OT: Culture Change at Texas
Came across an interesting article over at Barking Carnival, the UT website on SBNation. Link: http://www.barkingcarnival.com/2014/1/14/5308182/culture-change-at-texas
Seems like Charlie Strong has wasted no time getting the program back on track. He's put in place guidelines for his players to follow, some of which might seem familiar.
I copied and pasted the meaty part of the article:
- Players will attend all of their classes and sit in the front two rows of all of their classes. GAs, academic folks, position coaches will be checking constantly now.
- No headphones in class. No texting in class. Sit up and take notes.
- If a player misses a class, he runs until it hurts. If he misses two classes, his entire position unit runs. If he misses three, the position coach runs. The position coaches don't want to run.
- No earrings in the football building. No drugs. No stealing. No guns. Treat women with respect.
- Players may not live off campus anymore, unless they're a senior who hits certain academic standards. The University will buy out the leases for every player currently living off campus and put them in the athletic dorm.
- The team will all live together, eat together, suffer together, and hang out together. They will become a true team and learn to impose accountability on each other. The cliques are over.
- There's no time for a rebuild. "I don't have time for that." The expectation is that Texas wins now.
- Players will learn that they would rather practice than milk a minor injury.
- The focus is on winning and graduating. Anything extraneous to that is a distraction and will be stamped out or removed.
- Strong met individually with seniors and key leaders and re-emphasized that the plan is to win now. They can lead the new culture or be run over by it.
- "I don't want to talk about things. I'd rather do things. We just talked. Now it's time to do."
It seems to me like most of these things would already be in place, but I guess not. Reading through the list actually reminded me of the passages in Bo's Lasting Lessons where Bo talked about what changes he brought to Michigan when he first arrived, i.e making the team live on campus, stressing academics first, respect everyone, and more. I'm impressed by Strong.
January 14th, 2014 at 10:51 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 10:53 PM ^
Having O-linemen sit in the front of their classes might be unfair to the students who have to sit behind them.
January 15th, 2014 at 12:18 AM ^
January 15th, 2014 at 7:40 AM ^
January 15th, 2014 at 12:20 PM ^
IT'S LAZER! VERSUS NITRO!!!
SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SOME DAY!!!!!!
we'll sell you the whole seat BUT YOU'LL ONLY NEED THE EDGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
January 15th, 2014 at 12:25 AM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 10:57 PM ^
"No earrings in the football building. No drugs. No stealing. No guns. Treat women with respect."
I love this list and hope Strong crushes it in Texas but I'm sorry the stuff coaches have to admonish players not to do these days is pretty amazing to me. They seriously have to tell people not to steal things and to not own guns? Is that something that the average 18-21 year old isn't aware of? "Oh....sorry coach. I didnt know I wasnt suppose to rob that liquor store at gunpoint. Nobody told me that wasn't allowed anymore. My bad."
January 14th, 2014 at 11:01 PM ^
It's unfortunate, but a large number of college football players are coming from a background where that kind of thing is commonplace. Nothing wrong with explicitly stating expectations.
January 15th, 2014 at 9:51 AM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 11:12 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 11:28 PM ^
Down there guns are used for more than robbing liquor stores.
January 14th, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^
Seriously?
January 14th, 2014 at 11:40 PM ^
"I didnt know I wasnt suppose to rob that liquor store at gunpoint." Obviously, they were speaking in general terms & I was simply reinforcing the idea that guns are used for much more than just crime.
January 14th, 2014 at 11:51 PM ^
I thought I was responding to the passing out guns at filling stations, retort. I'll fix it.
January 15th, 2014 at 8:15 AM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 11:28 PM ^
during hunting season we would bring our shotguns to HS and check them in with the vice principal until after school. My HS was within a 10 mile radius of Stadium and Main. Anyway, when first I lived in TX...oh, 35 years ago or so, shotguns and longarms in the back windows of pickup trucks were all the rage. I returned some 25 years later and no more guns in the pickups.
Guess cultures do change.
January 15th, 2014 at 8:24 AM ^
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10363_14518-312005--,00.html
Uh....we hunt lots of things "up north" too. Your analogy sucks.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^
I'm not sure why people think this is something peculiar to the South or that it's related to hunting. I don't think Strong is referring to hunting rifles.
Many recruits come from inner-city neighborhoods where gun violence is unfortunately a regular occurrence, and high school students in those schools often bring weapons to school or at least try to.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
This is totally true, but I figure the rule isn't "don't carry around hunting rifles during hunting season" as much as "don't carry around a .38 Special to class".
