What Coaching Football Taught Me After Special Forces: Master the Basics, Win the Game

Master the Basics. Simplify the Mission. Win the Game.

What Football Coaches Can Learn from the Special Operations Community

As a retired U.S. Army Special Forces operator with five combat deployments to Afghanistan, I’ve worked in some of the most high-pressure environments imaginable.

Today, I coach youth football players in Haymarket, Gainesville, and Manassas areas—and I bring the same mindset to the field that my team brought to every mission.

The biggest lesson I took from the Special Forces community was this:

We didn’t succeed by doing the most advanced things—we succeeded by mastering the basics with precision, under pressure.

That’s the foundation of how I coach football. Because despite what most people think, elite performance isn’t about flash. It’s about fundamentals.

The Misconception of “Advanced”

People often assume that Special Operations are all about high-tech gear and complicated tactics. But the truth is, we focused on mastering three things:

✅ Shooting

✅ Moving

✅ Communicating

We trained them relentlessly. Not until we got it right—but until we couldn’t get it wrong, even in chaos.

Football coaching is no different. You want to win games? You master:

✅ Blocking

✅ Tackling

✅ Ball handling

✅ On-field communication

Forget the trick plays and oversized playbooks. If your team can’t do the basics at game speed, under pressure, it’s going to fall apart when it matters most.

Great coaching happens in moments like this—clear, calm guidance builds confident leaders at quarterback and beyond.

A Coach Is a Teacher—Not Just an Educator

There’s a quote that resonated with me that I heard awhile back, often attributed to Charles Mingus:

“An educator takes the simple and makes it complex. A teacher takes the complex and makes it simple.”

In coaching football, I choose to be a teacher. This game is full of complex ideas—leverage, reads, responsibilities—but it’s our job as coaches to make those ideas clear, actionable, and executable for young athletes.

I don’t talk over their heads. I coach at their level and build them up. I break it down until a 10-year-old can execute with purpose. That’s not dumbing it down—it’s elite-level coaching.

What Special Forces Taught Me About Football Coaching

1️⃣ Repetition Builds Confidence

In Special Forces, we drilled core skills constantly. We didn’t need new—we needed perfect. That’s what I teach on the field. We rep our base plays, our blocking fits, and our pursuit angles until they’re second nature. We don’t move fast by rushing—we move fast by preparing.

2️⃣ Simplicity Wins

In combat, complexity kills. In football, complexity causes hesitation, and hesitation costs you games. I strip down schemes and keep language simple. Why? Because players don’t perform what you know—they perform what they understand.

3️⃣ Communication Is the Glue

On missions, we had to communicate clearly—sometimes without speaking. In football, it’s no different. Pre-snap reads, alignment calls, quick cues between teammates—all of it matters.

We train it deliberately. Clarity under pressure gives players a huge edge.

4️⃣ Mental Toughness Comes From Mastery, Not Suffering

We weren’t “tough” in Special Forces just because we could take pain—we were tough because we had trained to stay composed and confident, even when things went sideways.

I build that in my athletes not by breaking them down—but by building mastery, preparation, and belief. That’s real toughness.

Final Thoughts: Special Forces Prepared Me. Football Coaching Refined Me.

At Command Football Academy, we train with the mission-first mindset I lived by for years:

Master the basics. Build trust. Execute with precision.

If you’re a parent or coach trying to help a young athlete succeed, focus on the things that matter:

• Blocking

• Tackling

• Ball security

• Communication

• Repetition & Simplicity

  
  

As a coach, commit to a mindset of constant growth—keep learning, keep refining, and always strive to get better for your players and your team.

About Us

Command Football Academy trains youth and high school athletes in Haymarket, Gainesville, South Riding, and Manassas to be faster, more skilled, and smarter on the field. Through elite speed training, position-specific development, and game IQ coaching, we help players build explosiveness, precision, and football intelligence to outwork, outthink, and outperform the competition.

Contact us to learn more: contact@commandfootballacademy.com