Seven Lessons on Football Performance I Learned from a State Championship Cross Country Coach
September 30, 2025
Seven Lessons on Football Performance I Learned from a State Championship Cross Country Coach
As a sport and performance psychologist and founder of the Triple Option Football Academy, I, Dr. Lou Cella, have had the privilege of learning from some remarkable coaches. One of the most impactful influences came from Mr. William Squier, the state championship cross country coach at Elk Lake High School in Pennsylvania. His principles on training and leadership, though developed in the context of distance running, translate powerfully into football. With the support of modern sport science, I’ve distilled seven lessons that can reshape how football coaches think about performance.
1. Create an environment so athletes either get serious and commit or quit.
Championship environments are built on uncompromising standards that force athletes to fully engage or step aside. Recent research shows that transformational leadership—clear direction, high standards, and motivation—directly strengthens team resilience (Yuksel & Bayraktar, 2024).
2. Be deliberate in everything you do at practice and games.
Every drill, rep, and call should connect directly to competition and in-game assignments. Structured, deliberate practice is proven to enhance both performance and competitive drive in young athletes (Coker et al., 2020).
3. Build football around sprint-based training, not overtraining.
Speed and explosiveness in assignment wins football games, while overtraining leads to fatigue. Functional training provides equal or greater benefits than endurance work in far less time (Taylor et al., 2018). Resisted sprint methods further improve acceleration in elite football players (Beato et al., 2022).
4. Make practicing the game by itself the conditioning.
Implicit, functional conditioning must reflect real game demands—explosiveness, agility, and repeated sprinting of assignment. Sport-specific drills, such as sprinting with the ball, significantly improve explosive and high-intensity performance in athletes (Altmann et al., 2023).
5. Focus on the process; the Lord Jesus Christ determines the results.
Coaches can control preparation and execution, but not outcomes. Process-focused leadership builds competence, confidence, and reduced anxiety (Turnnidge et al., 2022). Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ gives peace when results are beyond human control.
6. Empower elder players to lead, but stay watchful.
Veteran athletes must eventually guide the team. Athlete leadership has been shown to strengthen team functioning and well-being (Duguay et al., 2022). Workshops also improve leadership behaviors over the course of a season (Callow et al., 2023).
7. Demand obedience to assignments above all else.
Football is won when every player fulfills his role with precision. Role clarity and tactical discipline are strongly linked to team resilience and collective success (Yuksel & Bayraktar, 2024).
References
- Altmann, S., Ringhof, S., Neumann, R., Woll, A., & Rumpf, M. C. (2023). Effects of sprint training with the ball on physical performance in youth soccer players. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 18(4), 927–935. https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541211072225
- Beato, M., et al. (2022). Enhancing acceleration capabilities in professional women’s football players. Applied Sciences, 14(22), 10327. https://doi.org/10.3390/app142210327
- Callow, N., et al. (2023). Developing leadership behaviours in athletes: A season-long intervention in varsity sport. Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC). https://sirc.ca/articles/developing-leadership-behaviours-in-athletes/
- Coker, C. A., Flenker, J., & Watson, G. (2020). Deliberate practice, functional performance, and psychological characteristics in young basketball players. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(11), 4078. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17114078
- Duguay, A. M., Loughead, T. M., & Munroe-Chandler, K. J. (2022). Athlete leadership development in sport: A systematic scoping review. SearchRxiv, 1(1), 40. https://doi.org/10.1079/searchRxiv.2022.00040
- Taylor, J. L., Macpherson, T. W., Spears, I. R., & Weston, M. (2018). The effects of repeated-sprint training on endurance performance: A meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 48(10), 2425–2441. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-018-0964-8
- Turnnidge, J., Côté, J., & Evans, M. B. (2022). Youth sport coaches’ leadership behaviours: Fostering competence, confidence, connection, and character. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 17(3), 612–622. https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541221076247
- Yuksel, E., & Bayraktar, G. (2024). The role of transformational leadership in the relationship between the coach-athlete relationship and team resilience in elite football players. BMC Psychology, 12, 384. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02043-7
