No Excuses, No Explanations

We put in a new mantra for our team today, "No Excuses, No Explanations." Tony Dungy made this phrase (and his subsequent coaching style) famous while he was a Head Coach in the National Football League.

Since becoming a head coach, I have noticed that I am very similar to the way I was as a player: loud, sarcastic, intense, and fiercely competitive. As a player, practice was always a time for me to concentrate, be loud, have fun, piss off my teammates, and really focus on getting better. I loved practice, and really tried to get after it everyday (probably one of the reasons that I coach now).

But as confident as I am that we are doing things the right way, and have the correct plan for this program to have success, I have come to realize that both myself and this team need to change. If I am going to expect there to be no excuses and no b.s., then I am going to have to be more of a teacher, and less of a motivator. We have a problem on this team of underachieving and making excuses. This HAS to stop immediately; it is a cancer that has been allowed to spread for much too long. My hope is that by not yelling or putting pressure on the players, they will start to do things better and realize their potential.

After one day, I think that we are off to a good start. We had a pretty simple practice today, a lot of drills on the fundamentals, and then 6-on-6. Our defense is really starting to come together; I am really anxious to see how they do against a different opponent.

Offensively, we are doing good, but the guys on the team just cannot figure out that they don't have to shoot on the first or second dodge. This has been our problem since day one of Fall Ball last year. We have several offensive schemes, all of them with different options and numerous drive spots. However, we for some reason feel the need to almost shoot of force a pass on the first drive all the time. It is starting to get beyond frustrating........Just something that we will have to continue to teach I guess.

We have two practices left this week, a scrimmage this weekend, and then the three practices next week before our first game. After today's practice, although very happy with the effort and mentality, I realized we are really cutting it close with having everything in place before Chapman. Time to stay focused and trust in the plan for this team.

All thanks and glory to God and to his Son, The Christ