Building a Winner:
The Making of Patrick Mahomes
· by Laddie Morse
The Kansas City Chiefs just finished their first week of organized team activities (OTAs) and before Patrick Mahomes had even thrown a pass this spring the talk all over town has been about how great he is. Not to throw a rain cloud over that parade but, he hasn’t even played one season and many fans are already crowning him the next best thing since sliced BBQ. However, now that the first week of OTA’s has completed, and we’ve been able to get a small glimpse into the making of Patrick Mahomes, I can see that the Chiefs are building a winner.
Head Coach Andy Reid has decided to close ranks and not allow the media into practices this week except for Thursday, the last day. Reid even went so far as to have a little video clip of Sammy Watkins one-hand grab taken down off the team’s server. Many have also criticized Reid lack of comments or unwillingness to share what was going on in practices. However, I wouldn’t be one of those people because we can learn a lot from what Reid has revealed.
Many of you know that I grew up with dyslexia and often flip letters, words, and sounds around… and I dill stew. What you may not know is that a compensation I made for that was to get my Master’s Degree in Reading Instruction and so I was able to turn a lemon in my life into lemonade (although now I’m addicted to sugar). I share this with you because throughout my master’s study program I began to see so many universalities in what I was studying. Now, I can apply some of those tenets or ideas to what Andy Reid is doing to prepare Patrick Mahomes.
One of the valuable lessons we often talked about is “structuring for success” and I believe that’s exactly how Reid is handling Mahomes. In the field of reading, there are what we call, target words. If a child reads a page but doesn’t recognize 5 words on that page or more, then he or she may feel too challenged to continue and could reach a level of “frustration.” With Patrick Mahomes, reaching the frustration level is important to Reid but measured:
“We throw in a lot of new stuff so you want to test what you can get away with in these camps, so you’re going to have interceptions.
He’s just got to do it. He’s got to practice and work through it and massage each play and see how it works against different coverages. He’s so willing. That’s the part you appreciate.”
It may sound counterproductive but knowing what a player’s maximum level of frustration is, would be crucial and Reid appears to have a handle on that one. Sometimes teaching by experience means teaching a person to fail… before they learn to succeed.
The Failure Approach
I used to tell kids in my class, “Today, I’m going to teach you to fail.” The kids were usually very vocal in response to that, saying, “NO… we don’t want to fail!” I’d say, “Don’t worry, it won’t count for a grade, but today, I hope you all fail miserably.” We don’t teach failure enough. If we can’t be there when our kids do fail… how can we teach that what to do when they do fail, and more importantly how to respond to it?
That’s what Andy Reid is doing here. He wants Mahomes to make his mistakes now… long before he gets to the real live game time action. Patrick Mahomes knows that’s what’s going on too:
“[Reid and Bieniemy] have really tried to throw a lot at the whole offense. If you want to make mistakes you make them now. You don’t want to make those mistakes in the game so we throw a lot now so when we get to the game it’s a lot easier.”
Outliers and Immersion Approach
Another positive way to teach is to take a student and work with them one-on-one in isolation and them place them back in a group so they could test for themselves how much they’ve learned. Outlier = working on your own in isolation… Immersion = learning on the fly, in the middle of practice, with the whole offensive playbook being thrown at you. These are the essential principals that coach Reid is implementing.
The Peer Tutoring Approach
Did you know there has been more research done in the field of “peer tutoring” than in other subject in the field of education? What they’ve found is that one student can teach another student much better than the teacher can. That’s exactly what’s happening with Patrick Mahomes as well. Just think, everyone in the QB room is new and Patrick Mahomes is teaching them all the ropes. That’s a huge plus for “Patty Cakes”… a name his teammates have given him.
Coaches like to call the corp-group of players he is working with… “a room”… but what they’re talking about is all the players at their position. Reid has mentioned “what a great room Patrick Mahomes was in last year” being sure to mention that again just this week. Another way this is critical to Mahomes is how much time he might get teaching UDFA rookie Chase Litton. Sure, we don’t see it, but the more time Mahomes spends teaching Litton what he learned last year… the more Mahomes imbeds the past year’s learning for himself. BTW… I like Litton a lot and am hoping he is QB #3 this year. At 6-foot-5, 230 lbs. coming out of Marshall, processing a big arm too… what’s not to like?
Praise Where Praise is Appropriate
In the field of teaching, “praise” can be overused and insincere” and the kids know it when you do that. However, when it is deserved, it’s important to not miss the chance to say how you really feel. I think those positive words spoken mean more to people than a report card or an evaluation by a superior. Those around you appreciate authentic and constructive accolades. That’s something Andy Reid uses sparingly, but when he does, we should pay attention. Here’s Reid on Patrick Mahomes on Thursday:
“Coach Reid points out that Patrick Mahomes, “He’s phenomenal. Has great leadership. He loves playing, he absorbs everything, and now he’s just got to go do it. He’s so willing… that’s the part you appreciate.”
“Phenomenal?” “Great Leadership?” Hmm. I don’t recall Reid ever using those words to describe Alex Smith. Maybe my memories’ just failing me (yeah, that’s a real possibility)… but , maybe my memories’ just failing me (yeah, that’s a real possibility)……….
Andy Reid and company are hitting on all the important skills Patrick Mahomes II will need to succeed in 2018. They are taking an approach that an old teacher can appreciate. “No, and I’ve mentioned this to you guys before when Alex was here, and so on, these are camps where you want to test.” So it should not be surprising that his practices are full of pop-quizzes.. even the kind that will produce a little failure, right? It’s just … Part of the Plan. Reid is structuring for success and I can’t wait to see how Patty does on his final exams.
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