What Are The Traits A Great Coach Needs?

There are many traits that are the hallmarks of a good coach. And not any single trait stands above the rest. A combination of all these traits are required for coach to be revered by there team and there community. I a recent football game of Southern Utah University(SUU) verses Austin Peay, head coach DeLane Fitzgerald showed off at least one of these traits.

What Are The Traits A Great Coach Needs:

Leadership: A coach should have strong leadership skills, and be able to effectively communicate.
Knowledge of the game: A coach should have a deep understanding of the rules, strategies, and techniques of the sport being played.
Adaptability: Sports are unpredictable, so coaches need to be flexible and adaptable.
Player development: A coach should focus on the development of players as a whole, not just winning games.
Accountability: A coach should hold themselves and their players accountable, which can lead to trust.
Building relationships: A coach should be approachable and easy to communicate with, and should listen to what players have to say.
Growth mindset: A coach should believe that all players have the potential to improve, and that talent and intelligence are not fixed traits.

What Trait Did Coach Fitzgerald Demonstrate?

In an interview during halftime of this game verses Austin Peay, former wide receiver for SUU Mike Bowring, who graduated in the class of 1997, shared some of his impressions of head coach Delane Fitzgerald. And noted the Accountability of coach Fitz saying:

"He's brought in kind of that tough nosed attitude and that grit that you know, the accountability. You know it's there. And you can see I noticed one play in the first half that kind of speaks to in my opinion on this philosophy, we made a tackle out of bounds... Fitz got right to him and said hey we don't do that... you have to have that, And that accountability, that discipline, that's how you win ball games." -Bowring

Mike Bowring had also been a head football coach in Utah on the high school level for twenty six years and has recently retired.