http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/football/13161390.htm
I think that sent the wrong message to this team.
Number one, the team didn't really do anything all that special that day. Had they blown Carolina out, THAT would've been special. As it was we had a nail-biter that made us hold our collective breath until nearly the final whistle.
Overhyping a win like that sends the message to the team that they NEED an extra pat on the back to feel good about themselves. And why would a team need an extra pat on the back to feel good about itself? -- because it isn't that good in the first place.
And that's the message that was sent that day IMO -- that the coach thought the team wasn't that good.
We've lost 5 of 6 since.
Yesterday Saban praised the effort the team gave against New England. That was a winnable game that was lost in large part by lack of effort and concentration (Chambers's drops were huge all day). Why single out the one thing you think the team did well (effort) and talk about it instead of talking about the ways they played badly?
If you still don't think a team is all that good, then you may think another pat on the back will do the trick. But again, the underlying message is, "You aren't that good."
Who was our worst player yesterday? Chris Chambers. Who was the player Saban called "decent" in the media last week but tried to pump back up in a private meeting between the two? Chris Chambers.
See a pattern here?
The pattern is that Saban's private belief that the team isn't very good is "leaking" through is actions toward them, so the team gets the message, indirectly, that it isn't very good. Although he probably doesn't want to just come right out and SAY it for fear that it'll dash the team's confidence, the fact that it's "leaking" out causes the same result -- it tells the team that their coach doesn't think they're all that good, which hurts their confidence.
And it does it in a way that probably makes the team wonder just HOW bad Saban believes they are, since he hasn't just come right out and said it. Parcells would come right out and say it, and his team would know exactly how he feels about them.
This team needs to be told exactly what it is, and Saban needs to stick by it instead of trying to "repair" what he says like he's repairing a fragile ego. Chris Chambers IS decent. Live with it Chris, and try to correct it YOURSELF.
The reason for all this? I believe it all comes back to Saban's desire to have a successful first year as a head coach. So instead of telling this team what it is and breaking them down mentally and then building them back up through REAL achievement, a la Parcells, he's trying to give them the mental boost he thinks they need to compensate for their physical problems.
Kind of like trying to teach something to a mentally ******ed guy -- you're gonna overhype just about everything he does right, because deep down you know he needs it to compensate for his lack of intelligence. The only difference is that he isn't smart enough to know that underneath your effusive praise is your belief that he needs it because he isn't very smart.
But I think this team is smart enough to know Saban's doing the same thing, even though they may not be consciously aware of it.
I started a thread after the Buffalo game saying that Saban overhyped the Carolina win in the team's locker room celebration. If you saw the celebration on the team's website, you saw Saban tell the team they "did something special," and then he gave them more days off than usual going into the bye week. The team whooped and yelled and was very grateful for their reward.
I think that sent the wrong message to this team.
Number one, the team didn't really do anything all that special that day. Had they blown Carolina out, THAT would've been special. As it was we had a nail-biter that made us hold our collective breath until nearly the final whistle.
Overhyping a win like that sends the message to the team that they NEED an extra pat on the back to feel good about themselves. And why would a team need an extra pat on the back to feel good about itself? -- because it isn't that good in the first place.
And that's the message that was sent that day IMO -- that the coach thought the team wasn't that good.
We've lost 5 of 6 since.
Yesterday Saban praised the effort the team gave against New England. That was a winnable game that was lost in large part by lack of effort and concentration (Chambers's drops were huge all day). Why single out the one thing you think the team did well (effort) and talk about it instead of talking about the ways they played badly?
If you still don't think a team is all that good, then you may think another pat on the back will do the trick. But again, the underlying message is, "You aren't that good."
Who was our worst player yesterday? Chris Chambers. Who was the player Saban called "decent" in the media last week but tried to pump back up in a private meeting between the two? Chris Chambers.
See a pattern here?
The pattern is that Saban's private belief that the team isn't very good is "leaking" through is actions toward them, so the team gets the message, indirectly, that it isn't very good. Although he probably doesn't want to just come right out and SAY it for fear that it'll dash the team's confidence, the fact that it's "leaking" out causes the same result -- it tells the team that their coach doesn't think they're all that good, which hurts their confidence.
And it does it in a way that probably makes the team wonder just HOW bad Saban believes they are, since he hasn't just come right out and said it. Parcells would come right out and say it, and his team would know exactly how he feels about them.
This team needs to be told exactly what it is, and Saban needs to stick by it instead of trying to "repair" what he says like he's repairing a fragile ego. Chris Chambers IS decent. Live with it Chris, and try to correct it YOURSELF.
The reason for all this? I believe it all comes back to Saban's desire to have a successful first year as a head coach. So instead of telling this team what it is and breaking them down mentally and then building them back up through REAL achievement, a la Parcells, he's trying to give them the mental boost he thinks they need to compensate for their physical problems.
Kind of like trying to teach something to a mentally ******ed guy -- you're gonna overhype just about everything he does right, because deep down you know he needs it to compensate for his lack of intelligence. The only difference is that he isn't smart enough to know that underneath your effusive praise is your belief that he needs it because he isn't very smart.
But I think this team is smart enough to know Saban's doing the same thing, even though they may not be consciously aware of it.
