BOSTON -- The clock had yet to strike 7, the morning mist still burning off and the streets around Fenway Park stirring to life with a doubleheader on tap in the afternoon, but John Farrell was already in the house.

As the grounds crew meticulously prepped the field, tending to the pitcher's mound and the dirt of the infield, and stadium workers hosed down seats to give them time to dry before the first game, Farrell stood in a huddle in the posh State Street Pavilion talking quietly.

The Red Sox manager wasn't discussing the day's work against the Tampa Bay Rays, not specifically anyway. The topic of the morning was coaching, and in the pocket with him were Notre Dame football coach (and Everett, Mass., native and Assumption College product) Brian Kelly and Boston College football coach Steve Addazio.

The three men, along with Connecticut Sun coach Anne Donovan, were the headliners of the second annual Coffee with the Coaches breakfast event to raise money for the Positive Coaching Alliance, a nonprofit organization working to promote character-building experiences through youth athletics.

Red Sox manager John Farrell (shown with Shane Victorino) credited GM Ben Cherington for bringing the right mix of players to Boston in the offseason. AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

Emceed by WEEI hosts Michael Holley and Mike Salk, of the "Salk and Holley" radio program, the event included a live auction, a question-and-answer session with the audience, and a panel discussion that touched on everything from early coaching influences to the effect of social media on athletes today.

"We see high school and youth sports as a development zone," PCA founder and CEO Jim Thompson said in opening remarks. "In a professional sporting event, a bad official's call that goes against your team is a travesty and deserving of rebuke. Inside the development zone a bad official's call is an opportunity to work on resilience.

"Struggle is a good thing, and learning how to struggle in youth sports is one of the virtues of it."

There was certainly plenty of struggle to deal with for the 2012 Red Sox, who were at exactly .500 (33-33) and in the basement of the AL East (eight games back) at this time last season. Bobby Valentine's team, of course, finished with a 69-93 record, 26 games out of first.

One of the first questions in the panel discussion was about how much time each coach spent on reshaping the culture of his or her organization.

Farrell didn't duck it.

"It began with trying to change the culture that, I think if you paid any attention to the Red Sox last year, might not have been the greatest," Farrell said, drawing laughs from the audience. "And there were a lot of changes that did take place."

Entering play Tuesday, the Red Sox were 42-29 and in first place in the AL East.

While there are many things that go into creating a winning team, Farrell gave Ben Cherington a lot of credit for selecting the right type of player in the offseason.

"Now what we see is a group that is close-knit, it's united," he said. "We were talking about it before the morning began here, how important chemistry is. In different environments, whether it's college or professional, there's different ways you go about [creating] it But I don't think you can ever underestimate the people inside the players, because you're ultimately betting on people and not just the performer."

Taking over a team that went 2-10 in 2012, Addazio also weighed in on changing the culture of a program.

"The first thing I said to the team was, 'There's a lot of really great players in college football, but there's not a lot of really great teams. And the reason is there's a lot of selfishness. And we need to be a great team,' " Addazio said. "The starting point is squeeze selfishness out. That's our goal right now, to be the best team we can be in college football."