Culture vs. Coaching

[The Crimson Cried]

I have seen a lot of posts on here the last few years about our inability to "build a winning culture" as a football program. I've also seen a lot of posts about our previous coaches' inability to "coach 'em up at a high level". What do you all think will be the biggest key going forward? Building a culture of winners or out game planning and out game day coaching the opposition? I realize that they are heavily interrelated and that both are EXTEMELY IMPORTANT but they are separate things.

I personally think we are set from a pure coaching perspective with perhaps the exception of Friend. I am worried about the evolution of the culture however, as I think it remains a much bigger question mark given Pruitt's lack of D1 HC experience and the soft culture left behind by Jones. I think progress towards building the "winner" mindset will be what makes or breaks the next four to five years for us.

 

[Iam4utalways]

It all about free time. If it’s spent on getting better at football then good times are in our future, if it is partied away then we can expect the same.

 

[njvols]

Culture also helped a ton if you’ve got a few high level guys who are just animals on leadership. We could have used John Kelly this year. Guys like him, Al Wilson, Barnett. Jennings probably closest guy we have this year, since Trey wasn’t really full speed all season. I am not sure who our true take no prisoners vocal leaders are on D.

 

[05_never_again]

Culture also helped a ton if you’ve got a few high level guys who are just animals on leadership. We could have used John Kelly this year. Guys like him, Al Wilson, Barnett. Jennings probably closest guy we have this year, since Trey wasn’t really full speed all season. I am not sure who our true take no prisoners vocal leaders are on D.

Why would there be lots of those types of guys on our team? The current roster has not seen a lot of success and a ton of them are disillusioned.

Al Wilson, as a contrast, committed to Tennessee during an era when we had good teams, then proceeded to go 45-5 (or something like that) as a player. By the time he was an upperclassman, he had seen success, and he had been around upperclassmen as an underclassman that he got those skills from. That has a way of creating confidence and leadership in people. Al Wilson took the field expecting to win every game because, well, why wouldn't he? He lost 5 games in 4 years. The most games he lost in any single regular season was 2. With the exception of the Memphis loss, his 5 losses came against teams ranked no lower than #4. Tennessee has lost 5 games already this year. Think about that for a sec.

Leadership, culture, confidence, etc., isn't just something you flip a switch on and suddenly have. You want to build leadership and confidence? Start winning some games you aren't "supposed to." Tennessee at the moment walks on the field either expecting to lose or hoping to win. First off, you have to altogether eliminate the "expecting to lose" part, then develop that "hoping to win" into consistently expecting to win.

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

I think it's based on trust and respect. It can lead to bad habits if it's missing.

 

[SaintLouisVol]

The foundation of a good team culture is based on setting expectations, creating accountability, establishing work habits, self policing, etc. It becomes a "winning" culture when the program starts winning. Winning usually means coaching stability which helps a whole lot.

The best thing about college football is that the players come and go. Jones' imprint on the program is being washed away day by day. Next year maybe half the players in the program will have even met the guy.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

I have seen a lot of posts on here the last few years about our inability to "build a winning culture" as a football program. I've also seen a lot of posts about our previous coaches' inability to "coach 'em up at a high level". What do you all think will be the biggest key going forward? Building a culture of winners or out game planning and out game day coaching the opposition? I realize that they are heavily interrelated and that both are EXTEMELY IMPORTANT but they are separate things.

I personally think we are set from a pure coaching perspective with perhaps the exception of Friend. I am worried about the evolution of the culture however, as I think it remains a much bigger question mark given Pruitt's lack of D1 HC experience and the soft culture left behind by Jones. I think progress towards building the "winner" mindset will be what makes or breaks the next four to five years for us.

Accountability has been the biggest issue within the UTAD (it extends beyond football). With the prior FB coach, there was no culture of accountability so that's why you had the players essentially take 2 years off with S&C and that's why teams like Ap State, Umass, and Charlotte whip our butts in the trenches. Every time Butch failed, there was an excuse or some dumb cliché.

It's not only Butch's fault as we have let many successful programs (WBB, Baseball, Track) become shambles because we haven't held the decision makers within the AD accountable for their actions. The fans finally held the administration accountable with Schiano Sunday...

 

[VFL-82-JP]

It's an interesting question, TCC. Thanks for it.

