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The Playbook: a Coach's Rules for Life (2020)

[Review] ‘The Playbook: A Coach’s Rules for Life’ (2020)

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by

MJ-A
in

Click on my #Coaching tag, and you’ll see 24 documentary films and series that give insight on soccer coaches at all different levels. The stories range from youth to high school to Liverpool, Leeds, ManU, Barcelona, and Argentina. While I found something to learn in all these films, I highly recommend watching the Netflix series The Playbook: A Coach’s Rules for Life. It is the best show I’ve seen about coaching collegiate and world class athletes.

The Format

The Playbook is just 5 episodes from 2020. They interview 2 basketball coaches, 2 soccer coaches, and 1 tennis coach. Each episode covers the coach’s history, how they got into coaching, their greatest moments, and 1 or 2 challenges. I was in awe that the amount of information that is normally presented over a full-length feature is compactly covered and edited to just 35 minutes.

Here are the highlights of the 5 episodes, but I strongly encourage anyone interested in coaching, or in the mentality aspect of coaching world class athletes, watch the episodes while they are still on Netflix.

Doc Rivers, basketball

  • Doc Rivers explains how he had his rookies embrace the concept of Ubuntu and instilled it in the entire team. The concept of “the better you are, the better I am” led the Boston Celtics to their first championship in 12 years.
  • Doc Rivers was coaching the LA Clippers when the Donald Sterling racial incident occurred. He explains how he was raised not to be a victim, and he tells his players, “Donald Sterling wins if we don’t play. We’re gonna let no one and nothing stop us from what we want to do.” They want to win the championship.
  • He believes that to be a good coach, you have to get your players to believe that you believe they can win.
  • Directed by Josh Greenbaum

Jill Ellis, football (soccer)

  • The Jill Ellis episode gives insight on the difficulties of being #1, staying there, and getting back there after you are knocked off the top. She tells the USWNT that the space at the top of the mountain is small and the air is thin. You can enjoy the view, but then you have to find your humility and climb the mountain again.
  • After their early exit in the 2016 Olympics, she has to make changes and faces a protest from the players. But Jill insists she’s not coaching to keep her job, she’s coaching what she believes. She won’t pander to anyone. She uses a Navy Seal mantra to “hold fast and stay true” (to what u believe) in stormy weather and tough situations.
  • Jill Ellis led UCLA to 8 Final Fours over 12+ years. A significant topic in her episode is relating why and how she came out while coaching there, and it becomes one of the greatest moments of her life. To be a leader, you have to be brave.
  • Jill was in the middle between her USSoccer bosses and the Equal Pay movement. But she found it galvanized the team. She told her players the best way to build a platform and advocate for something is to win.
  • Directed by Alex Stapleton (woman director)

José Mourinho, football (soccer)

    I don’t tell a player to turn left turn right. “I am not Waze.”

    • The filmmakers start José Mourinho’s episode with humorous outtakes that show how unwilling he is to answer negative questions.
    • As in the Tottenham Hotspurs series, with his good looks and absolute charm, Mourinho comes out the best in this series. He says it is better to leave on your own terms before you get fired. So it was always his goal to win the championships in the 3 biggest leagues of Europe (EPL -> Serie A -> La Liga). He also explains how his unexpected Champions League win with Porto led to immediate opportunities for both him and his players.
    • His worst moment coaching is when he had to hide in a locked laundry basket so that UEFA would not find him violating his ban from the locker room. But he did it for his players.
    • Managing at the highest levels, Mourinho says he doesn’t coach football players, he coaches football teams. He can’t teach a player how to do things. He can only teach a player how to play with teammates.
    • He is still friends with teammates from 20 years ago. Team, brother, family… they stay forever
    • Directed by John Henion

    Patrick Mouratoglou, tennis

    • Patrick Mouratoglou is Serena Williams’ tennis coach and has an academy in France. He says playing tennis is like playing the piano — you must do the same thing over and over
    • He and Serena won 10 grand slams together, and he reveals some of the tricks he has used to get an athlete over a mental block. “A good lie becomes the truth.”
    • His worst moment was when he got caught giving Serena hand signals during a game.
    • Directed by John Henion

    Dawn Staley, basketball

    • Dawn Staley is to the University of South Carolina Womens basketball program as Tara VanDerveer is to Stanford womens basketball. She is a true icon to that program, working with the community and the fans to grow the game.
    • She says, “Growth takes place outside of your comfort zone.” Her journey is about finally winning the Final Four.
    • Directed by Sarah Feeley

    In Conclusion

    A really great series. Although, note: I do not really agree with the subtitle “A coach’s rules for life”. While the creators try to present 4-5 topics per coach, these are not necessarily rules that the coach lives by; sometimes it feels more like happenstance or a catchy topic title.

    9 Soccer Movie Mom Rating = 9

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