The Panthers’ winning defense starts with a vision

One of his LaSalle College (Pa.) High School teachers in the early ‘90s told Sean McDermott and a couple of his football teammates to go into a room and keep quiet. McDermott did. The teacher told them to quiet their minds. Quiet all outside noise and inner noise. To relax from their toes to the top of their heads to their limbs. Breathe. Master inner peace. He told them to seek clarity in the upcoming game, to see it in their minds. How did it look and feel? What was the perfect play on offense and on defense? He told them to seek clearness in how they would perform.

Close your eyes, he said. See it, he instructed.

This is how Sean McDermott, the Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator, was introduced to the art of visualization.

“I went out after that and had one of the better games of my career,” McDermott said. “And I’ve been a big believer since.”

Visualization has been a part of sports and particularly the NFL for decades. In today’s NFL, it is likely that every player and coach does it. But some, like McDermott, do it and teach it with purpose.

The art of visualization, according to several sports psychologist, is an understanding that the body won’t go where the mind has not gone first. It has been called auto-suggestion. Some experts insist that though visualization cannot make an athlete perform beyond capability, it can help one reach maximum potential. Some insist it can help them battle through inner demons which might prevent them from succeeding.

It eliminates fog. It is a mental massage.

Decorated Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps is an advocate. So is golfer Jack Nicklaus.

Several NFL players agree.

Among them are Buffalo Bills running back Reggie Bush, who says: “I am a huge believer in visualization. I have always used it throughout my career. I use it before practice and games. I use it during games. It’s become a part of not only my football career but my life as well.”

Washington tight end Jordan Reed adds: “Nothing good has happened for me that I didn’t quiet myself and visualize, that I didn’t see in my mind. It’s my connector between dreams and reality.”

And Giants receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., reveals: “What I do on the field I have already seen in my mind. Every time.”

The NFL game can be one of chaos. It can be complex. Visualization helps athletes, they say, create simplicity. It can create increased clarity in their minds and in their missions.

How does an NFL player reach peak performance? How does he maintain maximum performance?

These questions have consumed McDermott, 42, as both a player and coach.

McDermott said that he grew up active in wrestling and that the sport taught him mental toughness. He played college football at William & Mary and his teammates included Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and former NFL safety Darren Sharper. He was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 until 2010 and served as defensive coordinator in the final two seasons. He has been Carolina’s defensive coordinator since 2011.

“I feel strongly about visualization as a preparation,” McDermott said. “We are all looking in this league to get just about any competitive advantage that we can. I have tried to use it as a model for us. I talk to our players about mental toughness. I talk about visualization and how they can use it. I don’t force it on anyone – to each his own. But I do believe it can be a part of the physical and mental toughness of their performance. Being a coach, of course, I don’t play the game. But I use it as a coach.

“Sometimes I use it a lot the days leading up to a game. Sometimes just the Monday before. Sometimes just before the game. Training your mind. To be totally prepared, you need to train your mind. Sometimes I know the exact play to call because I have visualized the situation. In my mind, I have already called the play.”

Before Super Bowl 50 last February in Santa Clara, Calif., Panthers defensive players talked plenty about the natural knack and feel McDermott has for the game and how he teaches it. Panthers defensive tackle Kawaan Short talked about McDermott’s creativity. Panthers safety Kurt Coleman praised his clarity.

And Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis said: “Our guys have learned to see how to win on the way to becoming a winning defense. He (McDermott) is a big part of that.”

McDermott’s defense has finished in the top 10 in four of his five years in Carolina and finished sixth last season. His defense last season led the league in turnovers produced (39). McDermott believes that great athletes who create great performances often have visualized them. He said they seem to operate in a “white moment, a blank moment with a blank canvass, almost effortless.” He said visualization also can help an athlete refocus.

He would not be surprised if one day NFL teams actually employ specific visualization coaches.

“It’s OK,” said McDermott, “for the mind to wander in practice, in a game, as long as you can get it back to where it needs to be. This is a way that helps keep you from jumping outside of the moment. A way of re-energizing the mind to where it needs to be. As you look at more teams investing in athletes and in their product, more in strength conditioning and in nutrition, I can see where this area will continue to grow. It is a part of the NFL culture.”