A Note on Coaching

Why the Personality of a Head Coach can lead a team to success
By Josh Fyffe     

     

           In the NFL we are dealt with a range of head coaches varying in strategical strengths and weaknesses and certainly different locker-room personalities. I have never valued the personality aspect of a head coaching position until examining examples from other sports and teams that have exhibited success.

Being a Syracuse student, I am obviously heavy on the Orange bandwagon, as we have been a top 10 team all season long, and at one point we became the first team to be unanimously ranked number 1 since Duke in 2010. Anyways, I don’t know if you saw Tyler Ennis’ shot at the end of the Pitt game but it was probably one of the best first hand experiences of my personal sports-fan life. But what was even better about the win as a whole was Jim Boeheim’s reaction.

Boeheim was quoted right after the game saying that Ennis had played his worst game for the Orange and then went into the locker room and berated the whole team for completely under performing (which they did). He went around the locker room and said something along the lines of “you played like shit, you played like shit, you played like shit, Ennis that was a hell of a shot I will give it to you, but this cannot happen again.” Boeheim did an excellent job of separating the elation of winning on a buzzer beater and keeping an undefeated season alive and still maintaining the mindset of not getting carried away by the win and improving the mentality as a team.

Relating this back to the NFL, let’s look at two polar opposite head coaches (in terms of locker room personality); Rex Ryan (of the New York Jets) and Bill Belichick (of the New England Patriots). Put Ryan into Boeheim’s position, would he react in the same way? No way. He would be the type of person who would have a few 30 racks waiting in the locker room and would run in (or waddle in) dousing Ennis in champagne spray.  Belichick on the other hand would walk in a bit relieved (from winning the game) but at the same time disgusted. Belichick exhibited this type of reaction earlier in the 2013 season when the Patriots pulled out a highly improbable win down 12 in the final two minutes against the Browns. Although Belichick was happy that the Patriots won the game, he knows they will not be prepared the following week if he doesn’t crack down hard in the locker room after.

My personal biases aside, why does a head coach’s personal reaction to this type of win matter? Looking throughout the history of Ryan’s coaching tenure with the Jets, there always has been some type of midseason collapse (like they again exhibited this season). A lot of people forget but they were pegged as the probable six seed for the AFC playoff picture when they were sitting at 5-4 and coming off a big home win over the Saints going into their bye week. I’m sure Ryan was ecstatic after knocking off a top tier team like the Saints, especially after besting the Patriots in the previous weeks. However, these positive reactions by Ryan were detrimental to his team’s success; I believe he took away their drive. I am not implying that the Jets had a very talented roster this season to begin with, however they had the defensive man power to handle both the Saints and Patriots high flying offenses. After the bye week the Jets continued on to lose their next 4 of 5 including a three game losing streak to non-playoff opponents. The Jets ended the season catching fire, but only because they found something to play for again (saving their head coaches job).

Employing a hard to please mentality such as Belichick or Boeheim pushes the best out players. After an important win, having a “not good enough” mindset will only push players more to improve. Coach K of Duke has done this for years as well, and it is no coincidence that Boeheim and Coach K are at the top of the all-time college hoops coaching greats.

Make no mistake that I believe that Rex Ryan has a very intellectual defensive football mind, his brother does too. Rex could have actually been one of the most revered defensive coordinators of all time if he stuck with the position, but I believe that because of his locker room personality, he cannot be the forefront of a team that holds a winning tenure, despite his defensive intangibles. Head coaches that are reserved and critical in the locker room will squeeze the pulp of their players and breed a successful franchise (ie Belichick, Boeheim, Coach K, and even Joe Torre).

My advice to teams hiring head coaches in the future; look for the critical and hard to please coaches that can drive players and keep them grinding even after the most rewarding wins, not the coaches that get swept away with the intoxication of a significant win and have historically continued to fall short of the threshold of greatness.

Super Bowl Preview

By: Jack Machulski

Record: 1-0
Last Week: 1-0

                How the Seahawks will win:  The formula for the Seahawks success so far has been: Forcing turnovers + limiting turnovers + Marshawn Lynch= Victory.  This was evident in last week’s win over the 49ers where the Hawks forced a turnover on the Niners last 3 possessions and Lynch ran for 109 yards including a 40 yard TD.  However, the Denver Broncos are a totally different animal and this formula will probably not be enough for the Seahawks to win.  The main thing they have to do is stop the leagues most talented receiving corps and best quarterback in Peyton Manning.  Luckily, they are well equipped to do this, at least on paper.  Sherman will probably be on Demaryius Thomas the entire game, which should make him a non-factor, the Hawks will also probably blanket Julian Thomas with either Killa Kam Chancellor, a linebacker, or potentially both.  The matchups I would worry about if I were the Seahawks are Byron Maxwell on Eric Decker and Perrish Cox on Wes Welker.  Although both of them are solid corners, Decker and Welker are extremely talented for #2 and #3 receivers.  Maxwell proved himself last week by playing pretty well against Anquan Boldin but Cox covering Welker is still a huge question mark.  I don’t think Knowshon Moreno should be much of a worry for the Hawks because remember Knowshon Sucks, but seriously Knowshon may pile up some yards but he still shouldn’t be a concern for the Hawks. 

                The biggest concern for the Hawks and the biggest “X-factor” in this game will be the play of Russell Wilson.  He has basically been horrendous over the last 2 months but his team always found a way to win against the Broncos however, this will not be enough. Wilson has to play a good game from start to finish and he has to throw for more than just 160 yards which has been his postseason average.  If you are going against Manning, 160 yards just won’t cut it.  Another huge X-factor for Seattle is Wide Receiver Percy Harvin.  Although he has only played 39 snaps this year he is still one of the most talented wide receivers in the league who has the capability to change a game with one play.  Having only played 39 snaps, Harvin is a complete wildcard, the Broncos have no idea how the Hawks will use him so if he can stay on the field he could end up being a huge lift to the Seahawks offense.  I’m not going to spend too much time talking about how Marshawn Lynch needs to have a huge game because that is obvious, Lynch is the biggest key to their success, and he absolutely needs more than 100 yards rushing if they want to win this game. 

                Why Denver Will win:  The case for the Broncos winning could really just be two words: Peyton Manning, but football is a team sports so let’s look at why the Broncos are going to be the winners of Superbowl 48. 

                Although Peyton Manning isn’t the only reason they will win, it is certainly the biggest one.  He is having the single greatest season ever by a quarterback, and the one thing he needs is a Super Bowl trophy to cap off the perfect season.  The biggest factor contributing to his success is that he has Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Wes Welker, and Julius Thomas giving opposing secondaries nightmares.  Although the Seahawks have the best secondary in the league, throwing 3 amazing receivers and a great tight end at them may be too much to handle.  If Seattle starts to really play the pass, Knowshon Moreno should be able to take advantage of all the attention being put on Manning and potentially make some plays. 

                On defense the real key is to stop Marshawn Lynch, two weeks ago, they stopped Legarette Blount and Steven Ridley which basically ruined the Patriots offense and led to the dominant win.  If they can make Russell Wilson beat them with the pass, I think they run away with this one.

                Final Verdict:  I think the Broncos are going to take this one.  Manning and his receivers will be too much for the Seattle secondary to handle and Wilson won’t be able to make up for it on the offensive side.

Score Prediction:  Denver 31 Seattle 21

Bold Prediction:  Russell Wilson 3 INT’s