The Green Berets come home
by Willy Stern and Breck Walker | May 19, 2022 11:00 PM
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In 2021, the Indianapolis Colts’ season was off to a disastrous start. Straight-shooting head coach Frank Reich’s team was 0-3 and riddled with injuries. At the core of Reich’s coaching philosophy were growth, performance, and resiliency. Reich deeply believed that character matters. On Reich’s staff was the relatively unknown Director of Team Development Brian Decker. “Deck” brought an unusual background to the NFL: 22 years in the Army, most as a Green Beret.
From draft day through training camp and the regular season, Decker had worked behind the scenes with players and coaches to foster a team-oriented approach to overcoming adversity. The work came naturally. It was what he had embraced since he first became a Green Beret. Early in his military career, Decker had been deployed to combat zones as part of 12-man operational teams. Later, he had helped to improve the assessment and selection process that soldiers must maneuver to earn the coveted green beret. It became clear to his bosses that the modest and self-effacing Decker had an innate understanding of what few others in the NFL possessed: how human beings can operate at maximum efficiency while at the edges of their physical limits and in highly stressful environments. The Colts won nine of their next 12 games, just missing the playoffs.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-green-berets-come-home
