The Hideaway

Why Coach Lou Holtz Made Every Staff Member Teach Before the Season Began

Before every season began, Lou Holtz did something unusual with his coaching staff.

He made every coach stand up and teach.

For two days straight.

And for a young coach sitting in that room, it felt like a master class.

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A few days ago I wrote about ten things I learned from Coach Lou Holtz when I worked as a graduate assistant nearly 35 years ago.

After I read it again, I realized I left something out.

And looking back, it may have been one of the most valuable lessons of all.

Every year after summer break, just before the season started, Coach Holtz would block off two full days on the calendar. He called it “The Hideaway.”

For two straight days there were no distractions. No recruiting trips. No outside obligations.

Just football.

But it wasn’t what most people might think. It wasn’t two days of Coach Holtz standing at the front of the room talking to the staff.

Instead, he turned it into a staff clinic.

Every single coach on the staff had to stand up in front of the room and teach his position.

Everyone.

It didn’t matter if you were a veteran coach with twenty years of experience or a young assistant just starting out. Everybody got up and presented their philosophy, their teaching progressions, their drills, and how they coached their players to perform at their best.

As a young coach sitting in that room, it was an unbelievable opportunity.

You were watching some of the best teachers in the game explain exactly how they coached.

You took notes.

You listened closely.

You paid attention to the language they used and how they explained things.

And more than once I remember sitting there thinking, this is incredible.

Could you imagine sitting down in that room and listening to Coach Joe Moore break down offensive line play? He would walk through the fundamentals, the progressions, and how he approached getting peak performance from his players.

Joe Moore is one of the greatest offensive line coaches to ever do it. Today the award given to the best offensive line unit in college football is named after him — the Joe Moore Award.

Then you might hear Gary Darnell stand up and talk about linebacker play.

Or listen to Ron Cooper explain how he coached the defensive backfield.

Or hear Peter Vaas walk through his philosophy of offensive football and how he coached the quarterback position.

They were all different.

Different personalities.
Different teaching styles.
Different ways of explaining the same game.

And that was the beauty of it.

For a young coach, it really did feel like sitting in a master class.

But the value of The Hideaway went both ways.

It was truly a two-way street.

For young coaches like me, it was an incredible opportunity to learn from some of the best in the profession. You were sitting in a room with coaches who had mastered their craft, and they were willing to show you exactly how they taught the game.

You watched how they organized their thoughts.

You listened to how they communicated fundamentals.

You picked up little coaching cues and phrases that helped players understand things faster.

For a young coach trying to learn the profession, that kind of exposure was invaluable.

But the veteran coaches benefited as well.

When you have to stand up in front of your peers and explain how you teach your position, it forces you to step back and think.

You have to organize your thoughts.

You have to examine your teaching progressions.

You have to ask yourself if your language is clear and if your methods are still effective.

It forces you to stay current.

It forces you to refresh your approach.

And it keeps you aware of areas where you can still improve.

The best coaches in that room had been doing it for years, but they never acted like they had it all figured out. They were constantly refining their teaching and evolving their methods.

They understood something important.

Great coaching is really great teaching.

And great teachers never stop learning.

Coach Holtz made this a yearly exercise. It became part of the culture.

It wasn’t optional, and it wasn’t casual.

It was expected.

And it left a big impression on me.

Throughout my career, I tried to create similar opportunities with our staff whenever possible. When coaches get in a room and teach each other, something powerful happens.

You hear ideas you hadn’t considered.

You pick up a coaching phrase that connects better with an athlete.

You see a drill progression that improves how you teach fundamentals.

Sometimes it’s a small detail.

Sometimes it’s a completely different perspective.

Either way, it makes you better.

Iron sharpens iron.

It also eliminates complacency.

There was no tenure in that room.

It didn’t matter how long you had been coaching. You were still expected to be an outstanding teacher of your position.

And just as important, you were expected to keep learning.

That kind of environment is rare.

But when you create it, everyone benefits.

Young coaches learn from the best in the room.

Veteran coaches stay sharp and continue to grow.

And the entire staff becomes better teachers.

Looking back now, The Hideaway wasn’t just a staff meeting.

It was a leadership lesson.

And for those of us who were young coaches sitting in that room, it felt like something else too.

It felt like a master class in coaching.

And if you think about it, that was Coach Holtz’s real lesson—

Great coaches never stop being students.