Back to Basics: What Coaching High School Football Taught Me About the Unchanging Fundamentals of Business
This season, I returned to my high school alma mater to serve as an assistant football coach—a full-circle moment that came with all the expected nostalgia: the field under the lights, the familiar chants from the bleachers, and the chance to pour back into a program that once poured into me.
But what surprised me most wasn’t the sense of pride—it was the profound reminder that in football, and in business, success still lives in the fundamentals.
No matter how sophisticated the schemes get or how fancy the equipment becomes, if your team can’t block, tackle, align, and communicate, you won’t win. The truth is, at every level—from high school to the pros—at least 80% of coaching is about reinforcing the basics. Not because players are incapable of learning more, but because the fundamentals are the foundation of everything else.
What struck me is how perfectly this parallels the business world. Leaders love to talk about disruption, innovation, and market shifts. But too often, we get so preoccupied with how the game is changing, we forget to ask: what hasn’t changed?
The answer? A lot. In fact, the fundamentals of business have held stronger than most would admit.
Let me give you two examples—one from marketing, and one from football.
Marketing: The Channels Evolve, the Psychology Doesn’t
In today’s digital economy, marketers are obsessed with platform updates, algorithms, and automation tools. But strip away the technology, and the core challenge remains exactly what it was 50 years ago: getting the right message in front of the right people at the right time.
In the 1960s, it was print ads in Life Magazine.
In the 1990s, it was infomercials and direct mail.
In the 2020s, it’s paid social, email funnels, and influencer campaigns.
But every successful campaign still depends on the same core principles: clarity, relevance, trust, consistency, and emotional resonance. Those haven't changed—and they won’t.
The medium is just the field. The fundamentals win the game.
Football: Spread Offenses Still Depend on Footwork
High school teams today run complex offenses that would’ve looked foreign 30 years ago—read options, RPOs, motion-heavy formations. But the plays only work if the fundamentals are there.
A lineman’s first step must still be perfect.
A linebacker’s pursuit angle still makes the difference.
A quarterback’s ability to read leverage still trumps arm strength.
Schemes evolve. Athletes get faster. But success remains rooted in repetition, technique, and discipline.
It’s the same in business. You can adopt agile workflows and artificial intelligence, but if your team can’t communicate clearly, follow through on commitments, or solve problems collaboratively, no tool will save you.
Five Business Fundamentals That Still Matter Most
Here are five core principles that, like good tackling form, have stood the test of time:
1. Know Your Customer
Understand what they want, how they think, and why they buy. Tools may change, but empathy and insight are irreplaceable.
2. Communicate Clearly and Often
Internally and externally, clear messaging prevents confusion, builds trust, and drives results.
3. Deliver Consistently
Execution beats strategy when strategy lacks follow-through. Showing up reliably builds brand equity—and team morale.
4. Solve Real Problems
A product that doesn’t address a real need—no matter how clever—is a distraction. Find the pain. Offer relief.
5. Invest in People
Great teams outperform great ideas. Leadership, culture, and development remain your most reliable ROI.
Conclusion: The Fancy Stuff Doesn’t Win Championships
Whether it’s football or business, the mistake most leaders make isn’t failing to innovate—it’s abandoning the basics in search of novelty. But the programs that win year after year aren’t the flashiest. They’re the ones that drill footwork in July, study film in August, and never stop running the same blocking sled they’ve used for decades.
Likewise, the best businesses obsess over simple things: solving problems, serving customers, building teams, and getting better every week.
Coaching has reminded me that success doesn’t live in complexity—it lives in consistency. The fundamentals never stopped working. We just stopped practicing them.