Crisis Communication Lessons from a H.S. Football Coach

You can watch the news, read a newspaper, or a political or celebrity blog every day and learn how NOT to respond to a crisis. I am not saying that every political figure or multibillion-dollar corporation gets it wrong when crisis strikes, but let's just say that many of them do. They could take a lesson on crisis communication from my son's high school football coach.

The Crisis Communication Challenge

One Wednesday, a weightlifting class, comprised almost entirely of members of the football team, had a little more energy than usual. Perhaps it was because the head coach was out that day. When the team was told to leave the weight room and go to the gym, they decided to do it loudly, disrupting classes along the way.

(In the spirit of full transparency, my son is not in this class. He is, however, on the team.)

As a consequence of their behavior, the coach in charge assigned the team to a strenuous exercise, one they had done before. However, certain conditions on that day, including the heat and the use of the track instead of grass, resulted in some of the players leaving the class with injuries on their hands.

To make matters worse, the head coach, who is normally the class teacher, was attending to a family medical emergency. So now we have the makings of a real crisis.

An aside: In my media trainings, I always say that a crisis will happen on the Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend when decision makers are not in the office.

The Crisis Communication Response

That evening, the head coach sent a message to all football parents. The message was short but clear: the "consequence assigned" was a mistake. He agreed that the team should have faced consequences for their behavior, but that another exercise should have been chosen. He apologized and let parents know he had addressed the situation with the team staff. He also canceled practice for that day so players would not further injure their hands. Modifications were also made to future practice routines to allow for additional time to heal. The next morning, a letter from the coach who had been in charge of the class the day of the incident was sent to all parents.

When I first heard about it, I told my son that if he had been injured, I would have gone straight to the district office. However, the next morning, after I received the second message and the letter, I knew an incident like this would not happen again. Why did I forgive so quickly? Because of how the coach and his staff responded to the incident and the trust they built with parents before anything went wrong.

While I am not a fan of football bravado, I am a fan of my son's coaching staff. They value their players and the relationships they form with them. They value the players' experience in the classroom and on the field. They live out these values during practices and games and off the field. They did the same in response to this incident.

So, in a crisis framework, what did they do right? First, the head coach owned what happened. He admitted that the exercise the players were made to do in response to their behavior was not appropriate. Next, he made it clear he had addressed the situation with his staff and outlined what he and the staff were doing about it: canceling and modifying practices.

What can your company or nonprofit learn from this football coach?

1. When a crisis strikes, own the situation, apologize, and express empathy.

2. Tell your audiences what you are doing in response to the crisis. In this case, practice was canceled and changes were made to future practices to give players' hands time to heal.

3. Explain what you are doing to ensure the same does not happen again. The coach explained that he had spoken to his staff to ensure an incident like this would not happen again.

   
   

   Is your organization prepared for the inevitable crisis? If not, I can help. Contact me at mindy@hamlincommunications.com to discuss the steps you can take to be crisis-ready.