In this episode we discuss strategies for addressing Red Team behavior from teammates short of removing them from the team.
๐ ๐ A recap of red team behavior. So you have to have standards first before you can say somebody is below the standards. But what we call a player who is behaving in a way that doesn't meet the standards of the team is a red team player.
Examples would be. Being late to practice skipping. Training sessions complaining about the coaches, playing time, things like that, whatever they do is below the standard. And it's moving your team away from winning. We want to remove the behavior. And not the person, although you might end up having to remove the person, we always want to try to remove the red team behavior first. So, how are we supposed to address that? When those players are performing in a way that's below the standard, they're behaving in a way that's below the standard.
If your team doesn't have clear standards, then you have to have that first.
And some coaches do a great job of that. Some don't, some are bigger on just strategy and skills. But it's pretty hard to tell a player that they're below the standards. If it's not clear what the standards are for your team.
We'll also talk about removing the player, not the behavior. In the next episode. But that's when you have a sacred standard that the player violates and it's one and done, they don't get another chance. They don't get suspended for a week. And then back on the team they're just done.
what do we do on their behaviors?
Not that severe, but it's still below the standard and it's moving our team away from winning.
You or someone on your team? Has to directly address the behavior. You might say we all know it's important. To be on time to practice. My teammate's been late three times. They know that's the standard, but has anybody directly one-on-one pulled him aside and said, Hey man, you've been late three times. You know, that's not okay. You can't just assume because there's a standard and a player has been violating and are below that standard that they know, and they're willing to fix it.
Somebody has to address that. Most teams have protocols in place to address red team behavior. Yours might yours might not.
The other thing that has to be clear is. How many times can somebody be below that standard and still be on your team? So an obvious one. Is being late. Every team has an expectation of being on time. But how many times can I be late and still be on the team? Or how many times in a week can I be late and still get to play this Friday night? Is it three strikes and you're out. Um, what we did with unexcused absences and our football program, the first one had X consequence. The second one had X times two consequence. And the third one, no matter who you were, you were done. Do you have those in place for your team?
And does everybody know what those are? So even if it says, you know, third unexcused absence and you're done. And a player on your team has to. Has somebody directly addressed it with them? Have they pulled them aside and said, Hey man, What are you doing? You've been late or unexcused twice. We got to fix it. You know, third one, you're going to be done.
If your coaches handle addressing that behavior, that's great.
You, as a leader on the team should still address it. Even if it's outside of the Curt coach's knowledge. Even if it's outside of the coach's knowledge. So that they know their behavior is hurting the team. What student athletes say all the time is. Yeah, but that's a dumb rule or, yeah, that's just the coaches thing or, yeah, but that's a stupid standard. It's easy to rationalize away your red behavior.
When only the adults, only the head coach. Is the one who addresses it. In the teenage mind, they think, well, that's his job or her job. The head coach is. The attendance police. Or they're the one that's always watching for my social media. If you have a teammate who addresses it as well. It usually means more than when it just comes from the coach. Some coaching staffs will include the players in that process of dealing with red behavior. If yours doesn't, there's no harm in asking your coach.
Hey. As a captain, as a senior, as a leader on the team, whatever you are. Can we be involved in that process of addressing the behavior?
That might be an after practice chat with a player. Who's had a bad attitude. It might be when there's an interpersonal issue and in the locker room somebody's causing drama. It might be when somebody is repeatedly failing a class or an eligible and just say, Hey, whatever you are doing as a coaching staff, Can some of us fellow players be involved in that process. They might say no, but you can ask. Here's my best argument for why you should allow the teammates to be involved in that process.
And you can use this with your coach if they're hesitant to agree. You will get better buy in from the players in your program. If you involve student leaders. In enforcing and addressing the red behaviors. Not necessarily from the one who's in trouble. But you as a leader, get to be a part of that process and go, Hey, we didn't just say these are the standards and put them on a poster. We actually get involved in enforcing those and addressing those and everybody else on the team will buy into the standards more.
If they're involved in enforcing them. And my experience as a coach, I've done it both ways. I always got better buy in. When players were a part of that process. Obviously some of those things you can't involve players in. Mental health issues, maybe a severe, severe legal issue. But the run of the mill red behaviors, you will get better buy in from other teammates.
If they're allowed to be involved in that process. Here's an example of one that I dealt with. That was a major red behavior. That not only did we involve a player in helping address it. We felt compelled to include that player. Uh, locker room situation happened. Where one player caused some major rifts and.
Insulted a fellow teammate and brought up a deceased relative. And so teenagers saying, do dumb things all the time that happens. We didn't feel like it was a sacred standard that the player should just be kicked off immediately. We looked at it more. With the perspective of what would lead somebody to say something that terrible to a teammate. What matters though is how we addressed it. How could we not bring in that player?
