Clearly not all coaches are equally proficient. As with any other profession, some are better than others. The 10th best tennis player in the world is not as good as the 4th best, and so on. You get the idea.

On the other hand, here’s something I just don’t buy. Last Monday night I watched the Chiefs beat San Diego 23-20 in overtime. It was an incredible game, filled with tension and exciting moments. If you care at all about the NFL, you’ve probably seen at least the highlight of what happened at the end of regulation. In position to kick the game winning field goal, the Chargers fumbled a snap which the Chiefs recovered. That one play gave the Chiefs a chance to win a game that was just about lost at that point. Victory from the jaws of defeat.

We get all that. We know it’s a game of inches, the margin for error is incredibly small, and one play can change not only a game but a season or a career. Here’s the part that I find especially interesting. The talk all over town is how Chiefs Coach Todd Haley has done a miraculous job with this team over the past month. His 0-3 team in now tied for first place with a 4-3 record. People have gone from thinking the Chiefs might be winless, to starting to talk about making a run at the playoffs. And Coach Haley has gone from having people wondering about his job security to now having those same people championing his cause for a contract extension. I completely agree that Coach Haley and his staff have done an amazing job. Keeping things together and keeping the players on board as bad as this season began is remarkable. Great job. And yet, I also realize that if one opponent’s snap is properly executed, most likely this team is 3-4 and no one is talking playoffs or contract extensions.

We see it all the time. The winning coach is brilliant, and the losing coach is a dummy. Even if the outcome of the game was decided by a kick that just missed, or a foul shot that rimmed out, or a fan reaching out of the stands to grab a baseball, or a snap being fumbled. Sorry, but I don’t buy that. Was Bobby Bowden a fool in 1991 and 1992 (wide right 1 and 2), who became a genius when he coached an unbeaten national champion years later? No.

As a coach I have to own the part of the game that I can control, which is considerable, but also be willing to admit that some of it is out of my hands. And to base part of my opinion of myself and the job I’m doing on external factors that I cannot control is a recipe for misery.

I live in the real world and I realize that coaches usually get hired and fired based and wins and losses. I also know that focusing on the outcome and result, rather than on creating and executing a championship caliber process has burned out many an outstanding coach. Don’t let it be you.