🧹 Why Teams That Sweep the Sheds Win More Often
Back in 2001, I was a young head coach in Mason, Texas, still learning the ropes, when my superintendent, Jennings Teal, told me a story I’ve never forgotten.
“When I was an assistant coach at Sweetwater High School,” he said, “and we played away games, my job was to find a way into the opponent’s locker room. I’d tell one of their coaches I’d heard it was nice and ask to take a look. Afterward, I’d report back to our head coach about how clean it was. If the locker room was spotless, we knew we were in for a dogfight — that team had discipline and pride in doing things right. But if it was a mess, we felt confident. That told us everything we needed to know about their program.”
I've lived by this mindset ever since.
Every now and then, I’ll see a team’s equipment staff post a photo showing how a visiting team left their locker room spotless — and you can feel how much it meant to them. The Athletic even ran a feature about it recently-https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6673496/2025/09/30/vanderbilt-alabama-cleak-lea-diego-pavia/.
That’s when it clicked for me: this needs to be a Blueprint lesson. Not just about cleaning up — but about what “Sweeping the Sheds” really says about a team’s culture.
The Cen-La Wolves are the fictional Blueprint program used to teach ‘Sweep the Sheds.’
What Coaches Say
As I often do, I reached out to a few of my head coaching friends and asked whether leaving an opponent’s locker room clean really matters — and if so, why.
“We always want to leave it better than we found it. It’s part of our DNA,” said Chris Cutcliffe, Head Coach at Oxford High School (MS). “We pack brooms, dustpans, and trash bags on every road trip and finish the night with our staff cleaning the visitor locker room. We even take a staff picture in there after each win.”
Keith Allen, Head Coach at Schreiner University (TX), shared a similar mindset: “After I speak to the players and coaches, I put on rubber gloves and help pick up everything. We always pack trash bags and gloves that stay with the shower towels hamper when we travel. Servant leadership isn’t a slogan on the wall — it’s who we are.”
The Lesson Hidden in a Broom
When you walk into a locker room after a game, you can tell almost everything you need to know about a program before you ever look at the scoreboard.
If the place is spotless — towels stacked, tape picked up, benches cleared — that team probably just gave someone all they could handle.
If it’s trashed, you can bet the opposite.
How a team handles the small things always reveals how it handles the big things.
When I first started coaching at North Forney in 2017, our locker room was abysmal. Instead of fussing or punishing, I decided to show our players a model of excellence — the New Zealand All Blacks, the most successful rugby team in history.
They live by a simple rule: “Sweep the Sheds.”
After every match — win or lose — the players themselves grab brooms and clean the locker room. No staff. No excuses.
Why? Because no one should have to look after them.
It’s not about cleanliness; it’s about character.
The All Blacks believe humility, discipline, and pride in small details create the foundation for excellence. And they’re right.
When players take ownership of the little things, they build habits that translate directly to how they train, compete, and respond under pressure.
‘We can’t win if we don’t flush the toilets.’
Deion Sanders once walked into his team’s locker room and found trash and tape everywhere. Instead of yelling, he used it as a teachable moment.
“This is a reflection of who we are. We know who’s lockers these are but we’re all going to run for it because we’re a team. Some of ya’ll were raised like this, but I’m not one of those parents. Is that who we are? Are we better than this?”
Coach Sanders knows what are you accept or the standard you walk past is the standard you accept.
Across the country, Tony Elliott at Virginia teaches the same lesson. He tells his players to flush the toilets and leave every space better than they found it.
His message is simple: “Every day on the way out to practice I’m the last one out the door, by design, then I walk through the restroom and see how many toilets are not flushed. I’d tell the guys, ‘We can’t win if we don’t flush the toilets.’ If you don’t have enough respect for your teammate to flush the toilet how are you going to die for him on 4th and 1?’ How you do anything is how you do everything.”
When you take care of your space, you’re really taking care of your culture.
Why These Teams Win
Teams that sweep the sheds build a foundation of humility and unity that carries into everything they do.
Discipline — They do what’s right, even when it’s unseen or inconvenient.
Pride — They take care of every detail, not for attention, but out of respect for the team and those who came before them.
Humility — They serve others first, understanding that no one is too important to pick up a broom.
Ownership — They don’t walk past a problem or wait for someone else to fix it — they take responsibility because it’s what great teammates do.
When service becomes the standard, winning becomes a byproduct.
The Bigger Picture
Cleaning the locker room doesn’t put points on the board. But the same mindset that drives a player to pick up trash drives him to finish a block, study extra film, and give maximum effort in the fourth quarter.
“We take pride in how we represent our program, and that includes how we leave every locker room we use. Cleaning up after ourselves isn’t just about courtesy — it’s about discipline and attention to detail. The little things matter. When we leave a space better than we found it, we’re showing respect for the game, our opponents, and ourselves. That same mindset carries onto the field — doing the small things right, even when no one’s watching, is what builds a championship culture. As a program that is rebuilding, things like this matter!” Tom Wescott, Head Coach, Eau Claire Memorial High School, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
“Treat others how you wish to be treated! Character - Integrity - Discipline - all things we all teach in our program. We talk about it, we teach it, we preach it, and we have to model it!” Joe Cary, Head Coach, Tomball Memorial High School, Tomball, Texas
Programs that sweep the sheds, whether at home or away, understand something deeper — it’s not about cleaning up after a game; it’s about leaving things better than you found them. That’s the kind of standard we should be passing on to every young person we coach.
