MBTI Type: ESTJ
Eric is comfortable coaching football. He knows how to keep the players in line, how to referee among his assistant coaches, how to come up with complex plays and outline them on the board, and how to put aside his emotions and concentrate on the game. He deals in the present, coming up with contingency plans in case anything goes array mid game. He is a man of decisive action, be that in purchasing a house or telling someone to leave his family alone. He issues orders and expects the kids to obey them, and makes rational decisions—when he sees that Matt’s playing has improved by being coached by Jason Street, rather than get offended, Eric simply offers him a job (seeing his potential and tapping into it, to reach a decent outcome). He trusts the rules and established plays of football, and is able to focus on the task at hand. Eric seeks details not only in his professional life, but in his family environment as well. He wants all the facts when deciding on whether to purchase a house; he questions his daughter for more information before offering advice. He doesn’t mind participating in the “traditions” of the town revolving around football. Eric also does not want to live separate from his wife and daughter, and does so under duress, before agreeing to go back to Dillon and coach the same football team, when he sees the huge difference for the worst that has happened in his absence. He quickly catches on to, and banters with, his daughter about metaphorical parallels between his presence in town and the book she is reading. Eric does not jump immediately on purchasing a house, because until after Friday’s game, he won’t know which of the many possible futures he can trust to be the truth. He is a bit of a dreamer in his desire for success, not only on the home front but as a coach for a larger team. Eric is able to brainstorm new plays with his players, and can sense what is happening behind-the-scenes if he concentrates on other people. Not one to open up and share his emotions, Eric chooses instead to act on them. He has a little bit of a temper when he feels someone is threatening the things he cares most about – his family, his job, his ability to do his job, or his players. He puts an enormous amount of time and energy into the causes he feels the most passionately about.
Enneagram: 1w2
Eric is very principled, but also very angry most of the time. He gets into regular arguments with his wife and daughter, mostly the latter because of her bad attitude and refusal to listen to anything he says. If he comes down hard on the kids, it’s difficult for him not to feel justified or see his frustration with their behavior, choices, or not having their head in the game as necessary to prompt them onward. He feels strongly that he must do what is “right” whether or not people agree with him, so he can be very warm and giving when it feels right, but also be critical and hard to get along with on a matter of “principle.” He goes out of his way to help people—he’s always taking in kids, helping them through a crisis, allowing Buddy to sleep on the couch, and trying to do right by people he meets. Though he’s upset when other people drag him into lawsuits (over Jason’s accident, and later, the coach fired so that he could be re-hired), Eric tells Jason it is nothing personal and “you do what you have to do” (Te), since he knows the financial burden Jason has undertaken due to his paralysis and it’s only fair that he get something (just not everything). Eric really cares about the kids on his team, though he’s tough on them—because he wants them to achieve their full potential. When Smash loses his scholarship, Eric spends hours and hours not only training him but calling around to schools, trying to get him a second chance.
Interested in discovering your type? Get 16 Kinds of Crazy: The Sixteen Personality Types today! Or learn all about your Enneagram type in 9 Kinds of Quirky: The 9 Enneagram Types!
