach can teach?
All players have some level of motivation, but each player may be motivated in different ways and for different reasons. It's part of a coach's job to focus motivation toward specific team and individual goals.
What are three adjectives that best describe in your mind the perfect coach?
A perfect coach would be passionate about about the sport, a great teacher of the game and concerned about the welfare of the members of the team and staff.
Does a coach need a philosophy to be successful? What is your philosophy? Has it changed over time?
A coach may not have an over-riding written philosophy. If not, he/she should have a very strong moral compass and lots of experience. Otherwise, personal and professional mistakes will probably occur. My philosophy was developed through 13 years at Berry College as a coach, teacher and administrator and was inspired by my boss Bob Pearson, who continues to be a great model for young aspiring coaches. My goals and team development plan change year to year, but the philosophical backbone of helping young people reach their athletic, academic and personal potential remains at the core.
Is it important for a coach to be liked by his/her players?
Respect is more important than popularity. Being a role model as a coach, teacher and mentore to players is important. Off the field my most important ways to provide a role model are through being a good father to my children, a good husband to my wife and being a person who practices what he preaches regarding a healthy lifestyle.
Looking back on your career, what events gave you the most satisfaction?
I've been fortunate to coach many great players and super people over my 25 years in college coaching. That privilege will always be the best part of my college career as coach. But I hope that the greatest single satisfaction in the future will be building Stanford soccer into the model for intercollegiate soccer over the next five year, in our style of play, the results we achieve on the field, our impact on our local community and the way we develop our student-athletes in all apsects of their lives. It's an extremely ambitious goal, but one worth the effort.
Is a coach born with leadership skills? Or can they be learned?
Both. Some people have qualities that, if not from birth, are developed at an early age. I see it in my own children who naturally display different levels of self-confidence, risk-taking, self-discipline and other traits that are associated with leadership. I have also seen many examples of players developing these traits due to their experiences in and out of the sports realm. These traits are some of the building blocks for leadership skills.
Can a coach create a competitor? Or is that something the player brings to the team?
I believe that some people are naturally competitve. Competitiveness is an essential ingredient, enabling a player to progress to higher levels in soccer. A good coach can find ways to create an environment that fosters competitiveness with the primary goal of improving the individual members of the team and thus improving the team as a whole. In that way competition can foster team unity rather than splintering the team.
Can teams really learn from losing?
Teams can learn from losing if the coaches are able to understand the reasons for losses and communicate that to the team to train effectively to improve those areas necessary to succeed in the future. But continual losing only breeds frustration and loss of confidence in the team, the individual players and the coaches. So, small doses of losing can be a catalyst for improvement whereas large doses of losing rarely are god for anyone involved.
Is there a formula for success? Are there any shortcuts to success?
People are incredibly complicated. When you're dealing with 25 players, a coaching staff, an administrative team, parents, alumni, recruits and many other constituencies you cna't always map out one plan for success. Further, success is not always defined in the same way by each of these groups. The only short cut, if you want to call it that, is experience. Through experience you can find the best path to reaching your goals and those of the team.
What is more important, game preparation or game adjustments?
Game preparation is more important than game adjustments. Game preparation is actualy going on days, weeks, even months in advance. If game preparation is handled correctly, game adjustments are often handled by the players on the field on the fly.
How does a coach create respect for himself/herself in the eyes of the players?
Some coaches, through their charisma or their past accomplishments, engender an immediate level of respect from players. But over the long haul players respect a coach who has a clear vision for the team, communicates that vision successfully, gets the key members of the team to buy into that vision and is dedicated to that vision as heshe expects the players to be.
How important is goal setting? Team goals? Coaching goals? Win-loss goals?
Goals are an important part of defining a vision of success for teams, groups and individuals. Goals should be measurable. They should be realistic, but force the team or individual to stretch their talents and abilities to the max. Soccer is a sport that is particularly challenging on the area of goal-setting in that a good portion of how we measure ourselves can be subjective since there are fewer statistics in our sport. There is a trend in soccer to make coaching more of a science and less of an art by incorporating increasing levels of video tape analysis and physical monitoring. There certainly is a place for these developments and they do help in developing and analyzing goals. But they should be used as a supplement to coaching and should not replace the senses of the coach to "see" the effectiveness of players, "hear" the emotion in their voices and "feel" the rhythm of their play.
What was the biggest mistake you made in your coaching career?
I have made many mistakes in my coaching career. Probably the biggest was not taking the time, especially in my early coaching years, to get to know the players better as individuals. I spent too much time with the nuts and bolts of coaching and not enough with the interpersonal aspects of the profession. .
How would you describe yourself as a coach?
Committed to my team and the players, highly organized administratvely. Dedicated to the development of the players as athletes, students and most importantly as people.
Have you changed as a coach during your career?
I hope I've naturally evolved to be a better coach over the years due to experience. While at Stanford I've been able to learn from some of the world's best coaches in an array of sports. This has been extremely rewarding and educational. .
How would you describe yourself as a coach?
Committed to my team and the players, highly organized administratvely. Dedicated to the development of the players as athletes, students and most importantly as people.
Have you changed as a coach during your career?
I hope I've naturally evolved to be a better coach over the years due to experience. While at Stanford I've been able to learn from some of the world's best coaches in an array of sports. This has been extremely rewarding and educational. .
What advice would you give a coach just starting in the profession?
First, develop a philosophy of coaching. Second, find coaching mentors who you can trust for good advice and as good role models.
How has the game changed during your career?
The game has gotten faster, physically and tactically. The scholarship betwen players and coaches has titled toward a more player-centered model which has many positive aspects and a few troubling aspects. A coach's ability to communicate has become vital, both on and off the field. And certainly at the college level the ability to be an effective administrator/manager has grown in importance with the demands of recruiting, marketing and promotions, budgeting and fundraising.
How did you get involved in soccer?
I joined a recreational league in Franklin, Mass., as a youth player because my brother and some of my friends were playing. I played many sports, but soccer soon became my favorite. |
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