Book Review – They Call Me Coach by John Wooden

Coach John Wooden epitomizes what a coach should be. Earlier this year, he passed away at the age of 99. In the ’60s and ’70s, his UCLA team dominated the college basketball scene. The book, “They Call Me Coach,” is his autobiography.

Coach John Wooden was rather soft-spoken. He was accurate in his practice and games. Before becoming a coach, he was a great point guard at Purdue University. He became a Hall of Famer both as a college basketball player and as a coach. When he speaks, he sounds like a poet or an English teacher because he uses poems and quotes to make a point.

The book vividly illustrates how Coach Wooden had strong principles that he lived by. The two key sources of his life and training philosophies stem from his father’s Seven Point Creed and his Pyramid of Success.

The Seven Point Creed states:

* Be honest with yourself.

* Make every day your masterpiece.

* Help others.

* Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

* Make friendship an art.

* Build a shelter against a rainy day.

* Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

The Pyramid of Success is a list of fundamental principles that are divided into layers by:

* Competitive Greatness

*Balance

* Trust

* Condition

* Skills

*Team spirit

* Self control

* alert status

* Initiative

* Intention

* Industriality

* Friendship

* Loyalty

* Cooperation

* Enthusiasm

His story can help anyone in any field to improve and ultimately achieve their best. The Coach Wooden story is success through solid core principles. He was a master of details. In the book, there is a story about how important it was to put on your socks correctly. He even taught his players how to do it. Another key aspect of Coach Wooden is that he doesn’t directly talk about winning. Instead, he teaches his players to do their best. If they do the best they can, then the result doesn’t matter that much.

Coach Wooden coached a variety of great players, including Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Bill Walton, Gail Goodrich, and many others. He treated every player fairly. Just is not the same as equally. He had to spend a little more time with the star players, but he recognizes and recognizes the importance of each player. Many of his former players made it in basketball at the professional level, but most of them made it in other areas, including business, medicine, teaching, ministry, etc.

This book is a must read for anyone who coaches, including athletic trainers, parents, business leaders, supervisors, etc.