Big Preseasons Goals Are Counterproductive

[DiderotsGhost]

After 25+ years of watching UT football, I've come to realize that big preseason "goals" and "expectations" are a waste of time. I don't think successful teams focus on goals like "winning a national title", "winning the SEC", or "going 9-3." I hope Butch Jones isn't allowing our players to focus on big goals like this either.

In my view, the only goal our team should have right now is to BEAT BOWLING GREEN. On September 6th, regardless of the outcome of that game, the new goal should be to BEAT OKLAHOMA. Starting September 13th, the goal should be to BEAT WESTERN CAROLINA. On September 20th, the new goal should be to BEAT FLORIDA. And so on and so forth.

The 1998 National Championship team took things one game at a time and I think that was part of the key to their success. I feel like the big macro goals have hurt us in the past. In 2005, we started the season ranked #3 and were a trendy national champion pick. After we dropped a few big games, it felt like the team gave up a little bit. Once we were 3-3 and out of the national title picture, the mentality was "the season is lost"; then we dropped completely winnable games versus South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

We fell victim to that mentality in the Dooley years, as well. The infamous Kentucky game in 2011 is the best example of it. Our players seemed to feel as if making a minor bowl game was irrelevant, whereas Kentucky's players felt like the real goal was beating Tennessee. Kentucky won in what was really the most embarrassing game I've ever seen us play.

I don't think winning teams focus on winning national championships or winning their conference. They focus on beating the team in front of them. And that's why I refuse to say that it's "9 wins or bust" or anything like that. If we lose to Oklahoma and Florida, I still want to beat Georgia and Alabama. If we're 5-5 in November, I still want to beat Missouri.

I don't know how long it will take us to get back to national prominence. I don't know what our record will be at the end of the season (I'm predicting 8-4, but it's easy to foresee us going 7-5 or 10-2 in certain situations.) All I care about is winning every game and showing progress. If UT is 7-5 this season, but the team plays hard all the way through November, and gets some bad breaks (big injuries, bad calls, lot of close losses), I'll still be a big believer in Butch. As long as I continue to see progress, I'm happy.

Remember that Jim Harbaugh, who orchestrated arguably the most successful turnaround of the past 20 years in college football, took some time. He was 4-8 in Year #1, 5-7 in Year #2, and 8-5 in Year #3. Yet, his teams showed heart all the time and continued making progress every year. In Year #4, that's when he had the 12-1 campaign that culminated in an Orange Bowl victory.

I know that none of the UT players are likely reading this, but if they were, I'd say, don't worry about the big goals. Simply play every game as if it's the most important game of your life. And if we do that, we'll be successful in due time.

 

[jlindsa4]

After 25+ years of watching UT football, I've come to realize that big preseason "goals" and "expectations" are a waste of time. I don't think successful teams focus on goals like "winning a national title", "winning the SEC", or "going 9-3." I hope Butch Jones isn't allowing our players to focus on big goals like this either.

In my view, the only goal our team should have right now is to BEAT BOWLING GREEN. On September 6th, regardless of the outcome of that game, the new goal should be to BEAT OKLAHOMA. Starting September 13th, the goal should be to BEAT WESTERN CAROLINA. On September 20th, the new goal should be to BEAT FLORIDA. And so on and so forth.

The 1998 National Championship team took things one game at a time and I think that was part of the key to their success. I feel like the big macro goals have hurt us in the past. In 2005, we started the season ranked #3 and were a trendy national champion pick. After we dropped a few big games, it felt like the team gave up a little bit. Once we were 3-3 and out of the national title picture, the mentality was "the season is lost"; then we dropped completely winnable games versus South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

We fell victim to that mentality in the Dooley years, as well. The infamous Kentucky game in 2011 is the best example of it. Our players seemed to feel as if making a minor bowl game was irrelevant, whereas Kentucky's players felt like the real goal was beating Tennessee. Kentucky won in what was really the most embarrassing game I've ever seen us play.

