One Voice
5 comments so far
March 28, 2008 by
Yesterday morning, NU Head Coach Bo Pelini did an interview with the largest news talk radio station in Omaha, 1110 KFAB. Mark that as the first thing he has done that is predecessor failed to do. I hope this willingness to speak publicly to average fans opens up a new era of relative transparency and solidarity with the football team's message. I'm also noticing the spirit of togetherness expressed by the new coaches. That can make a real difference when the going gets rough.
Manage the Message
Let me just drop one piece of communication theory on you. In the absence of good information, misinformation and even disinformation abounds. Put simply, own your truth or people will make it up for you.
The action item for coaches is for them to manage their message. The Head Coach must be the main voice of the program. In a football crazed state like Nebraska, I think that person needs to be seen as fairly available or accessible.
Pelini is obviously taking his cues from Tom Osborne, who also went on the radio in Omaha during the coaching search. Osborne knew that the lack of transparency was probably the biggest failure of Steve Pederson's coaching search. In the subsequent years under Pederson and Callahan, information or good will did not flow out of the stadium offices. It became a rather Big Red Unknown. People felt detached, and it hurt the amount of fan support. Pelini's brand of straight talk is very refreshing.
Also, establishing the Head Coach as the primary spokesperson will pay off when the going gets rough. In both 2007 (and in 2002 under Solich), you had a number of people - players, administrators, and assistant coaches - saying things both publicly and privately that weren't helping matters. The message needs to come from The Man, when times get tough.
Solidarity Matters
Please don't misunderstand this argument by thinking that I believe only Pelini should be allowed to speak. Far from it. I just think he needs to be the main person and keep everyone on the same page. One Voice can mean one collective voice, too. Players like Joe Ganz and Zach Potter need to be heard from. And, I loved when Marvin Sanders did his bit on the radio after being hired. It might be nice to hear from Dr. Osborne occasionally, too.
Again, this is a far cry from how things went with the previous staff. There doesn't appear to have been a whole lot of solidarity there. As Husker Mike said it was kind of a cluster. Dissention can dramatically affect coaching choice and player morale. Cody Glenn's recent statements about the lack of trust say a lot about what happened in 2007. People were not on the same page.
At least thus far, it seems Pelini's crew is starting to gel. Consider this quote from offensive line coach Barney Cotton.
"Bo's a great guy to work for," Cotton said. "He lets you work. And Shawn (Watson) has been a good coordinator to work for. He lets you coach your guys and do your thing."It's been a good relationship-building session ever since recruiting got over. It's become pretty apparent that it's a comfortable room and that guys respect each other. And that translates itself on the field and to the players, I'm sure."
Of course, that sort of relationship building has to be grounded in a guiding philosophy. Pelini spelled that out some in his Spring press conference. Saying...
"At the same time, I have a great staff. They do not work for me, they work with me. We talk about a lot of things as a staff and we have to make sure that we, offense, defense and special teams, are all on the same page. We are all in it together. We are not, for instance, trying to develop what they do on defense at the expense of the offense. It is a team thing. You have to work together and make sure that everybody is getting what they need so the program and the whole team moves forward and gets better.�
This spirit of unity could likely be born of the staff's shared experience in 2003. Many of the current staff were tempered by the fire of their intense one-year stint under Frank Solich, and the disappointment or frustration of being let go after winning 10 games. So, In the abstract, I'm very optimistic about the stability, cohesion and transparency that can come from this new coaching staff. Of course, we won't really know until the going gets tough.
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bnahusker Mar 28 08
Bo understands the difference between being a Boss, and being a Leader. If the troops know that you will go through a wall for them, they will beat you to that wall, and have it ready to walk through.
Leadership & Communications.......
What a concept!
Go Huskers!
Bob
Dwayne Mar 28 08
What Pelini has basically done that Callahan really didn't do is take upon all accountability. During his recruiting press conference he advertantly didn't mention any single one recruit. He is taking the pressure off the players by placing that essentially upon himself. This hopefully will allow them to focus on what they need to do to improve and it also builds team unity and chemistry. This doesn't mean he isn't going to hold the players with any accountability, he probably just isn't going to do it publicly. Publicly singling out individuals can be very demoralizing and hurt them more than help them. The other thing is NU fan knows when they are being sold a heap of crap. Some of the comments made during the 5 game losing stretch last season were unbelievable to me and I don't see Pelini sugar coating anything. Right now my perception of the program is very positive no matter what happens this season as long as there is some competitive fire on Saturday afternoon and the stuff that happens on Saturday night is over with.
Greg Morrow Mar 28 08
I'm sure nobody'll mind if I mention something in deference to Callahan. (Oh, I'm sure no one minds, just this once!) His fate was essentially sealed when he hired his long time friends and associates to coach his defense, in Jan of '04. You could sniff "burnout" just by reading Cosgrove's quotes in his first interviews and Elmassian appeared to be the quintessential "travelin' man." The only one I don't think Callahan had previous ties to was John Blake, who may have been his most successful assistant, overall. If he reaches for even the next linebacker coach from the Green Bay Packers to run his "D", we're probably fresh off of gushing over his latest recruiting class.
But that's all, I can't think of much more than that, considering the comedy of horrors that was '07.
Heart. Callahan had it, but he failed to infuse his entire team (and defensive staff) with it.
From previous knowledge of Barney, Marvin and the indomitable, indefatigable, incomparable Ron Brown, plus fresh enthusiasm from Bo's "young'ns", heart should permeate the whole program. Even previously disaffected support personnel.
Brad Mar 30 08
Sorry, but none of this means anything. We're in the middle of a honeymoon period. Everyone gets along and loves each other.
However, if Pelini doesn't work out he'll get kicked to the curb like anyone else. Osborne's popularity will buy him an extra year, but that's it.
Hopefully he works out, but let's not kid ourselves. We had all convinced each other we were heading for great things last year. And Jammal Lord was going to be an awesome qb before that. And Osborne had 15 years to evaluate his successor, so you don't need to worry about Solich screwing up the nation's best program before that.
Sincerely,
Reality
Dwayne Mar 30 08
Brad,
So I guess the question becomes what doesn't work out for Pelini. Some of what you're mentioning is fairly valid however what Jammal Lord did under center wasn't as bad as what people thought. He did what he was coached to do and he developed into the type of quarterback he was developed into. I can't put that on him. I put it more on his coaches. And looking back, I too didn't like where the program was under Solich but he did a pretty good turn-around in his last season. Everyone makes mistakes, but sometimes it's how you handle those decisions after they're made that really portray who you are.