It’s Not What You Know…
2 Min Read
I was watching the Patriots vs. Buccaneers game this past weekend when one of the announcers said something that caught my attention: Coach Mike Vrabel says, “It’s not what you know as a coach, but what you get your players to know.”
I immediately wrote it down because it resonated so deeply—but after some searching, I couldn’t find the quote anywhere in transcripts or online. So, whether or not Vrabel actually said it, I still love the idea.
It makes a lot of sense—not just in athletics coaching, but in leadership coaching too.
When you work with a team, whether in sports or an organization, knowledge on its own doesn’t move the needle. It’s only as valuable as the team’s ability to apply it.
In leadership coaching, it’s similar—but with a twist. You’re helping your client gain their own insight, to see something new for themselves. But again, if that awareness doesn’t lead to action, it doesn’t go anywhere.
That’s what separates average coaches from great ones. Average coaches give information and expect results. Great coaches translate knowledge into understanding—and create the environment for their players or clients to make it their own.
Because coaching isn’t just about transferring knowledge. It’s about building conditions for growth. That means making space for questions, challenges, and reflection. It means creating trust and freedom so that others can pick up what you’ve shared and run with it.
Knowledge for knowledge’s sake doesn’t help anyone—it’s the application that makes all the difference.
I had to break out Bloom’s Taxonomy from my teaching days when I was thinking about this. Knowledge sits on the lower levels, while analysis and application are much higher-order skills. That’s where we come in as coaches: we have to build a bridge from knowing to doing.
Imagine two bridges. One is sturdy—concrete and steel, reinforced by understanding, supported by trial and error, and strengthened by reflection and feedback. That’s the bridge that connects knowledge to application. The other is the kind you see in action movies—wooden, swaying, missing planks. That’s the “knowledge-only” bridge.
If the other side represents growth and performance, which bridge do you want to take your team across?
Legendary basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski once said it this way:
“A leader may be the most knowledgeable person in the world, but if the players on his team cannot translate that knowledge into action, it means nothing.”
As coaches, we can get caught up in trying to show what we know—and feel frustrated when others don’t immediately apply it. But the truth is, it takes more than sharing knowledge. It takes patience, structure, and intentionality to create the environment where knowledge turns into action.
That’s where real coaching happens.
Steve