Who was the recipient of that insult? How could we, as coaches say, we'll just handle this behind closed doors. With the teammate who said the terrible thing. We felt like we have to include the one who was on the receiving end of that. And that doesn't mean he picked the punishment and that's a cop out.
Some coaches and leaders will do this as, Hey Johnny. He said that. Terrible thing about your dead mom, what do you want to do? That's not what we did. But we involved him and sat him down while we confronted that behavior with the offending teammate. And we also got better buy in from the rest of the team because they knew like, as players, this is your team.
It's not just the coaches team. So to me, those types of situations. Not only should you include fellow teammates and addressing the red behavior, but sometimes you have to.
Another thing to keep in mind is you might've addressed the behavior. Hey, you were late. Hey, you skipped a weight room session. Hey, you were ineligible and failed science class. But what support did you offer the red teammate? And sometimes they hear it from everybody. You're an eligible. You're an eligible, you failed science class.
How many teammates said come study science at my house tonight? If they were late, how many times did you say I'll give you a ride to practice or offer you a wake up call so you can be on time. Confronting the behaviors, one thing. And you have to do that first. However, supporting them is just as important.
And a lot of times players will feel isolated. Like everybody's mad at me or picking on me because I was below the standard. How many times though. Did teammates reach out and say, let me help you change that behavior. If they got in trouble for. Violating a code of conduct policy with an illicit substance. Did you invite him to your house to have a PG weekend party and say, we just play video games and drink. Teenager appropriate beverages. Did you invite him to a study session for the class they're failing?
That's support. So you have to address it and confront the behavior. That's important. But make sure you're supporting the teammate as well.
Another thing to be clear on. And this starts with the coach is how many times can this red behavior happen? And they're still on the team. Or they still play. A lot of times programs will say here's our standard. Beyond time, communicate about absences. Well, how many times can I be late and still start?
How many times can I be late and still play? How many times is going to be late? And I still have a Jersey.
You have to make sure that those are clear within your program so that you can use that to help support the player and say, Hey, if you're an eligible, one more time. You're done. You're going to come study with me. If you get busted vaping again. You're off for the rest of the year. That's the standard of the code of conduct. Policy. You're gonna, you know, sit by me on the bus. And use that as leverage to get them to want to change their behavior.
Here's a bonus tip for you. What if the coach isn't aware of the behavior? How should I handle that red team behavior coaches are going to know when they're late to practice. Coaches are gonna know when they're an eligible. What about things that they don't know, the canned answer and what a lot of people would tell you is just go tell the coach.
But as a student athlete, you know, that's not always realistic. You don't want people to say. You're a narc or selling out your teammates or you're a try-hard that runs to the coach every time somebody does something below the standards. So what's the realistic answer for student athletes today.
From what I've seen.
If it's not life-threatening. It's not illegal. They're not breaking any laws, then there's not a problem with trying to address it under the radar. And the best leaders. Can't help remedy red behavior.
The best leaders can help remedy red behavior without the coach needing to deal with it right away. Here's an example from a team that I was the coach of.
Uh, captain suspected, but didn't know for sure. That teammates were using illicit substances on a trip. He thought, uh, maybe they are, maybe they're not. The canned answer is okay. Go tug on the coach's sleeve and say, I think Johnny brought a vape on the bus. That's not what this captain did. This captain actually went to the two players that they thought maybe they have an illicit substance. And directly confronted them. During halftime of a game. Didn't tell the coaches. And of course I later found out about this.
He let me know after the fact it was either when we got home from the trip or maybe the next Monday at practice and said, coach, I had a reason to believe these two guys were vaping. During halftime of a varsity game in a stall of the locker room, which is wild, but that's the world that we live in. And he said, I confronted them.
I did it in a very abrupt way. I've told them where I was going to shove the vape. If I found that they had one. To me. That was great leadership from a teammate. He didn't go after the person he went after the behavior. It's clear the standard. There's not going to be vapes on trips, especially halftime of an away game in the locker room. But he didn't have to run to the coach because the coach is trying to strategize game plan, substitute. He didn't know for sure that they were using that now, if he knew, oh man, these guys have X, Y, Z substance on a trip and I saw it or I smelled it, or I knew for sure they had it. That's breaking a law.
That's a serious thing. He should go tell the coach, but in this case he just had a suspicion. He used good judgment because he tried to address that and do it under the radar and let the coach handle the bigger stuff. And then he still let the coach know later. Next episode. What we'll learn about is when do I need to remove the red player?
Because the red behavior hasn't changed. And our whole attitude as leaders is we want to remove the red. Remove the behavior first, if I can't remove the behavior, at what point do we need to remove the player? Instead of the behavior