Changing the culture...

[BlackNGold]

I think Embree's biggest challenge is to change the culture surrounding CU football. That is one of the reason's I am reluctant to have too many hold overs (coaches) from the previous regime. From my outside vantage point it seemed the team lacked the real passion for football - that is why I thought they were unable to win on the road.

Everyone wants to win but the really great competitors hate to lose, cannot stand losing and will step up their level of play to avoid losing. Over the past few years it seems the team accepted losing too easily.

It will really depend on the upperclassmen to make the change successful. Sometimes it is hard for people to change their attitudes if they have been doing things in a certain way for awhile.

I do believe there is enough talent on this team to make it to a Bowl game next year but as we have seen, it takes more than talent at times. (KU game is a big example)

 

[Mick Ronson]

there are also the pitfalls of when "changing the culture" becomes the culture. sort of like being at war with Eurasia....we've always been doing it.

sayeth the last HC at CU.

 

[BlackNGold]

there are also the pitfalls of when "changing the culture" becomes the culture. sort of like being at war with Eurasia....we've always been doing it.

sayeth the last HC at CU.

But the culture of the Football program has to change...not change for the sake of change but because the culture was one of the biggest reasons for failure.

 

[PhillyBuff]

I think Embree's biggest challenge is to change the culture surrounding CU football. That is one of the reason's I am reluctant to have too many hold overs (coaches) from the previous regime. From my outside vantage point it seemed the team lacked the real passion for football - that is why I thought they were unable to win on the road.

Everyone wants to win but the really great competitors hate to lose, cannot stand losing and will step up their level of play to avoid losing. Over the past few years it seems the team accepted losing too easily.

It will really depend on the upperclassmen to make the change successful. Sometimes it is hard for people to change their attitudes if they have been doing things in a certain way for awhile.

I do believe there is enough talent on this team to make it to a Bowl game next year but as we have seen, it takes more than talent at times. (KU game is a big example)

well, under the old regime, as long as they did the little things, they were successful.... did not matter what the score was!

 

[leftybuff]

there are also the pitfalls of when "changing the culture" becomes the culture. sort of like being at war with Eurasia....we've always been doing it.

sayeth the last HC at CU.

That' BS, we've always been at war with Eastasia...

 

[Mick Ronson]

But the culture of the Football program has to change...not change for the sake of change but because the culture was one of the biggest reasons for failure.

i know, i was just foolin' around. i agree. i think JE and EB will set a tone that the guys currently on campus aren't yet used to...and that's what it takes to win. not, what i hope will make us winners illustrated by goofy speeches about Nelson Mandela and Van Morrison.

 

[Mick Ronson]

That' BS, we've always been at war with Eastasia...

heh.

 

[BlackNGold]

i know, i was just foolin' around. i agree. i think JE and EB will set a tone that the guys currently on campus aren't yet used to...and that's what it takes to win. not, what i hope will make us winners illustrated by goofy speeches about Nelson Mandela and Van Morrison.

I feel bad for some of the assistant coaches - sometimes fans take the problem on the field as a referendum on the person as whole. I wonder if some of the coaches could of been more successful under a different culture. For example, Grimes and Helfrich will both be coaching in the MNC game but struggled at CU.

 

[leftybuff]

heh.

Mick, ever wonder if OBL is our Goldstein?

 

[MtnBuff]

The interesting thing about the old staff culture vs. the new staff culture is that the old staff talked about doing the little things. When you look at winning programs, the culture takes care of the little things allowing the coaches to focus on what is important.

The other way to look at it is saying if it makes a difference between winning and losing then it isn't a little thing, if it doesn't make a difference between winning and losing then you are wasting your time paying attention to it, so for winning programs there are no little things, only things that matter and things that don't.

My impression with JE is that he is putting his time into things that matter.

 

[BlackNGold]

Mick, ever wonder if OBL is our Goldstein?

Take the Orwellian references to the PUB...this is down and dirty football talk.:drink2:

 

[Buffalo Brad]

JE has already started instilling the culture with his recruiting decisions and efforts. He is going after bigger fish and will land a few this year. It is going to take some time and it probably will be a painful change for some. Especially after 5 years of a staff that was willing to settle for less than success on the field but I like the way he is going after it.

 

[buffalo30]

I feel bad for some of the assistant coaches - sometimes fans take the problem on the field as a referendum on the person as whole. I wonder if some of the coaches could of been more successful under a different culture. For example, Grimes and Helfrich will both be coaching in the MNC game but struggled at CU.

