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Coach Herb Brooks: A Coach with Gold Medal Training Techniques
He was a demanding authority figure like a father. He was an intricate designer like an architect. Telling his hockey players, “I’ll be your coach, I won’t be your friend” he became the person who changed the way the game was played and became one of the most respected coaches in sports history.
Herb Brooks was a man without fear. Or, at least he never let it show. His character drove him to believe in what seemed like the impossible. The story of Herb Brooks is for dreamers and realists alike. The members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team were dreamers with grit. Herb Brooks was a realist with a heart.
What drives a man to take a group of young college men with different backgrounds and make them into a team that could feel like family? Where does he start? How does he learn what motivates a player and what discourages him? How far can he push these men to be as highly conditioned as possible? What life lessons do we learn from a man with such values?
These questions and so many more are at the heart of this Miracle project. I will tell the tale of Herb Brooks and his philosophy from my perspective as an athlete. I will tell what it means to a player to have a coach like Brooks, and try to best capture the character of one of the most famous coaches who ever lived. The comparison between Herb Brooks’s teaching and the learning of an athlete exemplifies so much more than just sport. It’s a comparison between life and the person.
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