The makeover artist

There is a small niche of football coaches at the high school level who thrive on getting into downtrodden programs and completely turning them around in short periods of time. These are a rare breed of coaches who rise to the daunting challenge of helping to improve the fortunes of suffering players and fans. Donnie Kiefer is one of those guys I’ve admired from afar for years, he was kind enough to agree to interview me. His stated goal for the interview is to help high school and youth coaches understand that their situations are not impossible and to give them some ideas that they could apply to their own situations. Donnie is currently the head coach at Tuscola High School near Asheville, North Carolina. Tuscola has 1,038 students.

Dave- Coach Kiefer, how long have you been coaching high school football?

Coach- For 29 years, 25 as head coach, mostly in the Carolinas.

Dave- How many different schools did you train at?

Coach- 7 different high schools as the head coach.

Dave: Tell us about some of the changes from a numerical perspective.

Coach: I’ve been through some tough times, places where kids were ashamed to be on the football team, ashamed to wear team gear. At an inner-city school, the 3 years prior to my arrival, the team was 0-30. In my first year there, we played the first game of the Eastern Region Championship.

At the next school, the team had won only 4 total games in the 5 years before I got there. In the first year there we played for the Eastern Region Championship. We went 35-7 while I was there and 12-2 my last season.

I then went to an affluent suburban school that had won only 1 game in the previous 4 years before I coached there. We won 15 games in our 2 years there and lost both years to the eventual state champions.

At another school we hosted the first straight winning season the school had had in over 20 years.

I was the head coach at a school where we won 9 games 3 straight 27-9 seasons, inheriting a program many considered insurmountable.

Where I am now we took a team that was 2-9 to 5-7 in the first year, losing 2 games in overtime. The last 2 years we went 11-1 and 12-2-1 and we made the playoffs this year in an injury-plagued season.

Dave: That’s awesome, why are you going along with these rebuild projects instead of staying where you’ve built a winner?

Coach – Probably ADD (laughs). I like a challenge, but I try to stay open to be obedient to what God wants me to do. I think this is what He wants me to do instead of maintaining what someone else has built.

Dave: What are the things you have to do to change a failed program?

Coach- The first thing is faith in God, so that he gives you the wisdom to succeed in your task. The second thing is to change the mentality of the children. I’m not talking about getting better, I’m talking about winning championships and setting that as the standard they embrace. I like to talk about why we’re going to win, how we’re going to get there, and do it with a lot of enthusiasm. I set the bar very high and I make them believe in not accepting mediocrity or small improvements like winning seasons. I’m a big believer in competitive strength and conditioning – we get results there and the way we do it gives us an edge over our competition. The X’s and O’s and strategy are important, as well as being a master at making adjustments, if it’s for the kids to believe in the coaching staff. Being able to motivate and develop players. Teaching players to be smart soccer players and smart about the game. Treat the players like your own children, love them and let them know, but be firm. They don’t need another friend, they need someone to show them how to be a man. Teach great fundamentals, our outlines may change, but our emphasis and the way we teach fundamentals doesn’t change. Strive for perfection in everything, even how you do the math, demand it from your coaches and players. Put kids in a system that they can realistically run.

Dave: What must a school have in terms of facilities, administration, players and community for you to undertake a rebuilding project?

Coach- I don’t really watch everything. We can improve the facilities when we start to win, there are some things that we can improve on our own. I don’t worry about what we don’t have and what I can’t control, I worry about the things I have control over. I don’t look at the players, we don’t have much control there. We haven’t needed big players to change these places I’ve been. I’m just looking for an AD who wants to win, has a passion to win, and believes that I can do it.

Dave – How important are schematics?

Coach: They are important because they have to be well thought out, but I think the schemes have to be adapted to your staff. A plan should put children in a position where they can be successful. I don’t force children into an offense or defense that I want to execute, I execute a scheme that suits my children. We have run Wing T, Single Wing, Spread, I Formation, Power I, Run and Shoot, and Triple Option. Heck, with one team we ran a different offense 2 years in a row and we were winning big both seasons. There are always kids graduating and new kids coming in, those new kids can do much better or worse than the old group, so switching makes sense. If you teach great fundamentals and teach kids how to be smart soccer players, you’re not going to get hurt, you’re not going to be out of position, and you’re going to give yourself a chance to compete.

Dave: What did you do to get the players, the coaches, the administration and the stakeholders to trust you and accept your approach to doing things?

Coach: You just have to be genuine and confident. People see through the bluffs and bravado right away. I let people know that I’m there for two purposes: developing youngsters and winning championships. Everyone knows that I have never used any job as a springboard to get another job.

Dave: Was there a lot of “dead wood” you had to drop at the places you went?

Coach – Some unfortunately have to hold kids and coaches accountable and sometimes they won’t live up to expectations. The kids have to know that you mean business and you have to be able to have the courage to lose your best player. I’m a big fan of second chances and we give kids a lot of time to make things up, but in the end they have to be held accountable. Most of our children see that the enthusiasm we have is genuine and they see results quite quickly. The kids are getting stronger, faster, jumping higher, which gives us almost instant credibility, we don’t have as much trouble there as you would expect from schools that are used to losing.

Dave- Are you a communicator my way or the road? What is your communication style?

Coach: I’m more of a let’s do it the right way kind of guy. We try to model high character, high effort, high responsibility, and build an environment where we don’t tolerate those who don’t.

Dave- Do you take your coaching staff with you or do you hire new coaches?

Trainer: I’ve never been able to take my staff with me, I usually inherit a staff that I have to sell on my focus and retrain.

Dave- What do you look for in an assistant coach?

Trainer: willingness to learn, loyalty, ability to relate to children, knowledge and ability to work with staff. My best assistant coach was a kid fresh out of school whose goal was to be a college baseball coach. He didn’t know much about soccer. He is now the head coach, his teams have played for the state title 2 times in the last 4 years and he was named assistant coach for the Shrine Bowl. He just had an appetite for learning and knew how to work with children.

Dave: A lot of people nowadays say the game is all about the Jimmys and the Joes, whoever has the best talent is going to win the game. Do you believe that? Why do you think that premise is so prevalent today?

Coach- Obviously I don’t believe it. He’s a cop, a convenient crutch. Many coaches are simply jealous of coaches who work hard and train well. They tell everyone who will listen that with the talent levels they have, they cannot be expected to win. It’s an easy way out.

Dave- How have the teams been doing since you left?

Coach – Some have kept it, some haven’t. It’s heartbreaking to watch when they don’t. One season coming off an 11-win year, I went to another program. We had all but 3 starters come back, we left them in a situation where the table was set, they ended up winning 3 games that year and they won just 2-3 games combined in the next two seasons.

I have never left the closet bear in any of the places I have trained in, that would not be right. In any case, if I see that there is going to be a splash, I stay alone to make sure I put them on high ground. In the end, all the glory goes to God, I give him credit for everything, I just try to do what he wants me to do and go where he wants me to go.

Dave: I might add that Coach Kiefer needed some persuasion to tell much of his story. If you know Donnie, you know that he is a humble guy who loves his children and wants the best for them. He’s selfless to a fault, a great coach, the kind of guy you’d love to have his kids play for. What an encouragement it is to those of us stuck training in a program that is a perennial loser or those considering taking over a program that has been in the dump for a long time. There is hope, it is possible, it has been done. For those of you who coach youth soccer, the way out of the basement isn’t as hopeless as you think.