I don't think winning teams focus on winning national championships or winning their conference. They focus on beating the team in front of them. And that's why I refuse to say that it's "9 wins or bust" or anything like that. If we lose to Oklahoma and Florida, I still want to beat Georgia and Alabama. If we're 5-5 in November, I still want to beat Missouri.

I don't know how long it will take us to get back to national prominence. I don't know what our record will be at the end of the season (I'm predicting 8-4, but it's easy to foresee us going 7-5 or 10-2 in certain situations.) All I care about is winning every game and showing progress. If UT is 7-5 this season, but the team plays hard all the way through November, and gets some bad breaks (big injuries, bad calls, lot of close losses), I'll still be a big believer in Butch. As long as I continue to see progress, I'm happy.

Remember that Jim Harbaugh, who orchestrated arguably the most successful turnaround of the past 20 years in college football, took some time. He was 4-8 in Year #1, 5-7 in Year #2, and 8-5 in Year #3. Yet, his teams showed heart all the time and continued making progress every year. In Year #4, that's when he had the 12-1 campaign that culminated in an Orange Bowl victory.

I know that none of the UT players are likely reading this, but if they were, I'd say, don't worry about the big goals. Simply play every game as if it's the most important game of your life. And if we do that, we'll be successful in due time.

Snap and clear.

 

[Crazy Ivan]

After 25+ years of watching UT football, I've come to realize that big preseason "goals" and "expectations" are a waste of time. I don't think successful teams focus on goals like "winning a national title", "winning the SEC", or "going 9-3." I hope Butch Jones isn't allowing our players to focus on big goals like this either.

In my view, the only goal our team should have right now is to BEAT BOWLING GREEN. On September 6th, regardless of the outcome of that game, the new goal should be to BEAT OKLAHOMA. Starting September 13th, the goal should be to BEAT WESTERN CAROLINA. On September 20th, the new goal should be to BEAT FLORIDA. And so on and so forth.

The 1998 National Championship team took things one game at a time and I think that was part of the key to their success. I feel like the big macro goals have hurt us in the past. In 2005, we started the season ranked #3 and were a trendy national champion pick. After we dropped a few big games, it felt like the team gave up a little bit. Once we were 3-3 and out of the national title picture, the mentality was "the season is lost"; then we dropped completely winnable games versus South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

We fell victim to that mentality in the Dooley years, as well. The infamous Kentucky game in 2011 is the best example of it. Our players seemed to feel as if making a minor bowl game was irrelevant, whereas Kentucky's players felt like the real goal was beating Tennessee. Kentucky won in what was really the most embarrassing game I've ever seen us play.

I don't think winning teams focus on winning national championships or winning their conference. They focus on beating the team in front of them. And that's why I refuse to say that it's "9 wins or bust" or anything like that. If we lose to Oklahoma and Florida, I still want to beat Georgia and Alabama. If we're 5-5 in November, I still want to beat Missouri.

I don't know how long it will take us to get back to national prominence. I don't know what our record will be at the end of the season (I'm predicting 8-4, but it's easy to foresee us going 7-5 or 10-2 in certain situations.) All I care about is winning every game and showing progress. If UT is 7-5 this season, but the team plays hard all the way through November, and gets some bad breaks (big injuries, bad calls, lot of close losses), I'll still be a big believer in Butch. As long as I continue to see progress, I'm happy.

Remember that Jim Harbaugh, who orchestrated arguably the most successful turnaround of the past 20 years in college football, took some time. He was 4-8 in Year #1, 5-7 in Year #2, and 8-5 in Year #3. Yet, his teams showed heart all the time and continued making progress every year. In Year #4, that's when he had the 12-1 campaign that culminated in an Orange Bowl victory.

I know that none of the UT players are likely reading this, but if they were, I'd say, don't worry about the big goals. Simply play every game as if it's the most important game of your life. And if we do that, we'll be successful in due time.

I agree with almost everything you just said, but that is going to be a lot of white noise to a lot of posters on VN.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Diderot, your entire post boils down to a defense of the "one game at a time" approach to motivating players. It's a good approach; coaches use it all the time.

