Head coach Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors. Credit: Gregory Shamus, Getty Images
The Beginnings
Freedom in the Huddle: The Creative Edge in Coaching Psychology was first published in 1986. Its authors, Darrell Mudra and Gordon Scoles, worked together to publish the book, based on Mudra’s dissertation on his own coaching philosophies and practices. Scoles coined the title, Freedom in the Huddle, which connected the premise of the book to the fact that Mudra was a head football coach and Mudra added in the second part of the title, The Creative Edge in Coaching Psychology, based on his dissertation focus.
The book delves deep into the psychology of coaching and opens the door to the notion of contemplating an authoritarian vs a democratic approach to decision-making, listening to your team and more.
After being published by Championship in 1986, it was never again republished. It would seem Freedom in the Huddle was gone for coaches to discover forever.
The Rebirth
Fast forward to 2019. Nick Nurse, a first year NBA head coach for the Toronto Raptors, wins the NBA Championship. Subsequently, in 2020 (a year in which he also won the NBA Coach of the Year award) Nurse writes a book, Rapture: Fifteen Teams, Four Countries, One NBA Championship, and How to Find a Way to Win – Damn Near Anywhere, which chronicles his ascension to this point in his career, and how he got there, who he learned from and where some of his coaching philosophies originated. In his book, Chapter 6 is titled: ‘Freedom in the Huddle’; in it, he describes his connections to Coach Mudra and gives credit to his adoption of some of the principles from it for some of his successes along the way.
An early 2021 web search for a copy of Freedom in the Huddle: The Creative Edge in Coaching Psychology would lead to a resale link for a used copy of the book for $900+. Coach Nurse, after talking this through with Darrell Mudra’s family and Gordon Scoles, contacted Championship Productions about his many years of connecting with Darrell, the publication of his own book and subsequently, a renewed interest in seeing Freedom in the Huddle available to coaches everywhere once again.
So inside the 2nd edition, we have republished the original text of Darrell Mudra and Gordon Scoles. We have included an introduction from Nick Nurse. And thanks to Coach Nurse, and with permission from Little, Brown and Company, we have also included Chapter 6, ‘Freedom in the Huddle’ from Nurse’s book Rapture (as well as a new contribution about Mudra’s coaching career).
There are few things in this world that begin and end perfectly – we think Coach Nurse’s deep connection to this book is one of those things!
If you would like to purchase your own copy of Freedom in the Huddle: The Creative Edge in Coaching Psychology, 2nd Edition, you can find it for sale exclusively on ChampionshipProductions.com.
