12/3 quote

In the last 90 pages of War Room, by Michael Holley, the book switches back to Scott Pioli and his last years of coaching the Falcons. The author dives into Pioli as a person, and how this affected his coaching style. Scott Pioli was a dedicated, strong willed man who always knew how to get the job done. From coaching a professional team to raising his kids at home, Pioli was strict, firm, and played by the rules. He was also a studious man, always watching film or brainstorming ways to give his team the advantage that week. Even when others on the staff had the day off, Pioli always wanted to work,

"...Seen to be a Friday-night scholar who wanted to go and study film when everyone else in the crowd wanted to go drinking" (Holley 250).


This is a very respectable quality and one that is necessary to be successful at a level as intense as the NFL. Pioli's will to work and want to win also played a factor. Some people want to win but don't want to work for it, some want to work but don't know how to win. Pioli had both. He came into Kansas City, fired the coaching staff, rehired people who were hungry to win and willing to work hard, and got players who felt the same way. Even if the players weren't the best players in the league at that time, they had what is necessary to win, will. Every time that group stepped on the field, led by Pioli, they wanted to win. Not just by a touchdown or two, they wanted to destroy teams. They used all the hard work they out in over the week as motivation and it pushed them to a 15-3 regular season record, eventually leading to a loss in the Superbowl. Pioli would eventually get his Superbowl with the Chiefs, and retire a happy man, but he taught the game of football, and everyone who is involved with it a very powerful message. Even if you aren't the best team in the league, even if you don't have the MVP caliber players to outmatch opponents, that isn't anything compared to hard work, determination, and an unmatched desire for victory.


This quote related to me because I have been playing on teams like this my whole life. In football, we are never the best looking team, or the team with the most MVP's, but Pentucket football knows how to work, and that leads us to many victories. I have played in many games when we were outmatched, we knew it the week going in, and used it as motivation. All week we wok hard together, pushing each other to prove people wrong on game day. Once the time comes to play, it is important to remember to think about nothing but the game, and how you want it to go. The players are ultimately in control of the game, and if one team wants it more, it will show on the field. Although I never had Scott Pioli coaching me, I learned the same lesson from my coaches as he preached to his team. Nobody can beat hard work and an unmatched will to win.