Chalk Talk – Culture Change

When most people think of a coaching change, they think of the X’s and O’s, and not necessarily the atmosphere in which the X’s and O’s are drawn. As many people know, the environment in which you learn has a great deal to do with what you learn.

The University of Texas was considered a football power house for much of the last 16 years and since the Rose Bowl victory in 2005, they were even a consistent national title contender for several years. However, in the last couple of years, the Longhorns were labeled as having a ‘country club mentality’. Along with this unofficial title off the field, came less success on the field. Poor on-field performance wasn’t necessarily caused by the play calling, blocking schemes, or even defensive base formations, so much as it was ultimately related to the entire program’s attitude.

The mindset or attitude of a team is established by the Head Coach, carried downstream by assistant coaches, and then finally adopted by the players. When Mack Brown arrived at Texas in 1997 his mind was set on change. As soon as he was on campus, Mack Brown started recruiting extremely high caliber players.

Brown’s focus on recruiting wasn’t the norm for Texas and it earned Coach Brown the nickname “Coach February”. With superior facilities, a strong team, and a beautiful campus, coaches felt that the offer to play at Texas was all the recruiting high school kids needed. Mack Brown’s positive and personable attitude took Texas to an entirely different level.

However, after a National title, an NCAA Coach of the Year award, a Heisman Trophy winner, three Maxwell Award winners, and 200 career wins, the Texas program’s atmosphere changed again. Once Coach Brown retired, the Longhorns were tasked with finding someone to revamp the program and return it to consistent success on a national level…and that someone is Charlie Strong.

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photo credit: USA Today

When Coach Strong arrived at Louisville the culture change started with his very first team meeting. Reportedly, the players planned on giving him a standing ovation to begin their first meeting in order to show their respect and willingness to jump in with both feet. They were never able to do so. Coach Strong essentially kicked in the door and started demanding change right away. He told the Cardinal players that they were responsible for their win-loss record with the previous coaching staff and that they will be responsible for that upcoming season’s final record.

To help reinforce the ‘no nonsense’ attitude the Louisville Cardinals adopted, when Coach Strong met with the players for the first time, he had Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Pat Moorer in attendance. Coach Strong came in, told the team that they had everything available for them to become wildly successful and ended the meeting by asking Coach Moorer “What time do they need to report tomorrow?”

“0-600.” was all Moorer said.

From that moment forward the Cardinals did nothing but improve.

The greatest change that any coach can affect is not with schemes, but rather with passion and commitment. To accomplish change, the Strength and Conditioning Coach sets the tone in winter conditioning, summer training, pre-practice warm-ups, and the pre-game rituals. From a daily workout perspective, Head Coaches are relegated to the role of Facilitator.

Even though Strong is noted for mixing it up in the weight room with his players, it is rare for a Head Coach to join work outs, correct a player’s form and challenge players to lifts. The Head Coach’s job is to put the right assistants in place to coach his players the way he wants.

Watch Coach Moorer if you want to note Coach Strong’s attitude regarding his players…no laziness, no apathy, no softness and most of all no bad attitudes.

“If something is soft, we can make it hard.” – Charlie Strong