How to Create "It" in the Off-Season

He has "it".

The off-season must accomplish a couple of different goals. One of them should invariably be to create "it" in every player.

"It" is a competitiveness or a desire to win. Players with "it"  don't make excuses for themselves. They constantly srive to get better each day and can reflect on why they were successful or why they were not. These players don't take credit for what they do and don't lay blame on others.
Players with "it" will lead by example even if they are not the most vocal person.

Not that I want to get into the national Tim Tebow debate, but he definitely has "it". What he lacks in quarterbacking skills at the moment, he makes up for with "it". His teammates believe in him and I feel like the entire team plays better when he is at the helm.When he was drafted in the first round last year I didn't know if he was going to be a good NFL quarterback, but I wasn't willing to bet against him.
So, how do you succeed in creating players who have "it"?

The first way is to instill rules in your off-season strength & conditioning program. Policies within your school or district may dictate whether you can make your off-season program mandatory or not, but finding a way to make your players want to be there is the first step.

We use a Pride Point system where players earn "points" for accomplishing various tasks. Attendance at lifting earns points. Good grades earn points. Playing another sports earns points. Volunteering for our community service or fundraising projects earns points.

Then, we use these points to determine the order for equipment and jersey selection. We also use this list to determine the order serving players during our team dinners. This has the potential to get some kids to buy in and creates a little bit of competition for things that kids normally wouldn't care to compete for. We have had incoming freshmen get equipment before seniors simply because they were more involved in the program.

The most important thing we do is ensure that every drill we run has a starting point and a finishing point. Our players know that their feet must start behind the line and they must go full speed until their body is through the end line. Even in our dynamic warm-up, players understand if their movement stops before the line, they need to get an extra rep in.

When a player doesn't start behind the line, we lay the blame on both the individual and those he is running with in his group. How easy is it to look down the line and see if someone is offsides? We preach communicating even when you are tired. A team takes care of their teammates and has each other's backs.

As a coaching staff, we look at these blunders as mental mistakes and talk about how we have to continue to focus even when we are tired. The end of conditioning is the same as the end of the fourth quarter to us.

How hard is it?

When our former players return from their first foray into college football, their pet peeve is inevitably that their team doesn't start behind the line or finish through the line.

One of our favorite "conditioning" finishers we use will really spell out who has "it" and who doesn't. We call them Perfect 10's.

The drill should be simple. The entire team just runs 10, 10-yard sprints.The newcomers will think this is easy. The veterans know what's coming.

Players are instructed that they must start behind the line and finish through the line. They must run full speed for the entire 10 yards and they must begin each sprint on the whistle. If anyone messes up, the entire team starts back at sprint #1 until we have completed 10 perfect sprints in a row.
The goal of the coaching staff is to get kids to jump early by using a cadence (instead of the whistle) or by using sudden movements.

This finisher allows a coaching staff to see how players respond to adversity and how they treat each other when the going gets tough. When the team is at sprint #8 and someone jumps, the reaction of the team is a direct reflection of team chemistry and how many players have "it".

We try to instill in each player that they should be angry if someone jumps or coasts through the finish line, but they must be upset for the right reasons. If their motive is selfish, they are not a team player and they are looking at the situation through the wrong lens. They shouldn't be frustrated they have to do more work, they should be upset that the team is struggling and not getting better. The goal is to get them to see a direct correlation between our conditioning and a game.

The players who catch onto this quickly and guide the team in a positive light should be your leaders and are the ones who definitely have "it".