Everyone wants to win on the gridiron.
Over 40 participants from the professional, collegiate and high school football ranks took part in the engaging, three-day NCAA and NFL Coaches Academy centered on personal and professional development last week in Indianapolis to help student-athletes win on and off the field.
Industry leaders from collegiate teams, the NFL, TurnkeyZRG and more spoke as part of the comprehensive and interactive programming. Session topics focused on hiring and firing processes, athlete and coach well-being, player development, recruiting, personality profile assessments and other themes around personal and professional development as a coach.
"Anytime you can do a program like this, it's a blessing and honor to continue to learn and get better at your craft while among other coaches and administrators," said Greg Mitchell, wide receiver coach at St. Olaf College and program participant.
One of the highlights of the three-day event was a players panel with current Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Darious Williams and former NFL wide receiver Donald Jones moderated by Chad Pennington, former quarterback for the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. The wide-ranging conversation featured plenty of interactivity and lively discussion.
"You try to create a comfortable environment so they can talk about issues, share experiences, and they know their opinion matters," Pennington said. "They are trying to draw from each other. In today's society, we feel like we are very connected because of our technology, and in a lot of ways we are very disconnected. Anytime we can have those face-to-face conversations and dive deeper into a subject instead of just on the surface creates great conversation, feedback, and everyone gets something out of it."
Key statements and observations revolved not solely on X's and O's, but around teaching student-athletes life skills, teamwork and accountability.
"As a coach, we have to meet them where they are at and show them we care," a participant said.
Pennington, a Marshall grad and NFL first-round pick, now works as co-executive director of the NFL Legends Community and director of football at the Sayre School, a private K-12 school in Lexington, Kentucky.
He played for legendary coaches Nick Saban and Bill Parcells, but Pennington had to find his own style as a coach and encourages young coaches to be authentic to themselves and never stop learning.
"As they are learning from other coaches, take pieces that you like from their coaching style and take things you don't like and don't add them," Pennington said. "Do not be someone that you are not. Players and student-athletes can see right through that. You have to be you.
"And always be a lifelong learner. Always know you don't have all the answers. Especially in coaching, it's constantly changing because the student-athlete is changing."
Nyaka NiiLampti, vice president of wellness and clinical services at the NFL, spoke to the group about what it means to be a coach or student-athlete and the corresponding stresses of those roles. She cited the 2023 NCAA Coach Well-Being Study results stating that coaches said the top issue facing the team they coach was supporting student-athlete mental health. Additionally, she shared that more than 80% of coaches reported spending more time discussing mental health with student-athletes than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
NiiLampti examined factors impacting wellness and shared the mental health continuum and warning signs, as well as resources and apps for coaches to use or share with student-athletes.
Some of the other programming highlights included sessions with Los Angeles Rams consultant and former Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer and with former Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith.
Attendees also were treated to a presentation from one of the Coaches Academy's best success stories.
Ten years ago, Charles Burks was coaching in Division II at Texas A&M Commerce and was excited to be sitting in the crowd as a participant. Fast forward a decade, Burks returned this year as secondary/cornerback coach for the Cincinnati Bengals and presenter — a humbling, full-circle moment for the coach.
"Being part of this program is amazing," he said. "I feel like I'm an alumni of this program. There was no way I was going to miss this."
Burks credits the Coaches Academy for helping him get to the NFL. He continues sharing the lessons from the books he was encouraged to read into his position room 10 years later.
His dreams have become a reality, but Burks isn't done dreaming: The next stop is becoming a defensive coordinator or head coach in the NFL.
"You tell yourself you're going to make it happen, not that you want it to happen," Burks said. "If you believe it, the other people around you will believe it. Once they see it, they are going to start calling around and help you get into that position. But you have to believe it more than anybody in the world believes."
