Eddie Jones on ‘Coaching Better in the Future’

“The first thing you have to think about is that you’re a servant to the players. Your job is to give the players what they need, not necessarily what you want.”

Eddie Jones’ response to Doug Lemov’s second question on the episode of his Sweat the Technique podcast demonstrates a relentless focus on the individual and collective needs of his players.

Lemov, a renowned author and leading coaching and education expert, asked “what are the key habits that you’re always thinking about from a coaching perspective?”

Venturing further into his response, Jones states that when coaching “you’re always trying to work out how you can engage with a player and how you can get a bit more out of them.”

Coaching Better in the Future

Giving excellent insight into his experience coaching the Australia (twice), England, South Africa and Japanese (twice) international teams, Jones believes there is a requirement for coaches to “actively engage players more.”

The younger generation of players still have plenty to give but are, perhaps, more reluctant at coming forward- “the coach needs to start that active engagement.”

“Getting a bit more out of a player” starts with creating a feeling of belonging- it shows you care.

After achieving a sense of belonging with players, coaches can then seek to improve knowledge.

Such is Jones’ commitment to learning and teaching, Lemov explains that he was asked by Jones to run a learning workshop for his players to enhance their ability to learn and “get better faster”.

The Best Coaching is Correction with Care

CFU- check for understanding.

“Even though they understand, it doesn’t mean they can do it. If the understanding is good, then you’ve got to be able to put the practice in place, and then you’ve got to be able to correct.”

Jones emphasizes the need for coaches to be proficient correctors.

It’s easy to critique but being able to correct with specificity is one of the most difficult parts of coaching.

Jones retells a story of one of his coaching mentors, Bob Dwyer, practicing his ability to ‘notice’ by watching endless hours of footage.

Noticing is a key skill that requires training.

Being able to correct requires perception which can be trained- “training yourself to watch and observe what’s important”

Preparation Meets Adaptation

Each training session lead by Jones is meticulously planned.

But, using an example of two rugby league teams he’d recently spent time with, there’s a fine tightrope to tread between being prepared and being overloaded and not able to watch the game or practice clearly enough.

There’s a “sweet spot” in being prepared but able to adapt.

“You have to be prepared but prepared to be totally present on the field.”

Deciding where you want your attention to go is critical in coaching. You can’t concentrate on everything.

“You’re focusing your attention on what’s the really important stuff.”

After-Action Reviews

Each training session is followed by an immediate debrief with his coaching team.

Just as coaches give players feedback in the moment to reinforce learning while it's fresh, Jones is intentional about doing the same- sharing feedback immediately whist it’s fresh in the mind and each coach has the benefit of “hearing other people’s opinions” whilst working out a better way.

However, the reasoning runs deeper than just this.

Jones believes that younger coaches are not dissimilar to younger players who are used to absorbing information through bitesize or discreet bits of information.

In knowing an after-action review will take place, coaches are being asked “to be an active participant in the whole session, not just be an active participant in their part of the training.”

Furthermore, and as Lemov remarks; it has an added benefit of making “assistant coaches feel important and valuable.”

The Night Before Selection…

I’ve never met a coach who enjoys selection conversations.

For Jones, it’s the hardest thing; “the night before selection is the night I don’t sleep well.”

Describing how he delivers non-selection to his players, Jones describes a story of former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson who “captured the players in a way that gave them hope and kept them fighting for a spot.”

A large portion of coaches will deliver the bad news to players individually before announcing it to the team.

The problem with this, Jones states, is that after receiving the news “they’re not listening and it takes them a while to recover.”

Now after announcing the team, players are invited to come and see him giving them time to “mourn” and allowing a better conversation to take place.

This allows Jones to communicate “where the gap is between where they are and where they need to be” with players leaving the conversation “with a clear understanding we’re going to help them achieve this gap.”