An Overlooked Detail That Shapes How Players Learn

I hear it all the time in press conferences and postgame interviews: “Details matter.” Or, “It’s our attention to detail that sets us apart.” After nearly a quarter century of coaching, I do think there’s truth there.

So when I came across this Edutopia article and podcast episode about classroom seating arrangements, it clicked for me. Coaches love to claim the details, but how many of us ever stop to think about something as basic as how our players are sitting when we’re teaching?

We’re in classrooms all the time. Sometimes literally—like when we gather for film study. Sometimes figuratively—every huddle, every chalk talk, every timeout. And yet, I wonder how often we think about the intentional design of those moments.

This article showed different seating setups tied to different outcome goals. That’s a powerful reminder: where and how players sit shapes what they take in. I’ll be honest, I haven’t rolled out all the intentionality these educators describe. But already I’ve thought about the Socratic circle as something we could easily use to start the season. And I’ve started asking myself: what would a TeamsOfMen character session need for seating compared to a film breakdown?

If “details matter,” then this is one more place to live it.

Coach Prompts

• When you set up film or team meetings, do you default to convenience—or do you design the seating for the outcome you want?

• How might changing the physical arrangement of your team room impact how players engage in a character session vs. a scouting session?

Player Prompts

• Think about the last time you sat in a team meeting—what did your spot or the setup do to your focus?

• If you could choose the best way for your team to sit to really learn together, what would it look like?