Nebraska football coach shares secret to giving the best pep talks

Earlier this week, a motivational video of Nebraska Assistant coach Keith Williams aimed towards potential recruits went viral. After all, we all do love a good pep talk. What is exactly is Williams’ secret to being arguably the most inspirational college football coach?

For starters, think small and simple before thinking big and serious. And then put a lot of thought into details – the process.

β€œWithin the topic that you’re talking about, pick out something simple about it,” Williams said. β€œIf you were talking about cooking macaroni and cheese, pick out something simple about that process. Something simple but that’s important. And also a point about it that most people don’t talk about when they talk about that. So like a go route, what I was talking about that night, I knew a good comparison … a lottery ticket and you want to be a Division I athlete [like were mentioned in the now-viral pep talk]. Those are both very serious topics.

Another thing that Williams practices is consistency. He doesn’t give his talks just on occasion for attention, but rather has them almost all the time. The coach even makes notes in his phone to remind himself to have a chat with a particular person. Williams’ speech for each player is always different, and he’s always looking to see what truly drives them in life to be better.

β€œI’m always just trying to think of ways to get people to do what I want them to do,” he said.

Andrew Luck signs extension through 2021
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