Confidence Is Contagious (Yours, Too)
You want confident athletes?
Start with a confident coach.
Not “loud and cocky.” Not “I have all the answers.”
I’m talking about a quiet, grounded belief that:
“I belong here. I don’t know everything, but I know enough to serve these kids well—and I’m still learning.”
If you battle imposter syndrome as a coach, welcome to the club. Every good coach I know has had some version of:
“Who am I to lead this team?”
“There are coaches way smarter than me.”
“I’m going to screw these kids up.”
Those thoughts don’t mean you’re unqualified. They mean you care.
The goal isn’t to never doubt.
The goal is to not let your doubt drive the bus.
Because your athletes can feel it when you don’t trust yourself. It leaks out in how often you second-guess decisions, how quickly you panic when things go wrong, and how defensive you get when questioned.
A few ways to build your own confidence—without faking it:
1. Define what “success” means for you this season.
Not just for the team. For you as a coach.
“I want to be more patient in timeouts.”
“I want to teach better instead of just correcting.”
“I want to delegate more and not try to control everything.”
Now you have process goals. You can “win” as a coach even in games you lose.
2. Prepare like the coach you want to be.
Most confidence problems are actually preparation problems in disguise.
You don’t need to grind film 8 hours a night, but:
Do you walk into practice with a clear plan?
Do you know why you’re running each drill?
Do you review your own coaching the way you want players to review theirs?
The more reps you get with intentional planning, the less you’ll feel like you’re winging it.
3. Admit what you don’t know—then go find out.
Nothing earns respect faster than, “I’m not sure. Let me look into that and get back to you.”
Your athletes don’t need a fake genius.
They need a grown-up who knows how to learn.
4. Talk to yourself the way you want your athletes to talk to themselves.
If you’d be furious hearing a kid say, “I’m terrible, I always screw this up,” maybe stop saying the coach version:
“I’m awful at this. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Replace it with:
“I’m still figuring this part out, but I’m improving.”
“I handled that timeout better than I did last month.”
Same honesty, less self-destruction.
5. Remember: they don’t need a superhero coach.
They need a steady one.
Kids don’t need you to be Nick Saban or Dawn Staley.
They need someone who shows up on time, cares about them, teaches clearly, and keeps their cool more often than not.
When you model that—especially on the nights when everything goes sideways—you’re teaching them more than any pregame speech ever could.
Confidence is contagious. So is anxiety.
You’re going to leak one of them.
Choose which by how you prepare, how you talk to yourself, and how you show up—especially when you feel like you’re in over your head.
Spoiler: you’re more ready than you think.
And you’re allowed to grow in public.
