How would you feel if the person at the very top of your profession watched you do the job that he was the number-one expert of in the world? That happened to me one day.
Bill Arnsparger was the defensive coordinator for the only undefeated Super Bowl champion in the history of the National Football League, the 1972 Miami Dolphins. He was also the head coach of the LSU Tigers and the New York Giants. But, based on conversations, I thought one of his proudest accomplishments was hiring Steve Spurrier as head football coach when he was the athletic director at the University of Florida.
Coach Arnsparger was a Paris (High School) Greyhound growing up. His high school football coach was Blanton Collier, who later became the head coach at the University of Kentucky and of the NFL champion 1964 Cleveland Browns. Coach Arnsparger also served on the UK football staff under Collier that included coaching greats Howard Schnellenberger, John North, Ermal Allen, Ed Rutledge and Don Shula. (A reality check for anyone interested in going into coaching — that staff got fired at Kentucky!)
In the summer of 1992, I got to meet Coach Arnsparger. I had just become the head football coach at Paris High School and he had come back for the annual Greyhound Hall of Fame dinner. From the very beginning, Coach Arnsparger was willing to help us get our program going and was more than supportive. In 1995, as we were preparing for our opening game, Coach Arnsparger stopped by Garrard Park to watch our team’s defensive practice.
I had more butterflies running that defensive practice than I have had before many games as a head coach. Here is the best defensive coach in the world, watching you run a defensive practice, hearing every word you say, watching how your drills are set up, how you work with your players and coaches. It was overwhelming, but a great experience and one I will never forget.
We have this Coach Arnsparger quote hanging in our weight room: “Goals are good — we all have them. But don’t forget the little things that help you accomplish the goal. Blocking, tackling, running, and throwing/catching must be accomplished to be successful.”
His book on defensive football, which is one of the top sources ever written on the subject, repeats this theme over and over. Coach Arnsparger has a great grasp of taking care of the basics and the small things first to make the big things, the wins, and the dreams the result. The greatest defensive coach in the history of the game, coaching the best players in the world, focused on fundamentals first.
Young coaches and sometimes even old coaches want to reinvent the game of football. We can draw new plays endlessly. But coaching, and subsequently winning, begins with the teaching and drilling of fundamentals.
More importantly, I have learned from Coach Arnsparger about being the right kind of person and leader. As a leader and in his relationships with other people, his actions show it is clearly not about him. Over the past 20 years, he has always had time for emails, phone calls and visits. He is the greatest defensive mind in the history of football, but he makes time for a lowly high school coach. He would always be thoughtful and try to include Paris football and our program whenever he could.
I have never heard him say one word that would sound boastful about himself or his abilities. He may well have said kind words about every player or coach he has ever encountered, but you can’t get him to say “I.” He is the master at deflecting attention and praise to others.
Coach Arnsparger is the most successful defensive coordinator in the history of the game, but what strikes you the most about him is his humility and that his focus is always on others, not himself. I find myself comparing every leader I meet to Coach Arnsparger, which is really not fair to anyone. He is the ultimate in being a leader by putting everyone else ahead of himself.
My wish for the 21st century is that somebody write a leadership book and model it after Bill Arnsparger. Make it required reading for all politicians, coaches, teachers, pastors, school administrators, civil servants, CEOs, etc. I know one thing – that would be the kind of leader I would follow.