Don’t Let Your Passion Turn Into Performance Theatre
Let’s be clear—Coach Campanile (shown above when he was the Dolphins LB coach) is having a great year coordinating Jacksonville’s defense. He’s clearly a sharp football mind who knows how to build and call a defense.
My issue isn’t with him. It’s with the framing of moments like this speech, and what they teach younger coaches watching. The message becomes: “The more f-bombs I drop, the more violent imagery I use, the harder my guys will play.”
That’s the fallacy—one fueled by the glorification of violence in our coaching spaces. Clips like this get labeled as “fire” or “old-school juice,” but what’s missing is acknowledgment of what actually makes his defense elite: detail, film study, teaching, technique, and intelligence.
I’d even wager that the laughter from his players in the room had less to do with being inspired and more to do with being entertained. The delivery was wild. The language was loud. But did it teach anything?
And if we’re being honest—the goal of a defensive coordinator is to prevent an offense from running away from you in the first place. So even the Lombardi quote about chasing down someone who “stole your family” doesn’t hold up. If we’re sticking with the metaphor, what failed defense did you call that let the intruder in to begin with?
I don’t begrudge his passion—it’s real. But I’ll always bet that the value of his detail and design outweighs the power of his decibels.
If we’re serious about shaping better coaches and players, we’ve got to stop equating volume with value.
Coach Prompts
When was the last time you evaluated what tone you model, not just what plays you call?
Do you believe louder always means clearer—or does it just mean you’ve lost your audience?
How can you channel passion without falling into the performance of “toughness”?
Player Prompts
What kind of communication actually makes you better—fear, clarity, or connection?
When your coach yells, what are you hearing: instruction or emotion?
How could you give feedback to a coach who coaches loud, but not clear?
