the fastest , where you ’ re competing against the most talented teams in the world who are all trying to go faster than you , the temptation is to hire people who will help you go fast without considering their intangible qualities . Sports history books are littered with stories of teams that were uber-talented but train wrecks in character and heart . Many executives and coaches have lost their jobs because they fell for the tease of talent .
As a Redskins fan , I watched Coach take a team relying on free agents let go by other teams and lead it to the Super Bowl . I remember hearing his stories about recruiting free agents to the Redskins and evaluating potential draft picks . He didn ’ t check only with players ’ college coaches ; he talked to their high school coaches , youth-league coaches , and other people who knew them well , so that Coach could identify patterns that would indicate they would be a great player in his locker room .
On the other hand , if a player caused trouble in college , Coach checked with his coaches at lower levels to see if that behavior was a pattern or an exception . In most cases , tendencies that pointed toward trouble revealed themselves before the college level .
Ultimately , Coach looked for patterns that foretold a player who would come to practice early , stay late , give everything he could , and be a great team player . Coach wanted to find a high school or college coach who would tell him , “ I ’ ve had faster guys and I ’ ve had guys who can jump higher , but he ’ s the best locker room guy I ’ ve ever had .”
“ Find that pattern ,” Coach would say , “ and those are the people you want to surround yourself with .”
Coach ’ s knack for identifying that type of players came from working hard to find them .
When Coach watched game film during the preseason , a game could be in the final minutes and the outcome well in hand , but he would keep rewinding and watching special teams plays . He watched not only his players to determine who he would keep and cut from the roster but also players from the opposing team who could be potential free agents .
He would say , “ Who are the guys who are going 100 percent , who are knocking people ’ s heads and don ’ t care that we already knew who was going to win and lose ? That ’ s the guy I want with me .” I ’ ve also heard him say , “ They ’ re all great athletes at this level . So if I have five guys who are close in talent , I want the guy who ’ s giving maximum effort when we ’ re losing by twenty points with a minute left .”
At JGR , we ’ ve had meetings about hiring a crew chief , and Coach would tell us , “ Go find three people in our building who
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