Subject: Is it worth it? 
Date: August 13, 2026

I was listening to the origin story of the Pyrrhic Victory recently. I don’t even remember why, but it got my wheels turning.

In case you are not familiar with the term, a Pyrrhic Victory refers to winning a battle with losses so great that it could cost you the war.

The win feels great. But at what cost?

Plenty of football coaches stack up Pyrrhic Victories throughout their career.

One legendary coach here in Virginia won his first state title, and later told me it was the worst season of his career. He turned a blind eye to some off-field behavior because he needed those kids on the field to win.

Should be the biggest victory of his coaching career. It didn’t feel like that.

Another coaching friend joked every fall that his daughter doesn’t recognize him by the end of the season. He’d be at work with his ‘football family’ until after she was in bed.

Then one day, she’s off to college.

In 2015, I was still building Joe Daniel Football. There was no guarantee I wouldn’t be going back to a teaching job in a year or two. I worked around the clock.

At the same time, I was a defensive coordinator for a team that was going the wrong direction. I was angry, yelling all the time. Trying to force it to go my way.

I lost the kids. I lost some of the coaches. And we lost a lot of games.
Then I went to an urgent care one day. All I needed was a new EpiPen. I’m allergic to bee stings.

They told me I had early signs of high blood pressure. I didn’t need medication yet… but it was heading that way.

Oh, I had also just gotten married. So I had to go home and tell me new bride that I’m pretty much working myself to death.

Inside, I desperately wanted to stick it out and see that program succeed. Just to prove I could do it. But I left. I settled down on the field at my new job where I could take on a new personality.

Not that I’m a calm, cool and collected coach by any means. But I’m calmer. 11 years later, my blood pressure is not an issue. I actually go to the doctor for physicals now, too.

I don’t like the #GrindAllTheTime and #NoOffSeason mentality. It’s toxic coaching.

Also, I don’t know if people still use hash tags. I’m not on social media anymore. Those references could be very dated. If they are, sorry.
A lot of coaches with that mentality think I’m lazy.

I don’t work on Saturday. Not even during the season. I’m not coaching a team this year, but that has been my rule for several years.

Film work is done by Sunday night. I use the same system I teach in the Game Film Master Class to get all the key information, as fast as possible.
Practices are 90 minutes. Get in, get out, get it done. 15 minute staff meeting after practice, then send everybody home.

I’ve had some of the greatest successes of my coaching career since adopting these rules. They were not Pyrrhic Victories.

We all want a ring. We all want to shock the world. But as so many coaches tell me on their 1-on-1 Coach Call after joining JDFB…
It’s not just about the wins and losses.

In the Lost Letters that I’ll tell you more about next week, I go into a lot of this stuff in detail. Systems. Ways to do it better, faster, easier.

And still win games, if you play your cards right.

If you want to know more about planning more efficient practices - get in, get it done, go home - check out the hub page for this week’s podcast. I’ve added 7 resources to help you be a lazy coach:

Get the free Practice Planning resources >>

Coach Simple. Play Fast. Win.

~ Joe Daniel