Bus Driver Players

Bill Walsh, former Hall-of-Fame Coach of the San Francisco 49ers, would stand in front of his players before the first day of training camp and tell them: “It doesn’t matter where you were drafted or how much money you were given. It only matters how you play from this moment forward.”

Walsh was a firm believer in meritocracy. He wanted everyone to earn his way onto the team, not to be handed a spot based on recruitment or social standing. Having a team based on meritocracy requires a leader to remove bias and ego from decision making. It also requires a willingness to spend more time teaching and not settling for personnel who know what to do but aren’t physically capable of it.

The NFL season begins on Thursday, and some players lining up will have earned their starting roles on merit, while others will have earned their roles on knowing what to do — essentially serving as extensions of the coach on the field.

These types of players make the coach feel confident with their experience. They’re referred to as “Bus Driver Players,” meaning unless these guys are on the team bus, the driver would have no idea how to get to the stadium. They are so dependable that they know the perfect route — and the team cannot win the game without them along for the ride. Bus Driver Players make the coach feel confident because of their knowledge.

But knowing what to do and actually executing it are never the same. Once the leader decides “knowing what to do” is more important than overall talent, then an environment based on meritocracy vanishes. Leaders must always balance this experience factor.

Developing a team based on this concept requires the coach to have a willingness to evaluate the future, to assess the talent once it gains experience, and to forgo short-term success for long-term gain.

Walsh would tell his coaches that he was willing to lose a game in September playing a young player rather than win one with an older, declining player. He knew older players ran out of gas in December whereas younger players got better.

Walsh also knew his assistant coaches were always going to choose the Bus Driver Players because they made their life easier. After all, if the talent fails, then it’s a personnel issue, not a coaching issue.

Walsh preached team meritocracy and made sure no Bus Driver Players got onto his bus to the game. We need to do the same.