Eight honest questions. No pass or fail, just a mirror.
From Kevin Middleton, author of The Rise of the Dogmatic Football Coach.
In my book, I describe four coaching patterns I've fallen into myself at different points: the Copy-Paste Coach, the Closed Coach, the Results-First Coach, and the Social Media Coach. None of these make someone a bad coach. They're just patterns that can quietly get in the way of player development without the coach ever noticing.
These eight questions are adapted directly from the self-assessment chapter in the book, two questions per pattern. There's no right answer to pick and no score to chase. It's a mirror, not a test.
1. Where did your last five session plans come from?
The Copy-Paste Coach
2. Can you explain why each exercise in your last session develops what it develops?
The Copy-Paste Coach
3. When a parent questions your methods, what's your first internal reaction?
The Closed Coach
4. How do you respond when another coach suggests a different approach?
The Closed Coach
5. How do you allocate playing time in important matches?
The Results-First Coach
6. How do you measure a successful season?
The Results-First Coach
7. When planning a session, do you think about how it will look on camera?
The Social Media Coach
8. Which would you rather have?
The Social Media Coach
Please answer all 8 questions first.
Your result
Adapted from the scoring bands in the book's self-assessment chapter. Not a verdict, a starting point.
Kevin Middleton insight:
After working with coaches from 24 countries, I've learned most of us aren't purely one type. You might copy-paste your session plans whilst being closed to feedback. You might chase results on match day whilst genuinely caring about development the rest of the week. The goal isn't to label yourself. It's to recognise the patterns so you can catch yourself before you fall into the traps. I've been all four of these coaches at different points in my career, sometimes in the same week.
