John Kessel Player Quotations

Coaching is something that takes place only when learning does. No matter what you are doing in your practices, if your players are not learning something significant, you're really not coaching. If a player fails in a game, the coach may have failed in practice.

Good players win volleyball games for you, not tall players.

You must allow your players to become the athletes they can be. Don't make them into anything just to become the kind of winners fans, friends and others think they must be.

Nothing makes a player more productive than the last minute.

Players need you to care, especially when they do not deserve it.

The wise coach takes all the heat when his players lose, and gives them all the credit when they win.

I am here to give my players the little push they need, just like they needed long ago, when first learning the art of the swing. All you needed then was a little push, and quickly you were pumping away, flying higher and higher, without any more help from the 'coach.'

The kind of player who has turned his game around, he used to be lousy and lazy and now he is lazy and lousy.

You can be harsh on your players and still coach, but it is easier when you are kind to them.

Never underestimate your players; they can do it with enough game-like practice. Coaches must put more emphasis in practice and in life on making student-athletes aware of what they could or can do, rather than what they couldn't or presently can't do. The focus must be on solutions, not problems; what is wanted, not what is feared.

Too many players are so afraid to do anything that they seldom venture to do anything.