As a head football coach I had three core values. These core values we’re always at the center of everything that I did within my football program. These core values were plastered all over the walls in our locker room and in our weight room. At the top of the list was trust. Trust must be at the core of every relationship and a coach player relationship or a coach parent relationship is no different. To break trust down into its simplest meaning, I always would tell the truth to the players, and the players must always tell the truth to me. Once an individual lies to another person and the trust is less than 100% between the two individuals, then that core value is damaged and it will take an extended period of time to repair that damage. So the best way to keep trust in a relationship is to always tell the truth.
The second aspect of trust is to always be where you’re supposed to be and always do what you were supposed to do. If a player is supposed to be in class during a certain period of the day, they should be there. If a player is running late to practice one day because they are receiving tutoring, then that is what he should be doing. If a player lies to a coach and says I will be late to practice because I am making up A test. Then the coach finds out that that player was somewhere else then we will have a trust issue. If a coach tells a player that he is going to send his highlight film to a school where he wants to be recruited, then the coach should do that. If the coach fails to follow up with what he tells a player he is going to do, then that relationship is damaged due to lack of trust. So it is always important to remember to do what you were supposed to do and be where you were supposed to be. It is that simple.
And the final aspect of trust in this relationship between a player and coach, is dependability. The most important ability is dependability. Regardless of your athletic ability or your academic ability, if I cannot depend upon you to do what you were supposed to do or be where you’re supposed to be then your ability is useless. The coach must be able to depend upon his players. The players must be able to depend upon their coaches. Therefore the most important ability is dependability.
All three aspects of this relationship rolled into one forms a bond of trust between the player and the coach. This relationship should be viewed as extremely important. Trust should be at the core of any program you were trying to build. Trust between players. Trust between players and coaches. Trust between coaches. And trust between coaches and parents. All of these relationships must be treasured with trust at the center of everything that is being built within the program.
–Coach Greg King