"It's Not That Deep" — And That's the Problem

Joey Mulinaro is hilarious.

His ability to impersonate famous sports figures — Nick Saban, Cris Collinsworth, and others — splits the needle between accurate and funny, which is exactly why he's become such a noteworthy comic voice.

And in this latest video? He nails it again. Not just because it’s funny — but because it’s dead-on true. That’s why I wanted to blog about it.

Because this?
This is EXACTLY what 90% of coaches (not just football coaches) sound like before the school year starts.

High school, college, middle school — soccer, cross country, basketball, football — this kind of speech shows up across the board. Coaches trying to establish standards for how players should act in school, in hallways, in life. And I genuinely believe that most of us say these things with good intentions. We believe coaching can help young people grow. We want to set the tone.

But this type of speech also becomes a convenient excuse.
It lets coaches check a box and say:
“See? We told them how to act.” Or even, “Our program already does your TeamsOfMen stuff, man.”

And this — right here — is where I push back.

Because if I told a football coach, “Hey, just tell your players once to keep outside leverage or we’ll give up a big play... then never rep it, never show film, never coach it again” — they’d laugh me out of the room.

We know that real development doesn’t happen from a single loud directive. We build skill through modeling, repetition, and reflection. We teach it.

So why are we content to say “Be respectful” or “Be nice to girls” one time at the start of the year... and then call it good?

Some might say: “Kip, chill. It’s satire. It’s not that deep.”

Exactly. Satire only works when it reflects truth. And if all we give our guys is a single, surface-level speech, then they’ll know — deep down — that we don’t really care about this stuff.
Because if we did, we’d teach it the same way we teach everything else we claim matters.

Coach Prompt:
Would you ever say something once and expect perfect execution on the field? Why do we think one preseason speech is enough to shape how our athletes treat school, each other, or themselves?

Player Prompt:
Do your actions in the hallway match what you say in the huddle? What parts of the “team standard” are easy to perform at practice but harder to live out when no one’s watching?