The Manosphere Is Teaching the Opposite of Everything Good Coaches Believe.

I don’t have any issues with Kirby Smart’s quote on the surface. It makes perfect sense when trying to get young men to embrace accountability. And I’d wager Kirby isn’t the first coach to ever say it.

Most of us have some version of that line in our own practice huddles. But that’s what I really want to hammer home — this idea is known. We all know accountability is a foundational trait for success. We know blame kills culture. So why, outside our team rooms, are so many of us silent while our players are being fed an entire online ideology—the Manosphere—that teaches them to do the exact opposite?

These guys are being told that their pain, failures, and frustrations aren’t their responsibility. That women, minorities, and the LGBTQ+ community are to blame for the lives they don’t have.

And too many coaches stay quiet about it.

If you’re reading this, you already know TeamsOfMen exists to take on Manbox thinking—to push back against a 2025 culture weaponizing male struggle and transforming it into hate.

We’d never let that mindset show up in a locker room. We’d shut it down immediately if a player started blaming teammates for a loss. So why aren’t we just as forceful when it shows up in the world our players live in?

Coaching accountability means all accountability. On the field, off the field, and in the feeds shaping their worldview.

Coach Prompts

• How are you teaching accountability beyond the scoreboard?

• When’s the last time you challenged your team to identify who they blame—and why?

• Are you correcting blame in the locker room but ignoring it online?

Player Prompts

• When things go wrong, who do you blame first—and why?

• What’s harder for you: admitting a mistake, or apologizing for one?

• If “accountability” was a stat we tracked this week, how would you grade yourself?