Getty Image
UCLA head football coach Chip Kelly recently explained how he has had to change his coaching style to make it more palatable to what he calls the “TikTok generation.”
Speaking at a youth football clinic, Kelly shared a strategy he has had to implement in recent years in order to keep the attention of his younger players.
“You’re dealing with the ‘TikTok generation.’ You don’t have to agree with that or whatever,” Kelly explained. “They are. They learn in short bursts. That’s it.
“There’s a professor at the University of Washington named John Medina wrote a book called Brain Rules. He said no class should be longer than a half hour.
“You know why? Because they don’t pay attention,” said Chip Kelly.
“So we don’t meet very long. But again, that preparation part for… our coaches are unbelievable at their presentation and how they present them. And they keep the players engaged.
“Education is the transportation of knowledge. Can I transport my knowledge to him so he knows that we can go out on the field and we can go.
“Because it doesn’t matter what you know, it matters what they know. And if you keep asking questions and checking their understanding and they don’t know, then maybe you’re running too much. Maybe you got too much in and you got to simplify things a little bit.
Chip Kelly later added, “You have to get feedback from the players because if you get feedback from the players, then you truly understand what they understand and it’s what they understand that’s important. It’s not what you understand.”
"One of the best decisions you can make as a coach… that's a great play but I don't know if we can handle it so let's not put it in."
Chip Kelly staying late at the @NikeCoyFootball Las Vegas Clinic to answer questions & sharing why @UCLAFootball doesn't do long meetings. pic.twitter.com/f38ROHtgu6
— Football Coaches Insider (@FBcoachinsider) February 18, 2023
1989 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Keith Millard agreed with Chip Kelly, tweeting, “Great lecture and it so true . ‘It’s not what you know, it’s what they know.’ I had another great coach explain that to me when I got into coaching, his name was Bill Walsh.”