Any coach who deserves the dry spike on their flute knows that player-coach relationships depend on communication and expectations.
An avalanche of instruction is actually counterproductive if the coach does not know what a player already knows or how he learns or what motivates him.
Somewhere in any coach-player relationship, the simple phrase, “Help me help you,” should be said.
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Josh McDaniels said on Friday that he and Cam Newton are already well on their way.
“I think he’s a really good communicator,” McDaniels said when asked how the interpersonal fit with Newton has been. ‘He tells you when he feels comfortable with something and he tells you when he does not, and I think at the beginning of every relationship, I think this is a really good place to start (by saying), ‘Hey, I’ll try to move at a pace that suits you. Just be honest and tell me what I should do better in terms of trying to communicate it to you. ‘
Care and nutrition protocols for each player are a little different. And, if we are honest, the more talented and important the player is to the success of the team, the more important it becomes to ensure that he is comfortable.
Coaches are not afraid at night that a player from a training group was sad after he came out of a rep. A quarterback? A veteran quarterback? A veteran quarterback who just meets new teammates? Different comparison.
“The process of learning how to communicate and … coaching and motivating each player comes with more experience and exposure to him on the field,” McDaniels said. “What happens when we make mistakes? When we correct them? Those opportunities, I think, we all look forward to going through together, so you build a good relationship.”
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Newton and the Patriots are in the marriage phase. It is running and stretching on the field with the strength coaches and studying in the meeting rooms with the coaches and teammates.
What can go wrong?
It is well established, the approach of the Patriots’ coaching staff is unique. There are no blooming bouquets and high praise as a man does, in fact what everyone expects of him.
Some veteran players have a hard time adjusting. Jerod Mayo once told me about a veteran Pro Bowler who, in his first training camp with the team, asked why he was never even told, “Play well …” by Bill Belichick.
McDaniels indicated that Newton does not need a steady stream of positives. And Newton himself said that the pressure he puts on himself to perform means that he is right there with the coaching staff to be hard on himself.
“I’ve talked to some people who’ve been with her in the past and he’s a very coachable boy,” McDaniels said. “This guy wants to work and he’s worked really hard since we signed him, and he’s trying to win every day, which is really all we can ask of him.”
After a week of spitting balls about how Newton will react to the Patriots’ style – first by me, and then (and more importantly) by former teammate Kyle Love – this corner is pretty well thought out. Until now.
But it’s an ongoing and fascinating subplot into the 2020 season.
Newton is a once brilliant quarterback who tries to prove that he is still brilliant by going to a team that plays a style completely different from what he is used to.
Belichick pushed Tom Brady to the door and nodded and now that the part of New England of one of the great rags-to-riches stories in sports history is over, the Patriots coach turns to a man who ‘ t he Heisman won, went first and has always been The Man. And he tells him to compete for the job.
Can these two men share an NFL sideline without driving each other crazy?
How tired people can get through body language interpretations and lectures, how it works between Newton, Belichick and McDaniels will go a long way toward determining how well it works in general.
