Relationship of personality themes to academic and athletic performance in college football players

The purpose of this study was to test the theory that personality themes, as measured in a structured interview, could predict academic and athletic performance of selected football players at Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska. The personality theme clusters Direction, Motivational Drive, Relationship Building, and Work Ethic were the independent variables. Player GPA and coaches\u27 evaluation of player performance were the dependent variables. The two multivariate research questions asked in the study were the following: (1) How do Direction, Motivational Drive, Relationship Building, Work Ethic, and Composite scores relate to a player\u27s academic performance; and (2) How do Direction, Motivational Drive, Relationship Building, Work Ethic, and Composite Scores relate a player\u27s athletic performance? The sample for the study was all the members of the 1997 Concordia University football travel squad. Some of the key findings of the study were that a set of personality traits is shared by top football performers, that these traits are held in common despite differences in race and other demographics and that structured interview scores are predictive of performance as measured by coaches\u27 evaluations. Discriminant analysis was able to reliably distinguish Starter and Significant Backup groups from the Limited Role group. This finding has a great deal of practical importance for coaches in evaluating prospective players. Being able to distinguish reliably between starter and significant backups and limited role players in the recruiting process will allow coaches to focus their efforts on those most likely to contribute to team success