After helping Mahomes and the Red Sox, Paddy Steinfort plans to take Australian football to the top
He helped Patrick Mahomes become the best NFL quarterback in the league, now Paddy Steinfort’s next mission is to push the Matildas to World Cup glory.
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The mental mastermind who helped Patrick Mahomes become the NFL’s best quarterback believes the Matildas are capable of similar greatness this year.
Paddy Steinfort, a former Aussie rules player who went on to become one of the most sought-after sports psychologists in the United States, working with Mahomes in college, Ben Simmons at the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Red Sox’s $455 million man Rafael Devers, now oversees the Socceroos and Matildas programs for Football Australia.
Steinfort was on the sidelines as the Socceroos achieved their best World Cup result in Qatar under Graham Arnold, and is working feverishly to ensure the Matildas are peaking when the FIFA Women’s World Cup is played in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.
The performance director at FA was brought in after the Smith-Gander report exposed a number of problems in the controversy-stricken code.
Steinfort has a more practical role at FA managing the programs of the national teams, but was stunned that his psychological tips were credited by Mahomes prior to Super Bowl 57 earlier this week in the US press.
“That article came out on Super Bowl Sunday, it was quite a surprise to wake up to my phone blowing up like that, but also that Pat would say that publicly at a time when the spotlight is on him and he’s doing amazing things, historic things, it definitely prompts pride,” Steinfort said.
“But it also gets me excited for the stuff we’re doing behind the scenes with Football Australia, some of the athletes and coaches here, because who knows in six years what some of these girls will be doing, and some of these Socceroos and staff that we’re working with.
“When I worked with Pat, he had only been given one offer for a scholarship in American college football, and that’s how our paths happened to cross, and now he’s the most recognisable NFL player, he’s the face of the league, he’s one of the most successful quarterbacks in history.
“It just goes to show if you put the right things around people, and do the right work with people who want to stick to the process and are driven, and are talented obviously, who knows what can happen?
“That really does make me excited for what is possible for football here in Australia.”
Last Sunday, Mahomes led his Chiefs to Super Bowl glory with a 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, claiming MVP honours in the game on top of being the league’s MVP for the 2022-23 season. It was the Chiefs’ second Super Bowl win in four years, prompting US media to speculate that 27-year-old Mahomes could break Tom Brady’s record of seven championship rings.
Mahomes, who hasn’t used a sports psych since entering the NFL five years ago, voluntarily revealed to the Kansas City Star that he still uses the techniques taught to him by Steinfort when he was playing for Texas Tech and the Australian was a mental performance consultant at the school.
“He used to talk about how your mind can only think about six things at the same time,” Mahomes said. “And if you were focusing on the crowd, and then you’re focusing on how big the game is, then you’re not thinking about what coverage is the nickel (cornerback) playing, or how’s the nickel going to adjust versus this coverage and stuff like that. So I kind of just keep it in that perspective.”
Steinfort is too sharp to make brash predictions, but said of the Matildas: “They already inspire the country, and they have the potential to make this country so proud, in a way that’s hard to express.
“If anyone was in Qatar, when we did what we did there with the men’s team, if we can perform at the level to make our country proud – now that means different compared to the Socceroos because they’re ranked a little differently – our chances of getting all the way to the end are potentially a little more.
“According to experts that’s more possible for the Matildas, however the biggest thing I want us to focus on is play and go about our things in a way that makes everyone proud.
“The girls are an incredibly talented and driven group, if they go out and do things in a way that makes themselves proud, their families proud and the country proud, then the sky is the limit … and could lead to even better things than what we experienced in Qatar.”
There has been a comprehensive overhaul of operations since the independent Smith-Gander report, handed down in October 2019, noted: “The voice of the athlete must be central to any high-performance program. A sport that can sustain a rich dialogue with their elite and sub-elite athletes will be the better for it. The Panel has struggled to hear the voice of the athlete as we conducted this review. Athletes were wary to speak to us directly. Evidence is that their voice is not consistently listened to by administrators and those governing the sport.”
One of the first things Steinfort did when he joined FFA was to “ask questions” of players.
“It’s more about making sure they trust that when they tell you something, something’s going to happen from it,” Steinfort said.
“It was really important that if feedback was given, it was evident change happened as a result, particularly if it was a strong majority who had that opinion and it was affecting performance.
“Some of the shifts in terms of staffing structure was a result of the feedback we’ve gotten back from players and staff.
“Some of the contract extensions, of coaches, has been about ‘Let’s find out what the reality is, and if that’s the reality, do we want to change it or keep it?’
“The ability for players to feel comfortable asking for support, speaking up about things that otherwise they might’ve kept their mouths shut about – I’m not saying anything nefarious there, that’s not talking about problematic things like have been historically purported or alleged – we’re talking about ‘It would be great if we could have our own rooms leading into a big tournament so we can sleep properly’.
“These conversations that haven’t been had before or raised at that level that I am, I’m proud that there’s been a shift there and the amount of dialogue the players feel they can have over their performance environment.
