Ep 2049 What Should You Say in the First Five Minutes After a Game?

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Win or lose, why the postgame talk should be short, and what to save for tomorrow's practice.

The longest talk Coach Steve Collins ever gave a team came after a win. Twenty two minutes in a hot locker room, kids still in their jerseys, parents waiting in the hallway. He could not remember one thing he said, and when he asked, neither could his players. That night became the starting point for how he learned to handle the first five minutes after the horn.

With openers right around the corner, this two part deep dive is about the postgame talk, win or lose. Steve explains why those minutes are a feeling moment instead of a teaching moment, the simple three piece structure that replaced his long speeches, and why the real corrections belong in tomorrow's practice, after the film and after a night of sleep. He also covers the part most coaches never plan for: their own temperature walking through that door, and the one kid who is hurting on the way out.

Part 1: Short on Purpose

The twenty two minute postgame speech after a win that nobody, including Steve, could remember

Why right after a game you have the most emotion and the least clarity, and so do your players

Keeping the talk under five minutes, because long talks steal joy after wins and become punishment after losses

Avoiding the staff pile on: one voice in the room, with assistants giving their thoughts in the hallway first

The three piece talk: one truth, one thing to be proud of, one thing for tomorrow

Ending every postgame talk with the same ritual, win or lose

The twenty point loss, the assistant who said "Three sentences," and the hungry practice that followed