Seniors not training with Navy SEALS this summer
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140604/SPORTS0201/306040143/0/spor…
Disappointing news in my opinion, but I still expect the seniors to band together and go out on a special season
This has been known for a while. No big deal.
The Seals did teach Taylor Lewan how to throw a mean punch last summer. Gonna miss that....
Navy SEAL training is a fantastic test of fortitude, and I've nothing but respect for anyone who elects to undergo it. And to those who make it through without ringing the bell, they tend to be amazingly focused and grounded people. Adm. McRaven's University of Texas commencement speech is worth your time to read. You can watch it below if you prefer video. And I'm sure that the SEAL Leadership program is worthwhile if you enter into it with the right mindset.
That stated, the apparent paucity of leadership on the team the last two seasons coincides with two years of seniors training with the SEALs. Correlation doesn't equal causation, but I'm all in favor of taking a different tack with this class.
I found it well worth the time and have passed it on. I suspect those graduates will remember their commencement speaker in 30+ years.
I heard the reason they aren't going is because Dave Brandon is holding out for a booster to pay to fly the seniors to San Diego /s
Interesting - when did he say this?
Nevermind - posted below.
I think the team is far better off staying in AA and working on the fundamentals of football.
If you look at the larger picture, this sounds like a good development. I know many people don't like the Freep, but there's a better explanation in the article there. The idea is to spread the leadership among multiple classes because singling out the seniors as they had been doing had its drawbacks.
The senior leadership trips from the past two seasons to California will not take place this year and will be replaced by multi-class leadership events around Ann Arbor.
"It's something that had run it's course a little bit and maybe some entitlement," Hoke said. "Guys just thought that was part of being a senior. They've got to earn it."
Good decision in my opinion...there is no need to separate out the seniors to send them to this trip. Given how young the team is, the leadership will need to come from all classes so keep them together to grow during the summer. Nothing special about being a senior.
nothing against the great men of our navy seals, but it didn't really do much help for the past two years. more for publicity than anything.
...and one would think that the Navy (especially a specialist group like the SEALs) would have better things to be doing than training football players anyhow.
Big year. They must put it all into this season, no distractions and play with one big, massive fucking chip on their shoulders.
The experience of seeing what guys that fight for your country are doing, what some of the greatest leaders in this country are going through, and going through those things with your brothers and family.
But to gain anything from the trip, you need humility. Maya Angelou (RIP) said something like "I have no modesty. Modesty is a learned behavior. But I prey I have humility, because humility comes from the inside out." You need that sort of attitude going into something like SEALs training to get anything out of it. If you instead, simply feel entitled, then it's just a trip, just an experience in which you worked hard, but you didn't learn anything from it. You really just disrespected it, yourself, and your brothers. And so if it became that, then it wasn't worth going out there. And stopping that, saying "we're not going to treat it in that way" brings back humility. Brings back a sense of responsibility to yourself and your teammates. Doesn't condone behavior that treats a leadership experience like it's entitled to you.
So this is a good move on Hoke's part. Don't disrespect the SEALs. Get back humility in your team. Nothing is handed to you and must be earned. That needs to be evident in Ann Arbor.
If something isn't working, change it. Brady Hoke said that himself when he was hired, and I'm glad to see it's actually happening. Coaching changes and now this: at least he's showing that he realizes there were issues, which some of us questioned last season during his "we have to be better" rants.
that's crazy
All that SEALS stuff was silly PR nonsense that really added up to nothing. I'm glad.
Maybe they should spend more time training with the sophomores and juniors, so we can get some damn chemistry on this team, and some fucking player development.
with good Senior leadership?
2006 maybe?
No qualms with this. The Seniors should be spending their first 3-4 years building up trust and leading by example, not going the motions until they are rewarded by default with a free trip to the West Coast.
The Navy SEAL, George Whitfield, and Mike Barwis stuff seems to be pretty overrated. Most good programs don't do any of that crap.
I've been waiting for a "speical season" for years now...