Saban's comments
The blog on this site thiscouldbetheyear.com makes a good point.
Saban shouldn't be in Dutch
Rich Libero's observations -- 11/25/05
I don't understand what the big deal is all about Nick Saban's comments this week. What he said was spot-on. Results -- in terms of wins and losses -- don't mean much right now. What is important is that the team absorbs Saban's system and his philosophy. The ultimate goal for the Dolphins as an organization is getting all the right people in the right places thinking on the same page all the time. That is the philosophy used so successfully by the New England Patriots, the New Jersey Devils in hockey and the Dutch national team in soccer. It's a system the Dutch call "Total Football". In Total Football, the Dutch teach their players to perform in multiple positions and do so in such a way that if, say, the left wing cannot play because of an injury, there is another player from the roster that they can plug in with total confidence.
In the case of the New Jersey Devils, they merely adopted a system used by the dynasty Montreal Canadiens. The team used four lines of forwards that were completely balanced and interchangeable. Injuries had little effect because every player understood their role and how to play it. More important, they understood their teammates' roles and were able to take over for them when the situation called.
The Patriots have tried to apply this to football by drafting players with specific psychological make-ups, physical attributes and skills that best suite their system. In other words, the system succeeds when the right players are plugged into it. You cannot always plug a player into a system and expect it to be a success. You wouldn't put a pocket passer like Dan Marino into a run-and-shoot offense.
In some cases, however, I agree that there are times when you have a superstar player in his prime like a Marino (and he was signed for multiple years) and it makes no sense for a coaching staff to come in and install, say, a run-and-shoot offense because that's what made that coaching staff successful.
Anyone who thought that Saban was going to step in, add a few players via the Draft and free agency and turn a 4-12 team into a Super Bowl contender, was asking for a bit much. No, this season was always going to be about installation and inspection. The players who fit the system (like Channing Crowder, Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas) were going to spend the season absorbing the system while the coaching staff figured out what to do with the wretched refuse left behind on the roster.
Also, Saban made a point about the score not meaning anything on a play to play basis. And again, he's right. What he's really trying to say in that statement is that it's all in the details and the details happen on a play-to-play basis. What happened on the previous play means nothing. What's going to happen two plays from now doesn't mean a thing. What matters is that when you clap, shout "break" and leave the huddle for the line scrimmage, nothing should be on a player's mind but running that very play at that very moment.
This is called "being in the moment". It's a difficult mindset for us, as Westerners, to understand. Our minds our so cluttered with so many distractions and bigger picture things. We always seem to know where we are and where we want to get (i.e. 4-12 team wanting to get to the Super Bowl), but it is seldom that we focus on the minute details that are required to take that journey (NASA scientists might be the best at he mission planning because they leave no stone unturned).
Was I upset to hear that Saban wasn't concerned with results? Absolutely not. And I think the same will apply for next season as well. But in 2008, I expect this team to contend and compete to the point where results do matter and that will happen only because Saban will have gotten the right people into his system.
The blog on this site thiscouldbetheyear.com makes a good point.
Saban shouldn't be in Dutch
Rich Libero's observations -- 11/25/05
I don't understand what the big deal is all about Nick Saban's comments this week. What he said was spot-on. Results -- in terms of wins and losses -- don't mean much right now. What is important is that the team absorbs Saban's system and his philosophy. The ultimate goal for the Dolphins as an organization is getting all the right people in the right places thinking on the same page all the time. That is the philosophy used so successfully by the New England Patriots, the New Jersey Devils in hockey and the Dutch national team in soccer. It's a system the Dutch call "Total Football". In Total Football, the Dutch teach their players to perform in multiple positions and do so in such a way that if, say, the left wing cannot play because of an injury, there is another player from the roster that they can plug in with total confidence.
In the case of the New Jersey Devils, they merely adopted a system used by the dynasty Montreal Canadiens. The team used four lines of forwards that were completely balanced and interchangeable. Injuries had little effect because every player understood their role and how to play it. More important, they understood their teammates' roles and were able to take over for them when the situation called.
The Patriots have tried to apply this to football by drafting players with specific psychological make-ups, physical attributes and skills that best suite their system. In other words, the system succeeds when the right players are plugged into it. You cannot always plug a player into a system and expect it to be a success. You wouldn't put a pocket passer like Dan Marino into a run-and-shoot offense.
In some cases, however, I agree that there are times when you have a superstar player in his prime like a Marino (and he was signed for multiple years) and it makes no sense for a coaching staff to come in and install, say, a run-and-shoot offense because that's what made that coaching staff successful.
Anyone who thought that Saban was going to step in, add a few players via the Draft and free agency and turn a 4-12 team into a Super Bowl contender, was asking for a bit much. No, this season was always going to be about installation and inspection. The players who fit the system (like Channing Crowder, Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas) were going to spend the season absorbing the system while the coaching staff figured out what to do with the wretched refuse left behind on the roster.
Also, Saban made a point about the score not meaning anything on a play to play basis. And again, he's right. What he's really trying to say in that statement is that it's all in the details and the details happen on a play-to-play basis. What happened on the previous play means nothing. What's going to happen two plays from now doesn't mean a thing. What matters is that when you clap, shout "break" and leave the huddle for the line scrimmage, nothing should be on a player's mind but running that very play at that very moment.
This is called "being in the moment". It's a difficult mindset for us, as Westerners, to understand. Our minds our so cluttered with so many distractions and bigger picture things. We always seem to know where we are and where we want to get (i.e. 4-12 team wanting to get to the Super Bowl), but it is seldom that we focus on the minute details that are required to take that journey (NASA scientists might be the best at he mission planning because they leave no stone unturned).
Was I upset to hear that Saban wasn't concerned with results? Absolutely not. And I think the same will apply for next season as well. But in 2008, I expect this team to contend and compete to the point where results do matter and that will happen only because Saban will have gotten the right people into his system.