That points out where the real problem was.

 

[Dark Bohner]

JE has already started instilling the culture with his recruiting decisions and efforts. He is going after bigger fish and will land a few this year. It is going to take some time and it probably will be a painful change for some. Especially after 5 years of a staff that was willing to settle for less than success on the field but I like the way he is going after it.

Agreed.

I think there are going to be some players that fall by the wayside who we initially thought would be ballers, but can't adjust to the philosophy that Embree will impose. I get the impression that he is not going to sugar coat and ease the transition as he, like the rest of us, is disgusted with the previous culture and will root it out immediately. Might be painful at times.

 

[leftybuff]

Agreed.

I think there are going to be some players that fall by the wayside who we initially thought would be ballers, but can't adjust to the philosophy that Embree will impose. I get the impression that he is not going to sugar coat and ease the transition as he, like the rest of us, is disgusted with the previous culture and will root it out immediately. Might be painful at times.

I agree. We might as well brace ourselves for 6-8 transfers....

 

[Darth Snow]

I agree. We might as well brace ourselves for 6-8 transfers....

I think a LOT of them will come from the younger and less talented classes. Look for a lot of JUCO transfers that enroll early next year and don't count against that years 25 to plug holes.

 

[MtnBuff]

I think that after spring practice JE is going to sit some guys down and tell them that they don't have a future on this team. He will give them the option of staying but make it clear that they are not likely to see the field. Most of them will decide to seek another situation where they have a chance to play.

 

[Duff Man]

Does this mean leapfrogging on the sidelines is not acceptable going forward?

 

[Buffnik]

I think a LOT of them will come from the younger and less talented classes. Look for a lot of JUCO transfers that enroll early next year and don't count against that years 25 to plug holes.

Since it's so hard to get JUCOs to CU, I'm thinking that we're going to be seeing a number of transfers in the spring/summer after guys have gotten releases from other programs.

 

[Darth Snow]

Since it's so hard to get JUCOs to CU, I'm thinking that we're going to be seeing a number of transfers in the spring/summer after guys have gotten releases from other programs.

good point. Didn't know hwo viable it was to get more than a few of those guys in here. Hope it is very viable.

 

[sackman]

Hawkins truly felt that if he could get the team into the right mindset, that it would start winning games. He thought that it was more important to work on attitude than performance, because if you have the right attitude, the performance will take care of itself. He was totally wrong, but it's what he truly believed. It's why we'd see guys like Scotty McKnight and BJ Beatty be so shocked when we'd lose, but wouldn't have any explanation as to why it happened. They thought that if they were good people and did the right things the right way, they'd win games. Unfortunately, a lot of teams do things the right way and are filled with good people. That doesn't win games. Hawk never figured this out.

I think, but I'm not sure, that Embree understands that you must first win, and then the attitude will take care of itself from that point. He's talked about getting the swagger back. Swagger comes from winning. Winning doesn't come from swagger.

 

[Buffalo Brad]

I think a LOT of them will come from the younger and less talented classes. Look for a lot of JUCO transfers that enroll early next year and don't count against that years 25 to plug holes.

It is not going to be filled with JUCOs. Just to hard to get them into CU and I do not think JE will spend much time nor effort on them. There may be one or two, but we will have a better time with transfers. Other schools going thru the changes we are will be have kids that need a different situation and we may pick some of them up. Probably in the spring timeframe would be my guess.

Edit: sorry Nik, saw your response after I posted this one. Basically the same thought process.

 

[Dark Bohner]

I also think that one person who as a Senior leader and NFL prospect wil be a huge asset this next year in instilling this philosophy is Ryan Miller. I have always got the impression that he is a passionate football player and is hungry to win. I think he is going to be a captain next year.

 

[BlackNGold]

This is what I mean by competitiveness. Dan Reeves is one of my favorite all-time people and if you were ever around him you would know how competitive he was. I think him and Elway had issues because they were too much alike (something they both admit today). That super competitive attitude is what you need to compete at the highest levels - the guys that love it the most when the pressure is on them.

Johnny Unitas...the guy would not yell or scream but he was a warrior. His linemen use to say that you never wanted to go back to the huddle having messed up your assignment - his icy look would cut your soul out.

I do not know how to quantify the "it" but there is a certain drive and determination that true competitors have - I know it when I see it and it has not been on the field much in the last few years for CU.