But the best coaches, and the best leaders, know that one size does not fit all. Some players, some teams, respond better to more holistic perspectives.

Which is Team 119? No idea. I'm not inside their heads like Butch & Co hopefully are. You and I don't know what makes them tick, what makes them give an extra 1% today, and another 1% tomorrow. I'm happy to leave it to the pros to take whatever approach works best with this group of players.

As for what we fans do? Absolutely doesn't matter, we can anticipate the season however we like. Won't affect the team even the tiniest bit.

Me, I like the strategic perspective, and then nugging down from there into the details. So I'm happy to debate 7-5 vs 9-3, SEC East vs playoffs with you. It's just fun.

Go Vols!

 

[VolinWayne]

I have found that to be successful in life you have to set big goals and then set small goals and focus on these small goals to accomplish the bigger goals. I get what you are saying as far as only focusing on the job at hand but I feel it is imperative to set big goals unless you are content with mediocrity.

 

[General Jack]

After 25+ years of watching UT football, I've come to realize that big preseason "goals" and "expectations" are a waste of time. I don't think successful teams focus on goals like "winning a national title", "winning the SEC", or "going 9-3." I hope Butch Jones isn't allowing our players to focus on big goals like this either.

In my view, the only goal our team should have right now is to BEAT BOWLING GREEN. On September 6th, regardless of the outcome of that game, the new goal should be to BEAT OKLAHOMA. Starting September 13th, the goal should be to BEAT WESTERN CAROLINA. On September 20th, the new goal should be to BEAT FLORIDA. And so on and so forth.

The 1998 National Championship team took things one game at a time and I think that was part of the key to their success. I feel like the big macro goals have hurt us in the past. In 2005, we started the season ranked #3 and were a trendy national champion pick. After we dropped a few big games, it felt like the team gave up a little bit. Once we were 3-3 and out of the national title picture, the mentality was "the season is lost"; then we dropped completely winnable games versus South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

We fell victim to that mentality in the Dooley years, as well. The infamous Kentucky game in 2011 is the best example of it. Our players seemed to feel as if making a minor bowl game was irrelevant, whereas Kentucky's players felt like the real goal was beating Tennessee. Kentucky won in what was really the most embarrassing game I've ever seen us play.

I don't think winning teams focus on winning national championships or winning their conference. They focus on beating the team in front of them. And that's why I refuse to say that it's "9 wins or bust" or anything like that. If we lose to Oklahoma and Florida, I still want to beat Georgia and Alabama. If we're 5-5 in November, I still want to beat Missouri.

I don't know how long it will take us to get back to national prominence. I don't know what our record will be at the end of the season (I'm predicting 8-4, but it's easy to foresee us going 7-5 or 10-2 in certain situations.) All I care about is winning every game and showing progress. If UT is 7-5 this season, but the team plays hard all the way through November, and gets some bad breaks (big injuries, bad calls, lot of close losses), I'll still be a big believer in Butch. As long as I continue to see progress, I'm happy.

Remember that Jim Harbaugh, who orchestrated arguably the most successful turnaround of the past 20 years in college football, took some time. He was 4-8 in Year #1, 5-7 in Year #2, and 8-5 in Year #3. Yet, his teams showed heart all the time and continued making progress every year. In Year #4, that's when he had the 12-1 campaign that culminated in an Orange Bowl victory.

I know that none of the UT players are likely reading this, but if they were, I'd say, don't worry about the big goals. Simply play every game as if it's the most important game of your life. And if we do that, we'll be successful in due time.

You seriously don't think Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, etc. don't set winning titles as the goal? Just roll the ball out and see what happens?

Setting big picture goals and expectations, and developing a process and milestones achieve such goals and expectations greatly increases the odds for success.

It takes more than one week of preparation to beat Alabama. Years of preparation in fact through staff continuity, recruiting, development, tireless perfection of execution, etc.

Conference and national championships are the ultimate goal for our program. Week to week wins are the milestones. Recruiting, development and culture are the process.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

I have found that to be successful in life you have to set big goals and then set small goals and focus on these small goals to accomplish the bigger goals. I get what you are saying as far as only focusing on the job at hand but I feel it is imperative to set big goals unless you are content with mediocrity.

