Top 5 Qualities of Successful Youth Sports Coaches
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Top five qualities of a successful youth sports coach, with some examples from notable coaches in the professional and collegiate industries.
In sports — as in life — there are many pathways to success.
But one of the keys must be in one of the driving forces: A coach.
In professional sports, the methods and approaches may vary, so long as a coach wins championships and consistently wins. But in youth sports, the results cannot come at the expense of many other important factors. For instance, how a youth sports coach communicates and disciplines matters, and he or she doesn’t have the same liberty as collegiate or professional coaches.
Still, some of the world’s most notable collegiate and professional coaches possess key qualities that youth sports coaches can learn from. A list of the top qualities of a youth sports coach.
Here are five examples of the top qualities of a youth sports coach:
Top Five Qualities Found in Successful Youth Sports Coaches
Role Model
It seems fitting that Eddie Robinson’s book was titled, “Never Before, Never Again” because he was a “gift to humanity,” co-author Richard Lapchick wrote in a piece for ESPN.com.
Robinson was the head football coach at Grambling State University for 56 years. During much of the time, Black players were not allowed to play for southern colleges. But he built a powerhouse, racking up a record 408 wins, and helping to develop over 400 players who reached the NFL, not to mention having a graduation rate of 80 percent when football graduation rates around the country were around 50 percent.
Yet his impact was deep and profound. The son of a sharecropper and domestic servant, Robinson majored in English and favored suits with shirts and ties away from the football field. To say that his players looked up to him was a vast understatement.
“He was a father for these kids. He dealt with single parents. Boys that didn’t have fathers at home,” said friend and former Grambling State University baseball coach Wilbert Ellis.
James Harris played for Robinson and would become, playing for the Buffalo Bills, the first Black player to start a season at quarterback in pro football history. Disappointed to be drafted in the eighth round, Harris considered not reporting to training camp, but Robinson insisted he go for the young Black quarterbacks behind him.
Eddie Robinson – Football Legend
“Don’t come back and say you didn’t make it because you were Black,” Harris recalled Robinson telling him. “We had to be prepared to deal with life and not make excuses. We were going to have to be better.”
Harris said his coach was a “true gentleman.”
“There are some things he’s instilled in you,” Harris told Andscape, “tools that you carry with you in football and in life that he instilled in all of us.”
Distinguished columnist and college football analyst Paul Finebaum called Robinson “arguably the most important singular figure in the history of college football.”
“He opened the door for thousands of Black players,” Finebaum said, “and inspired many Black coaches who had no other role model.”
Communicator – Top Qualities of a Youth Sports Coach
He certainly isn’t the most talked about coach or perhaps the most popular, but Gregg Popovich is the NBA’s longest-tenured head coach preparing for his 26th season. A three-time NBA Coach of the Year, he’s led the Spurs to five NBA titles. He’s also helped develop several Hall of Fame players, including Tim Duncan.
One thing that players have consistently said about “Coach Pop” is that he’s an excellent communicator, known for his authenticity and his clarity. Though some of his players make more money than him, Popovich clearly has ownership’s support, and he cultivates the team’s culture and values.
“No one is bigger than the team,” he once said. “If you can’t do things our way, you’re not getting time here, and we don’t care who you are.”
Popovich also sincerely tries to get to know his players and staffers away from the basketball facility.
Lastly, he respects his players enough to not talk down to them.
“I think competitive people don’t want to be manipulated constantly to do what one individual wants them to do,” Popovich told ABC News. “It’s a great feeling when players get together and do things as a group.”
Player Development
Nicknamed the John Wooden of college lacrosse, Bill Tierney has accomplished so much in his sport. He’s the only men’s lacrosse coach to win seven Division I championships. He’s also the first coach to win national titles at two different schools.
He had a knack for recognizing special talent and traits in young men and helping them flourish everywhere.
“What he’s doing to help boys turn into men and become better people, better in the classroom, better people in society, better husbands and fathers – it’s special to look back on it and know you’re part of that fraternity that got to be coached by him,” former Denver player Eric Law told CBS News. “When you’re on the field he expects greatness, but he also expects greatness off the field.”
In a story posted on Premier Lacrosse League’s website in April 2024, former Princeton athlete David Morrow recalled how he quit the lacrosse team because he was the “worst player on the team.”
Never Quit in Sports
But Tierney challenged Morrow to not make a habit of quitting, and Morrow quickly became a standout defensive player. Morrow earned National Defenseman of the Year twice and National Player of the Year in 1993.
