Michigan Football: Captains Courageous?
At the height of the Athletics/Academics controversy last year I wrote a piece extolling the scholarly virtues of a number of players I’ve had in the classroom. Namely, Jack Johnson, Jake Long, Peter Vignier, and Chad Kolarik. The point of that essay was to counter the simplistic picture Jim Carty and The Ann Arbor News had painted in terms of the players' commitment to academics.
With this in mind, I thought I’d weigh in on the football team’s current struggles, and what I perceive to be a key aspect in their lack of success.
There’s no question that Coach Rod knows his xs and os, but there are intangible factors that can’t be drawn up on the blackboard. Nor can they be accounted for by a rigorous physical conditioning program or radical assistant coaching makeover.
The problem is this: the combination of implementing a sophisticated spread offense; adapting to a new physical environment; managing a cohort of young, inexperienced players juggling a college level class load and complex playbook; utilizing a group of veteran players from the old regime; and satisfying the lofty expectations of a demanding fan base has created a situation where stability is at a premium.
At the height of the Athletics/Academics controversy last year I wrote a piece extolling the scholarly virtues of a number of players I’ve had in the classroom. Namely, Jack Johnson, Jake Long, Peter Vignier, and Chad Kolarik. The point of that essay was to counter the simplistic picture Jim Carty and The Ann Arbor News had painted in terms of the players' commitment to academics.
With this in mind, I thought I’d weigh in on the football team’s current struggles, and what I perceive to be a key aspect in their lack of success.
There’s no question that Coach Rod knows his xs and os, but there are intangible factors that can’t be drawn up on the blackboard. Nor can they be accounted for by a rigorous physical conditioning program or radical assistant coaching makeover.
The problem is this: the combination of implementing a sophisticated spread offense; adapting to a new physical environment; managing a cohort of young, inexperienced players juggling a college level class load and complex playbook; utilizing a group of veteran players from the old regime; and satisfying the lofty expectations of a demanding fan base has created a situation where stability is at a premium.
Given that the resulting condition of these components is a team in flux, there has to be a guiding force that is absolute rather than contingent. What might have provided this steadying pressence would be a core of senior leadership, instead of a rotating captaincy where the hand at the helm is uncertain.
The solution has very much has to do with intellect, wisdom, and experience--attributes keenly demonstrated by the players mentioned above.
This year I have some promising young players we’ll see in the future: Mike Martin, Elliott Mealor, and J.T. Floyd. But last spring I had two players, knowledgeble and experienced, who I think would have provided wise advice to the younger players, and a degree of constancy amid the swirl of a team in transition: Morgan Trent and Mike Massey.
It may have seemed that assigning rotating senior captains was the fair and equitable thing to do, but the resulting lack of real leadership has cost the team in terms of on the field execution, and off the field direction.
Best – Randall L. Tessier
No comments:
Post a Comment