Most life goals are very different. If your goal is to own a successful restaurant or become a physician, it requires that you develop a path towards that goal and work towards it. The path itself is not always clear and charting a successful path takes a lot of work.

If you make an "A" in your Biology course, that doesn't necessary put you on the path to becoming a physician. If you grill a great burger, that doesn't automatically put you on the path to owning the best burger restaurant in town. You have to develop a big goal and then look at finding ways to meet a lot of little goals to get there. Moreover, you are constantly having to re-chart the path as you learn more information.

Football is not the same. "The path" is already developed. Win all the games and you play for a national title. Sure, you can play for the national title with 1 loss or maybe even 2 losses, as well, but ultimately, everyone knows that the path involves winning the games. Just win the games and good things happen. It's really that simple. Which is why all the "we have to set huge audacious goals for the season" chatter tends to be counter-productive. The goal is to win the next game. PERIOD. If you win the games, you'll get to play for bigger things. There's no alternate path.

 

[Biopsyman]

Having no expectations leads to failure

 

[DiderotsGhost]

Having no expectations leads to failure

Yup. Which would be relevant if that were my point. My point is that "big expectations" in regards to national titles, winning 10+ games, winning conference championships are counter-productive.

Setting expectations about winning games and improving as the year goes on is productive. Setting goals to get stronger and understand the play book more are productive. Setting pie-in-the-sky goals like "national championship or bust!" create unrealistic expectations and tend to lead to individuals not focusing on more important goals.

That's the difference.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

To put it in life terms, there's a difference between setting a goal of owning one successful restaurant, and setting a goal of "owning a 500+ restaurant chain that generates $10 billion in revenues and IPOs within 3 years." You have to run one successful restaurant before you can run 500+.

When you set goals like "national championship or bust", you're putting the cart in front of the horse. That's why it's a counter-productive goal.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the Tennessee teams that have been successful have focused on the smaller, more immediately achievable goals, while some of the most disappointing Tennessee teams have been in the "national title or bust" mentality.

 

[Give_All_Vol]

Most life goals are very different. If your goal is to own a successful restaurant or become a physician, it requires that you develop a path towards that goal and work towards it. The path itself is not always clear and charting a successful path takes a lot of work.

If you make an "A" in your Biology course, that doesn't necessary put you on the path to becoming a physician. If you grill a great burger, that doesn't automatically put you on the path to owning the best burger restaurant in town. You have to develop a big goal and then look at finding ways to meet a lot of little goals to get there. Moreover, you are constantly having to re-chart the path as you learn more information.

Football is not the same. "The path" is already developed. Win all the games and you play for a national title. Sure, you can play for the national title with 1 loss or maybe even 2 losses, as well, but ultimately, everyone knows that the path involves winning the games. Just win the games and good things happen. It's really that simple. Which is why all the "we have to set huge audacious goals for the season" chatter tends to be counter-productive. The goal is to win the next game. PERIOD. If you win the games, you'll get to play for bigger things. There's no alternate path.

But I thought "Football is life just sped up a lot faster." Sounds familiar.

You make a good argument but if UT is where they should be the top priority at the beginning of the season will be to win the division. Obviously, you have to set smaller goals also to get there but I don't think setting big goals is counterproductive

 

[VolinWayne]

Most life goals are very different. If your goal is to own a successful restaurant or become a physician, it requires that you develop a path towards that goal and work towards it. The path itself is not always clear and charting a successful path takes a lot of work.

If you make an "A" in your Biology course, that doesn't necessary put you on the path to becoming a physician. If you grill a great burger, that doesn't automatically put you on the path to owning the best burger restaurant in town. You have to develop a big goal and then look at finding ways to meet a lot of little goals to get there. Moreover, you are constantly having to re-chart the path as you learn more information.