January 15th, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
"no guns" or "keep your guns at camp"
January 14th, 2014 at 11:23 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 11:34 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 11:52 PM ^
Seriously?
January 14th, 2014 at 11:30 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 11:31 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 11:39 PM ^
It's perfect.
January 14th, 2014 at 11:51 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 11:33 PM ^
January 15th, 2014 at 9:22 AM ^
had a few of these rules at Florida, Hernandez may not be where he is today. It may have been too late but who knows?
January 15th, 2014 at 10:06 AM ^
January 15th, 2014 at 7:10 AM ^
Its called gun culture. Its the US. Its the south. Its normal. Get outside of your bubble that is the midwest. Or your plastic-wrapped dome that is Ann Arbor (which is where I am).
January 15th, 2014 at 7:44 AM ^
January 15th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^
you could 3D print a weapon out of biodegradable material, so you could recycle it after use.
January 15th, 2014 at 8:24 AM ^
I seem to remember way more news stories about school busses and cows getting shot during deer hunting season in Michigan, than I do down here. I don't think it's so commonplace that it just doesn't get reported down here, or the NRA pays off the news. Granted it could be that the deer hunters in Michigan were unused to handling guns and firearm / hunting safety, and the hunters down here have been doing so since they were 7. However, I am guessing a sizeable number of people in Michigan own guns and teens have access to them.
Now Texas, that is a whole 'nother animal all to itself. Heck half, the players probably walk around campus with guns openly displayed in holsters. The lineman probably all wear ten gallon hats (which will make it even harder to see in class). s/
January 15th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
"They seriously have to tell people not to steal things and to not own guns?"
This is Texas we're talking about.
Much like Michigan, hunting is a pretty big deal.
When I started at Michigan, I owned 4-6 guns. Most of the males I graduated from High School with owned at least one.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:23 AM ^
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I get the "don't be a prima donna" part of the rules, but telling people "don't commit felonies" feels like it should be a given with most people. Or, at the very least, if they ARE going to do that, it probably isn't worth the breath to tell them not to.
January 15th, 2014 at 4:57 PM ^
There is no minimum age to possess firearms under Texas law. Texas law prohibits intentionally or knowingly selling, renting, leasing, or giving or offering to sell, rent, lease, or give any firearm to any child younger than age 18.1 However, it is an affirmative defense to this offense that the parent or the person having legal custody of the minor had given written permission for the sale or, if the transfer was other than a sale, the parent or person having legal custody had given effective consent.2 Federal age restrictions impose stricter limits.
...because TEXAS:
"
January 14th, 2014 at 11:04 PM ^
You ain't kidding. I sat behind Greg Skrepenak back in the early 90s and it was not a pleasure as I couldn't see a damn thing. I moved because neither of us was in the front row.
January 14th, 2014 at 11:05 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 11:11 PM ^
Im pretty sure Miss Rita's Nachos arent on the menu in the dining room anymore and the football bust music probably got switched up a bit too. Something a bit more uptempo I suspect.
And players were told no more setting fire to the homeless and robbing casinos. Other than that - business as usual.
January 14th, 2014 at 11:40 PM ^
What about pizza delivery guys? We can still rob them, right?
/Cissoko drop the mic
January 14th, 2014 at 11:05 PM ^
I could not understand how Texas dropped as fast as they did. No coaching change, they seemed to be getting the same level of recruits, but just seemed not to be very cohesive. Strong may lose some guys -- he probably wants to - but the guys left seem likely to get it going again.
January 15th, 2014 at 1:03 AM ^
Quarterback. Quarterback. Quarterback.
They haven't had anything close to consistent QB play since Colt McCoy left.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:32 AM ^
But, they have also been a tire fire defensively.
January 14th, 2014 at 11:09 PM ^
Very impressive. I have no doubts that Strong will make tremendous strides at Texas.
It makes me a bit sad that I don't know what Hoke's policy is regarding on and off campus living. Anyone?
January 14th, 2014 at 11:12 PM ^
I think our general policy is that athletes have to live in the dorms two years. I think that goes for all sports or at least the big three (football, basketball, hockey).
January 14th, 2014 at 11:37 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 11:57 PM ^
Because drugs have fried my memory and emotions.
January 15th, 2014 at 9:42 AM ^
You should have played football for Charlie Strong.
January 14th, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^