“What he really gave me was the gift of self-confidence,” Morrow said. “And when you have self-confidence, you can accomplish anything. I never thought I’d be a good lacrosse player. I had very low expectations, and then he shot me so far beyond that.”
Tierney did what was considered impossible: He recruited players west, remarkable given the East Coast roots of lacrosse. At the University of Denver, Tierney coached the program’s first 11 First Team All-Americans, nine Second Team All-Americans, six Third Team All-Americans, and 25 All-America Honorable Mention selections. He displayed many of the top qualities of a youth sports coach.
So how does Tierney want to be remembered?
“Don’t put on my gravestone how many championships I’ve won,” Tierney said, according to CBS News. “Put on it that I love my players. You go through 49 years of coaching with an average of 40 or 50 young men. That’s a lot of people you’ve had under your mentorship.”
Attention to Detail – Top Qualities of a Youth Sports Coach
Carol Hutchins is the winningest coach in NCAA softball history with 1,707 victories. Carol is also the winningest coach, male or female, at the University of Michigan.
Hutchins announced her retirement in August 2022 after 38 seasons as the Wolverines head coach. She was respected in many regards. But one of the qualities that were highlighted was her attention to detail. In a 2019 story in FloSoftball, she noted what she learned while playing with grown women, as a 16-year-old, for the Lansing Laurels.
“Before every game, we had to polish our shoes. We could not wear our uniform around with our shirt untucked or our stirrups not on,” Hutchins recalled. “It was a little bit like my dad, who was a Marine and a cop. I wasn’t naturally like that. I’m more of a free spirit. But it was something that stuck with me and something that impacted me over the years.”
As a coach, she would tell her players that they all had duties. This included sweeping out the dugout and collecting the towels in the locker room.
“They take pride in the attention to detail,” Hutchins said of her players. “For example, they keep their locker room spotless and when they’ve gone into visiting locker room and seen it in disarray, they’ve been like, ‘Oh my, they don’t take pride in their locker room like we do.’ “
Attention to Detail
Attention to detail, however, isn’t limited to the softball program, where Hutchins led the Wolverines to the 2005 Women’s College World Series title and 22 Big Ten regular season titles. She has been credited for playing a key role in the collaborative efforts of the female coaches at Michigan.
“Whether or not she will take credit for it,” a March 2024 Michigan Daily story says, “many of these female head coaches have attested that the group was molded by Hutchins.”
The softball field has been renamed in her honor, not just because of all her victories but because she has been so important in fostering the “One Michigan” mentality.
Tactical Mastery
There are many contemporary coaches renowned for their knack with Xs and Os. In January 2024, Tara Ann VanDerveer retired after 38 seasons in charge. Tara led Stanford women’s basketball to three NCAA championships. Around the same time, Bill Belichick, who led the New England Patriots to an NFL record six Super Bowl victories, mutually parted ways with the Patriots.
But Pep Guardiola continues to add to his remarkable resume, and among his many respected qualities is his tactical brilliance.
His possession-based style is often oversimplified, noting its focus on pinpoint passing and an energetic, theatrical approach to the game.
Total Football was popularized by the Dutch club Ajax and the Netherlands national team in the 1970s. This was thanks in large part to the brilliance of Johan Cruyff, a three-time Ballon d’Or winner.
In fact, Guardiola played under Cruyff with FC Barcelona. And, he was mentored by the Dutch legend after his playing career ended.
Innovating the Game
Yet Guardiola modernized and developed his own version. He employed this to great effect at FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and now at Manchester City. His teams have shined in big matches because of his acumen in understanding and adapting to opponents. He also was able to motivate his own players to implement their game plan.
Further, Guardiola is one of the game’s innovators, challenging and tweaking formations and the role of different players.
“I can’t speak highly enough of him,” Manchester City forward Jack Grealish told The Athletic. “He’s unbelievable. I don’t think anybody comes close to him. The stuff that he thinks of and comes out with, you think, ‘How have you even thought of that?’”
Sean K. Jensen was born in South Korea, but he was raised in California, Massachusetts and Virginia, mostly on or near military bases. Given his unique background, he’s always been drawn to storytelling, a skill he developed at Northwestern University and crafted for 16 years as a reporter and columnist, almost exclusively covering the NFL. He’s now an inspirational speaker and author of The Middle School Rules, a book series that tells the defining moments of professional athletes. He is also the Head Boys Varsity Soccer Coach at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis and the host of Winning Is Not Everything, a podcast that aims to “bring sanity back to youth sports” through conversations with high-character athletes, coaches, and parents. TeamSnap is the Presenting Sponsor of the podcast.