Every new coach brings with him some new wrinkles to how things are run. Bruce Arians expected players to stretch before hitting the practice field, choosing not to take practice time to stretch as a team. Steve Wilks added music to the practice field.
For Kliff Kingsbury, one change is the players will have cell phone breaks during meetings. It is something he brings with him from college dealing with younger players.
“Cell phone breaks,” he said to reporters at the league meeting in Phoenix (via AZCardinals.com). “That’s what it is now. They’re itching to get to those things.”
Basically, Kingsbury understands the needs his players have to check their phones, whether it be communication, information or social media. As such, he structures his meetings in a way that allows player attention to not wane too much.
“I think coming from the college ranks, it’s got to be quick hitters — 20 minutes at a time, give them a break and get them back in,” he explained. “We want to make sure when we have them they are focused and they are locked in and we’re maximizing that time. So if we have to split it up or have shorter meetings, that’s what we do.”
Kingsbury explained a meeting will go 20-30 minutes before the short break before returning to finish it up.
It is drawing attention because he is calling it a cell phone break.
This isn’t much different for many people and their jobs. People commonly check their phones every so often, sometimes with their boss’ blessing and other times without it.
Whatever might be thought of it, it shows Kingsbury’s willingness to try and accommodate the needs of the players, which goes a long way toward getting buy-in, which is critical.
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