Football is not the same. "The path" is already developed. Win all the games and you play for a national title. Sure, you can play for the national title with 1 loss or maybe even 2 losses, as well, but ultimately, everyone knows that the path involves winning the games. Just win the games and good things happen. It's really that simple. Which is why all the "we have to set huge audacious goals for the season" chatter tends to be counter-productive. The goal is to win the next game. PERIOD. If you win the games, you'll get to play for bigger things. There's no alternate path.[/QUOT




I sort of Understand what you are saying but not really. Your first paragraph above pretty much sums it up for me and I honestly feel like if you use this approach in every aspect of life (including football) you will achieve greatness on far greater levels then then just beating the next team. I do understand your point as far as putting your focus on the job at hand and taking care of business today but that all is driven by the goals to be the absolute best there is at what you do. And every year your goals might be a little different from the previous year. You have to set the bar somewhere.

 

[BeecherVol]

Yup. Which would be relevant if that were my point. My point is that "big expectations" in regards to national titles, winning 10+ games, winning conference championships are counter-productive.

Setting expectations about winning games and improving as the year goes on is productive. Setting goals to get stronger and understand the play book more are productive. Setting pie-in-the-sky goals like "national championship or bust!" create unrealistic expectations and tend to lead to individuals not focusing on more important goals.

That's the difference.

I can buy some of that going on in the locker room.

In a way its kind of a big circle jerk tho. We re gonna take one game at a time, but the goal in doing that is to win all of them.

 

[esarmstrong]

OP, when I read your post I immediately recalled Tennessee 's 1975 football team. That team had a very front-heavy schedule where the first five games of the season were against, Maryland (H), UCLA (A), Auburn (H), LSU (H), and Alabama (A). The sixth game that season was a home game against North Texas State (seems we are playing them again this year).

Anyway, in the lead up to that season, the team had a motto: "MUALA 5-0!" This was an acronym created with the first letter from each of the first 5 teams on the schedule. The common thinking behind this campaign was that if Tennessee could win these first five games, they would go undefeated. This was even reduced to a t-shirt campaign with those letters and the expression.

The first game against Maryland went well with a big win (that particular Maryland team finished the season only one other loss, to Penn State and they won the ACC championship).

Things quickly unraveled after that. A loss at #16 UCLA the next week meant the end of MUALA 5-0 after just two games. The resulting performance of the team was reflected on the field. The next week, Tennessee struggled to a close win over a very poor Auburn team (they only won 3 games that year) and an equally poor LSU team that went 5-6 that season. Everything culminated with a 30-7 loss at Bama.

The epilogue on the MUALA 5-0 is the game after the Bama game against North Texas State (their coach was a little-known person named Hayden Fry). Tennessee was a heavy favorite to win that game. In the game itself, the offense ran up over 500 yards of offense and yet they unbelievably lost 21-14. That game was for many the crowning jewel on the failed MUALA 5-0 campaign. Many regard it as the worst loss in UT football history and was the beginning of the end of Bill Battle's tenure at Tennessee.

MUALA 5-0 still is a reminder of how big goals can be counter-productive if excessive focus is placed on them.

 

[LA Vol]

Too late. CBJ has said many times, on multiple occasions, in numerous venues, that our goal at Tennessee is to win championships. So, while players focus on giving their all, getting 1% better and winning one game at a time, there's not one player on that team or one coach on that sideline who isn't clear on the main goal-- to win championships. Everything else is just doing what it takes to achieve it.

 

[BeecherVol]

Too late. CBJ has said many times, on multiple occasions, in numerous venues, that our goal at Tennessee is to win championships. So, while players focus on giving their all, getting 1% better and winning one game at a time, there's not one player on that team or one coach on that sideline who isn't clear on the main goal-- to win championships. Everything else is just doing what it takes to achieve it.

Well put.

 

[AdmiralVFL98]

Maybe OP should just take his own advice and take it one game at a time without expectations or preconceived ideas about this team. I, on the other hand, am going into this expecting wins, wins, and then more wins. Tomorrow we do it by stomping BGSU. Then we upset OU at home, followed by wcu, UF, U of Ark, UGA and any one else who is crazy enough to get in our way. 119=sec east champs