“Being behind the scenes for the results, and seeing the amount of work everyone put in, it’s one thing to see the results in Qatar, and obviously we saw what happened at Fed Square and the way the nation was on fire, we enjoyed getting on the bus after matches and looking at Twitter and seeing all the videos of Australia being so passionate about what we’d done, that was an incredibly proud moment for all of us.
“When I was first offered the chance to work with these iconic national teams, two things stood out to me - what a challenging time it was due to Covid and off the back of the Smith-Gander review, but also what a great opportunity those same challenges presented.
“Rather than viewing these as negatives, it became a reframe game: can we use the Covid disruptions and the recommendations from the review as catalysts for changing the game?
“Not in a grandiose sense - but instead focusing on changing how the game is experienced by those who are central to it: the players. We had an opportunity, if not an urgent need, to question old practices in the system so we can end up giving each player everything they need and nothing they don’t.
“There’s already been an improvement in players’ mental health. In the latest screening of one of the national teams, 90 per cent (19 players) reported good mental health in the preceding four weeks compared with 61 per cent in May 2022; 10 per cent (two players) reported mild levels of psychological distress compared with 22 per cent in May, and no players reported high levels of psych stress compared with 17 per cent.”
The average in the community is one in every five experiencing high levels of psychological stress or illness, “so we are well and truly above average in this measure”.
“And on the nutrition front, thanks to the addition of a full time chef and improved education for players and staff across the full system - from under-17s up - recent data shows its working,” Steinfort said.
He said there has been a 50 per cent reduction in “high risk behaviours” by at risk players from September 2021 to now.
These are the trends that tell Steinfort plans are working.
“We tend to think people’s personalities are fixed, and they are to a certain degree, but they shift slightly depending on context, and so people’s behaviours also shift,” he said.
“Who you are and how you act at home in your own house is different than when you’re at work, and it’s different than when you’re out drinking with your friends.
“So when you’re thinking about it in that context, it’s not necessarily going to be one thing that we do that’s going to be the silver bullet, but it’s about consistently over time what we pay attention to and the behaviours that we prioritise will end up leading to the results we get.
“I will sometimes show a slide that has the mathematical equation of that: Attention + Behaviour x Time will = Results.”
ELLIE CARPENTER RETURNS
Emma Greenwood
Matildas defender Ellie Carpenter has returned to the field just over eight months after tearing her ACL to keep her World Cup dream alive.
Carpenter ran out for French side Olympique Lyonnais early Sunday morning (Australian time) after months of intense rehab on the left knee she injured in the Champions League final last May in the first concrete step towards regaining her Matildas jersey.
The 22-year-old wingback made an emotional social media post thanking her supporters after getting back on the ground, with her feed soon flooded with messages from fellow Matildas.
Very proud and grateful to be back. I have learned a lot during these months about myself. The ones who have been there since day 1. Thank you, my support system has been second to none. Would not be here without you guys. I’m just getting started 💪ðŸ½@olfeminin@matildaspic.twitter.com/KNPsSAolNN
— Ellie Carpenter (@CarpenterEllie) February 4, 2023
“Very proud and grateful to be back on the pitch with my teammates,” Carpenter said in an Instagram and Twitter post.
“I have learned a lot during these months about myself. The ones who have been there since day 1. Thank you, my support system has been second to none. Would not be here without you guys. I’m just getting started.”
Her Instagram story included a picture with the caption “259 days later”, referring to the accelerated recovery since she ruptured her ACL and underwent surgery in France in a bid to recover in time for a home World Cup.
Matildas captain Sam Kerr was among the first to welcome her back, with national teammates Alanna Kennedy, Mackenzie Arnold, Hayley Raso, Chloe Logarzo and Caitlin Foord among the first to congratulate her.
Carpenter was not among the 25 players named for Australia’s Cup of Nations campaign later this month, where the Matildas will welcome goalkeeper Arnold, forward Emily Gielnik and midfielder Tameka Yallop back from injury.
But speaking to News Corp late last year, she remained confident her recovery was on track for a historic World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand starting in July.
“When I did my ACL, I knew there was lots of a lot of time, so I didn’t worry about that, but I’m not going to rush my injury and I’m just going to take it day by day,” she said.
“If I feel strong and ready then that’s it but I’m on track, so hopefully I’m well and truly ready to go by then.”
Certainly, she is desperate to be a part of the biggest women’s sport event in history.
Having been home during her rehab and at a World Cup event in the lead-up, Carpenter has felt the groundswell of support in Australia for the tournament.
“This is going to be unreal, it’s going to be sick,” she said.
“It’s going to be one of the biggest tournaments for women in the history of sport with the number of teams, record crowds.
“Obviously it’s going to be a massive event and what better to have a World Cup on home soil. To have Australians in the stands and a full house, I can’t wait.”
Originally published as After helping Mahomes and the Red Sox, Paddy Steinfort plans to take Australian football to the top
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