The Importance of Rest
My alma mater, Miami University located in Oxford,Ohio, on Tuesday hired a new head football coach, Mike Haywood. Miami has a wonderful tradition of winning in its football program and there are high hopes that the ex-Notre Dame offensive coordinator can return the school to its usual lofty perch atop the Mid American Conference standings.
Miami is known as "The Cradle of Coaches" because the school has produced so many historically famous head coaches, such as Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, John Pont, John Harbaugh and many others. Hopefully the inexperienced Haywood will build on this tradition, though it seems unusual that the school's athletic director, Brad Bates, would hire someone with absolutely no ties to the Oxford campus with so many other names to choose from.
In his initial press conference Haywood seemed a bit stiff, reserved, and humorless. To tell you the truth, I am not excited, as word got out that Coach Haywood had his play calling duties taken away during the past season by Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis. That cannot be an endorsement of his abilities, though I do recall New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton having his play calling duties rescinded in his last coordinator job in the NFL, and Payton has been very successful with the Saints.
The one comment by Coach Haywood that struck me the most during his introduction was his claim that he had been getting four hours of sleep in recent weeks preparing for both Notre Dame's bowl game in Hawaii and taking over the Miami program. Four hours of sleep does not seem like very much, and I have two thoughts on this.
The first is that if four hours of sleep is all a person needs in order to be rested and alert, then good for them. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Jon Gruden is among a small percentage of folks who only require a few hours of bedtime a night. I recall a story in Sports Illustrated a few years back noting that as a young man, Gruden's parents brought him to doctors and specialists in an attempt to find out why the young man was only resting three or four hours each night. Some people apparently can get enough rest in this short amount of time that they can wake up refreshed and alert, as one is supposed to be in the morning.
But if this is the case with Coach Haywood, why did he seem to brag about his recent lack of sleep? His comment about getting only four hours seemed to be a bit of a boast about how hard he was working. In my view this is not leadership but sadism. Any human needs the proper amount of sleep to be alert and awake the following day. If Coach Haywood was similar to Coach Gruden, they why did he seem to brag about working so hard? If he always gets four hours a night, then why made it sound like this was an exception and not the rule. If Coach Haywood normally sleeps four hours, then he would not have made the comment at the press conference.
The reason I am concerned about this is that getting the proper amount of rest, exercise, food, and relaxation is vital if a human being is to perform at peak levels. Coach Bob Stoops well knows this, as his staff at the University of Oklahoma, currently in preparations for the national championship game versus the University of Florida next week, is known for working shorter hours than most programs and allowing his staff benefits such as Family Days, where assistants and Coach Stoops bring in their loved ones to the football offices for picnics and the like. A great idea by Coach Stoops, and I wish more programs were as forward thinking as Oklahoma as their success speaks for itself.
Another example of a leader who stressed receiving the proper amount of rest in order to be at his decision making best is General George Marshall, who was in charge of the United States military during World War II. General Marshall took daily walks and horserides, all in the hopes that when he had to make a tough call, his senses would be at their most alert and that his mind would be fresh. Sound strategy for any leader, including Miami Head Coach Mike Haywood.
No, bragging about getting only four hours of sleep per night in your first day on the job seems ridiculous. When the season starts, is Coach Haywood going to get one or two hours a night and walk around like a zombie the next day? Is this how he reacts to the pressure and stress of becoming a head coach, by not maintaining his personal health? If so, we Miami alums are in for more losing seasons ahead.
Miami is known as "The Cradle of Coaches" because the school has produced so many historically famous head coaches, such as Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, John Pont, John Harbaugh and many others. Hopefully the inexperienced Haywood will build on this tradition, though it seems unusual that the school's athletic director, Brad Bates, would hire someone with absolutely no ties to the Oxford campus with so many other names to choose from.
In his initial press conference Haywood seemed a bit stiff, reserved, and humorless. To tell you the truth, I am not excited, as word got out that Coach Haywood had his play calling duties taken away during the past season by Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis. That cannot be an endorsement of his abilities, though I do recall New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton having his play calling duties rescinded in his last coordinator job in the NFL, and Payton has been very successful with the Saints.
The one comment by Coach Haywood that struck me the most during his introduction was his claim that he had been getting four hours of sleep in recent weeks preparing for both Notre Dame's bowl game in Hawaii and taking over the Miami program. Four hours of sleep does not seem like very much, and I have two thoughts on this.
The first is that if four hours of sleep is all a person needs in order to be rested and alert, then good for them. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Jon Gruden is among a small percentage of folks who only require a few hours of bedtime a night. I recall a story in Sports Illustrated a few years back noting that as a young man, Gruden's parents brought him to doctors and specialists in an attempt to find out why the young man was only resting three or four hours each night. Some people apparently can get enough rest in this short amount of time that they can wake up refreshed and alert, as one is supposed to be in the morning.
But if this is the case with Coach Haywood, why did he seem to brag about his recent lack of sleep? His comment about getting only four hours seemed to be a bit of a boast about how hard he was working. In my view this is not leadership but sadism. Any human needs the proper amount of sleep to be alert and awake the following day. If Coach Haywood was similar to Coach Gruden, they why did he seem to brag about working so hard? If he always gets four hours a night, then why made it sound like this was an exception and not the rule. If Coach Haywood normally sleeps four hours, then he would not have made the comment at the press conference.
The reason I am concerned about this is that getting the proper amount of rest, exercise, food, and relaxation is vital if a human being is to perform at peak levels. Coach Bob Stoops well knows this, as his staff at the University of Oklahoma, currently in preparations for the national championship game versus the University of Florida next week, is known for working shorter hours than most programs and allowing his staff benefits such as Family Days, where assistants and Coach Stoops bring in their loved ones to the football offices for picnics and the like. A great idea by Coach Stoops, and I wish more programs were as forward thinking as Oklahoma as their success speaks for itself.
Another example of a leader who stressed receiving the proper amount of rest in order to be at his decision making best is General George Marshall, who was in charge of the United States military during World War II. General Marshall took daily walks and horserides, all in the hopes that when he had to make a tough call, his senses would be at their most alert and that his mind would be fresh. Sound strategy for any leader, including Miami Head Coach Mike Haywood.
No, bragging about getting only four hours of sleep per night in your first day on the job seems ridiculous. When the season starts, is Coach Haywood going to get one or two hours a night and walk around like a zombie the next day? Is this how he reacts to the pressure and stress of becoming a head coach, by not maintaining his personal health? If so, we Miami alums are in for more losing seasons ahead.
posted by joe sweeney at 2:38 AM
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