The culture of the program is like background music. We don't always notice it, but it's always there, setting the tone and guiding the conversations and movements of the organization.

Everything else is nuts and bolts, (usually) conscious thought, active decision-making, effort, being smart, pushing hard, making explicit choices.

Both are hugely important, of course. But if we can only install one at a time, go for the culture (esp. values) first. It's in play 24/7, and helps drive all the other stuff even when we don't realize its impact.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Never going to develop a winning culture until they start winning games against teams other than directional schools and homecoming games.

It's on the coaches either way you look at it. If they dont have good players, then it's on them to recruit better players. If they can't get them ready for game day and put them in positions to succeed, it's on them too.

 

[OnlyGodForgives]

Culture also helped a ton if you’ve got a few high level guys who are just animals on leadership. We could have used John Kelly this year. Guys like him, Al Wilson, Barnett. Jennings probably closest guy we have this year, since Trey wasn’t really full speed all season. I am not sure who our true take no prisoners vocal leaders are on D.

Kelly and Jennings being considered character guys says quite a bit about this group. Animals on leadership shouldn't miss games because of non-football problems, including academics and drugs.

 

[Vol524]

In my honest opinion the players for the most part, NOT THE O LINE, are playing hard. They still need to improve more. They are not giving up when things don't go our way. Last years team just gave up. We at least fight to the end. What I think this team lacks is real leadership on the field. I mean someone on Offense and Defense the will grab a teammate by the face mask and call him out. Someone that leads by example and holds others around them accountable. Someone on the side line saying this chit stops and it stops now. Until that happens we will not be all that we could be. The coach can do this but it seems to be received better if a team leader does it. JMHO

 

[FlyFishnVol]

I have seen a lot of posts on here the last few years about our inability to "build a winning culture" as a football program. I've also seen a lot of posts about our previous coaches' inability to "coach 'em up at a high level". What do you all think will be the biggest key going forward? Building a culture of winners or out game planning and out game day coaching the opposition? I realize that they are heavily interrelated and that both are EXTEMELY IMPORTANT but they are separate things.

I personally think we are set from a pure coaching perspective with perhaps the exception of Friend. I am worried about the evolution of the culture however, as I think it remains a much bigger question mark given Pruitt's lack of D1 HC experience and the soft culture left behind by Jones. I think progress towards building the "winner" mindset will be what makes or breaks the next four to five years for us.

I think it is premature to really grade any of these coaches that basically only had 9 months to build a team. Winning Culture/game planning is the same thing, we went from a team built on mid-major blueprint, to rebuilding to a SEC level team.............sorry, but like all the previous years..............it will take time to erase the previous HC's recruiting group. These kids were sold on a system CBJ had envisioned, Pruitt's will be one like Saban's......can't do that in two recruiting years, 2021 will be the "how good are you really?" year.............sit back, support the team and try to find more patience.

 

[savannahfan]

I have seen a lot of posts on here the last few years about our inability to "build a winning culture" as a football program. I've also seen a lot of posts about our previous coaches' inability to "coach 'em up at a high level". What do you all think will be the biggest key going forward? Building a culture of winners or out game planning and out game day coaching the opposition? I realize that they are heavily interrelated and that both are EXTEMELY IMPORTANT but they are separate things.

I personally think we are set from a pure coaching perspective with perhaps the exception of Friend. I am worried about the evolution of the culture however, as I think it remains a much bigger question mark given Pruitt's lack of D1 HC experience and the soft culture left behind by Jones. I think progress towards building the "winner" mindset will be what makes or breaks the next four to five years for us.

Yes they are separate things. But must work like a left leg and a right leg to be successful.

 

[OrangeByBirth]

I find it very ironic that the world "culture" is used the week of the KY game.

 

[GBOVFL88]

It comes down to leadership and character for both the players and the coaching staff. I think that the coaches and upper classmen provide the leadership to help mold the character of the underclassmen and the coaching assistants. A relentless pursuit for excellence can be exhausting for a young team, CJP has that IMO. I think that our character is getting right under the current coaching staff. As many anti-JG fans as there are, you cant deny that he has been a phenomenal example of playing tough through adversity. I think that Chandler is another great player for leadership. If the team gets behind them and immolates that mindset the winning culture will be right behind it. Huge strides can be made or lost in the off-season.