WW: What is your vision for the football team?
Brian Mehl: My vision is always to be what their best can be, ultimately what they’re capable of becoming. You never really know what that full potential is; you never know that as a human [in general], but it really pushes them to achieve their fullest potential. There’s no better team sport than football, so really, [my vision is] evaluating a team or group mentality to what they’re hopefully capable of becoming.
WW: What are your values for a football team?
Mehl: The values that I believe in are the ones you can control; so I am a full believer in one can always control [their] attitude — positive attitude like your effort, hard work, [and] self-discipline. Self-discipline to me is knowing what you should do when you absolutely don’t want to do it, because you know it’s important that you do it. The last one is caring, culture, and team first. Those would be the four that I kind of hang my hat on; not only as a football coach, but as a husband, [and] as a father to my two little girls. Those are the things that help me achieve success as a man and as a coach.
WW: What is your leadership style?
Mehl: I would say definitely like a blend. I lead the way that is most comfortable to me — I don’t try to be someone else, I don’t try to act like someone else. I consider that leadership style is [what] you kind of hang your hat on, like one style. Much like the golf clubs in a golf bag, each club is going to be used to achieve a different type of shot. I can be mean and angry, I can be soft and squishy, it’s just gonna depend on the situation [and] how it’s handled. Hopefully, I’m someone [who] can use a lot of different clubs to handle a situation. I hope that the people I surround myself with can do that [too].
WW: How do you motivate your players to be the best that they can be?
Mehl: Know that the game is bigger than them; football will always be bigger than them. If you’re gonna play football for me, you better have some internal motivation. If you don’t have a little bit of that, you’re not gonna be successful in this game. I’m going to motivate you with energy, because I’m still young, I still move around a lot, so hopefully you see me as a coach and they see me move with energy [and] passion. We, as coaches and adults, have to be adults and then motivate them. Not always, but truly the best form is gonna come from you [as an] individual. I can motivate them, but it’s gonna be short-lasting; it’s gonna have an impact for days or months, so really again, it’s similar to leadership style and making sure you can hit with a different club depending on the shot, and how you get the best [out of] what they hopefully can be.
WW: When do you know that you’ve succeeded as a coach?
Mehl: Thursday night before the game; you clearly have an outcome goal every Friday night game, and that outcome goal is whether you won or lost, and we’re trying to win the game. You know that there is an outcome of succeeding there. I think the greater question is: Can I have a kid play all four years of football for me? When one can, I think the lessons and the values that we have been able to teach them in the game of football set them up for life after high school. It’s hard to think that you can do all these things without playing a team sport. I think when kids play four years for me and they graduate as a senior football player, they are one step ahead [in] their life, and their pathway to success. That would be one of the bigger questions that I truly believe in.
