by Arthur L. Popp, Ph.D.

I'm looking forward to seeing you on August 25 at 7:00 P.M. for the webinar I'll be doing for NYS AHPERD (New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance) on Social-Emotional Learning, Varsity & Youth Sports.

Hi and welcome back. I'll be talking about what Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills and Coach Nick Saban's "The Process" look like when working with our athletes. Saban is the Head Coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. He has racked up seven collegiate football championships.

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) skills is a very broad topic. If you've come to my blog to get more information about how these skills can help your student athletes perform better and grow on and off the field, you're in the right place!

I also  firmly believe that all of us who  coach have a tremendous impact for good in the challenging world faced by our athletes. I'll say a few words about this from time to time.

Besides teaching SEL skills I'm the offensive and defensive line coach for boys football and an assistant coach for girls flag football at Far Rockaway H.S. in Queens.  I've also coached inter-town junior and senior boys soccer.

What I'll do here is lay out three key parts of Saban's Process and then relate those three  to working with our linemen. My goal is to give you an exacting view of what it looks and sounds like, or as best as I can in this blog.  The  goal is that you'll be able to replicate The Process with your athletes.

Three parts of The Process are key. You can visit our first blog at my website to find a video on Coach Saban and The Process that runs about four minutes.

1. Saban asks his players and staff to concentrate on the moment, not the past nor future. He also asks his players to disregard disruptive emotions. Yes, you're  right- there is overlap with mindfulness meditation. This is part of the emotional or executive function part of social-emotional learning (SEL).
2. It is a Process!  It takes the form of one behavior or skill after another after another.
3. High standards. Being the Crimson Tide, they can afford an exceptional number of coaches to give just about individual attention to all their  players.  That results in each player having a very high bar to meet plus a very clear  image of what that bar looks like.  As an aside, this is simply basic management – giving people exactingly clear images and expectations of what their job is. Again, setting our own standards is part of the executive function or emotional piece of SEL

On an offensive play, we've identified about 12 separate sub-skills to the starting stance at the line of scrimmage. We've taken a major skill, the stance for a running play, and divided it into a number of sub-skills that can be easily taught and reinforced to build a solid base.  This is a three-point stance in which  both feet are on the ground along with one hand that is also down.

Some of these skills include (note how specific and observable we get!) :

1. Both feet flat on the ground, the foot that is furthest from the ball  is also  slightly further back than theother foot by a few inches(Also known as the "stagger.").
2. Our weight is on the instep of our feet.  This allows for maximum thrust or "push"  forward when the ball is snapped.
3. When Jake gets into his  three-point stance, we want his
   1. Head up,
   2. Chest out,
   3. Back flat or almost flat  and parallel to the ground. One hand is on the ground while he rests his free hand  on his  thigh near his knee.

To reinforce my linemen for getting in the three-point stance correctly, I might say:

"O.K., Jake, good position of your feet."

"Nice flat back, Jeff."

"That's it, head up, Way to go, Jaden."

If one of my players is missing part of the stance, I want to give feedback, and most importantly, reinforce him as soon as possible for making the needed adjustment.

What we're modeling is a super important SEL skill. Positive reinforcement is the name of this game!

For example: "OK, David, keep your head up focusing on the opposing defender."

And, in response to David's adjusting:

"That's it, David. You  clearly see the defender. "

From the stance we'll move on to the next step in The Process  for our offensive  linemen.  This is  firing off or taking a first step immediately on the correct cadence of the quarterback.

Our quarterback says "Hut, Hut, Hut."  The center snaps the ball to the quarterback and the play starts on the first, second, or third "Hut."

So, the next step in The Process is firing off, or uncoiling, very quickly on the right "Hut." Firing off includes beginning to bring elbows close to the body in anticipation of our linemen getting their hands up toward the opposing defender.

Now, we'll give our players lots of drill, or "reps"  with plenty of positive feedback. I'll have our guys on a line doing reps of 1) getting in the three point stance, and then 2) firing off on the right cadence count.  I'll play our quarterback shouting  the cadence.

To reinforce my linemen taking those first steps correctly, I'll say things like:

"That's it Dave, way to fire off!"

"Jaden, Super! Good speed on the snap(moving on the right cadence)"

" OK , Zeke, good first step."

And I'll be giving feedback as needed.

"Way to go Jake, Just bring your elbows in closer to your body as you go forward."

I will also praise our guys when they praise or reinforce each other. This is truly critical  for me because I want them to acquire this life-long skill of having a kind word for others,especially in times when it's not obviously in order.

What I mean by "not obviously in order" is that we all naturally cheer and praise our players for great passes, super tackles, and solid blocks.  We want them to build the habit of praising teammates for small gains, even on not-so-obvious  skills in the overall Process.  This has also been known as Catching Them Being Good.

And, once Jake's got it, I'll say something like, "That's it Jake. YES!!"

Now, Catching Them Being Good- reinforcing the small but key steps- can take a lot of forms. There's how often we praise our players, our tone of voice, how loud we are, etc.  I've supplied a link to one tape of Coach Ted Newsome, a great football line coach,so you can actually see and hear an effective coach in action.

For your reference, the name of the full video is "Ted Newsome – Coaching the Drive Block, Traps, and Pulls." The segment we're interested in begins at about the 4:24 mark and goes about a minute, "Drive and Direction Drills." Note how Coach praises the players in a quiet, yet distinct manner after each rep.  It's really a part of him.

Again, many variations of reinforcement/praise  are possible, as long as you're doing it! And that is the tough part- lots of reinforcement/support on a regular basis for your athletes.

So, to summarize:

1. First, our coaches and our players know we are living in the present to perform these skills at a high level. We're not concerning ourselves with problem emotions, the past or the future.
2. It is a Process. We want to line up the small, manageable skills and sub-skills one after the otherthat our players can execute.
3. High Standards: We hold Jake and all our players  to a very high standard. Jake takes a quiet  pride in meeting our expectations, and a general aura of pursuing that high level has taken hold with our players .I really think they get "pumped" on their own and the  group's  success.  Yes, and plenty of praise/reinforcement/compliements!

That leads us to our next blog where we'll talk about the learning and performance climate, Coach Saban's comments on the "internal" and "external" scoreboard, a growth mindset, and the elephant in the room- managing the drive to win. See you next time!