I’ve learned that possibly the greatest detractor from high performance is fear: fear that you are not prepared, fear that you are in over your head, fear that you are not worthy, and ultimately, fear of failure. If you can eliminate that fear—not through arrogance or just wishing difficulties away, but through hard work and preparation—you will put yourself in an incredibly powerful position to take on the challenges you face.

The thing that always strikes me is how much power one person has. Everybody has so much power to help and to change if they just exercise it and get after it.

Every year, something happens, and it turns me in a direction about where I need to go and what I need to do to give these guys direction.

I'm talking about: Are we competing today, every minute, in everything we do in practice. Are we letting loose and daring to be great here and now? And can we sustain that? And repeat it. Trophies are great, but we're trying to win forever.

I had no plan for that year but it wound up being one of the most important years of my football coaching career. It hit me along the way that I needed to really get at the heart of what's really true to myself. And then I was able to mold it and shape it in the years at SC to become the approach and the concept and the culture that we try to create here at Seattle.

I am an example of a person who got zeroed into a philosophy early.

You will find a way to make your message fresher. You'll find a way to make your connections in a way that will continue to inspire and direct and motivate. That's what I'm banking on.