I asked Sean if I could write another article and he begrudgingly said ok (sucker)! But that means I should probably talk about something other then myself, so fine, let’s discuss football.
Over the last week a few players have had some rather interesting sound bites. You can watch them here (Connor Halliday), or Darryl Monroe here, or Deone Bucannon here. Or better yet, just read some of the notable remarks from them below.
We’ll start with Mr. QB Connor Halliday when asked about Auburn’s talent:
“They’d be a top 5 team if they could find a QB”
And later, on the WSU team from 2010 and improvement since:
“Half those guys wouldn’t have started for a good high school team”
Mincing words apparently not his strong suit.
Lets check in with Darryl Monroe on his opinions when asked about heat, the crowd, and travel:
“Those are all distractions; we don’t let those affect us”
What about the apparent jawing at midfield before the game?
“Distractions, not relevant to our game”
To round out this discussion, Deone Bucannon was asked about the costly personal foul penalty after his big hit in the third quarter. As he started to answer Mike Leach stepped in and made the reporter very aware that he was no longer allowed to ask questions. Bucannon dutifully followed his coaches direction and clammed up on the situation.
I’ve got a theory that ties each of these situations together, starting with the latter. Don’t believe me? Well hold onto your butts…
We see a situation where Leach had been asked the same question earlier in the presser, and declined to give much of an answer because he didn’t like the question or the asker or some combination of the two. All that matters is CML’s mind and thought process determined that making a statement about the situation would hurt the team, their image, or just be non-productive. He made a conscious thought not to entertain the question. Now when he made that decision the same thought process apparently applies to all his players. In the worldview of this Cougar football team, his views and thoughts reign supreme. He wouldn’t answer the question, and therefore Deone would not either.
Monroe’s situation is a little more interesting. Throughout last week fans and media have been stating how big a home field advantage Auburn would have because of the humidity, 85,000 people, travel distance, comfort of hotel beds to sleep on, quality of recruits, and any other such nonsense people could think of. The mental philosophy Leach preaches is in direct contrast to this though, it does not matter who you line up against, be it Lawrence Taylor or Tyree Toomer, do your job and you will be successful.
Poor Tyree
It does not matter where you play, do your job and you will be successful.
It does not matter who's around you, do your job and you will be successful.
Monroe has clearly bought into this, and as a leader on the defensive side of the ball we can safely assume that this mantra is being preached both from the sidelines and on the field.
And finally our young gun Connor. Clearly the slinger has no reservations when stating his opinions. I don’t need to provide you with any instances where Leach has spoken frankly about things and it rub people the wrong direction.
Heres my point: This team is starting to embody the mindset of a Mike Leach squad.
That mindset is not only something he preaches, but it’s the way he acts. They are going to act like their head coach because they have bought into this system and the mental toughness which is required to run it. When run correctly the air raid is a bunch of little Leach's lining up at each position, working perfectly with the same thought process (theres an Enders Game joke there somewhere). The fact we are seeing this symbiosis off the field means it is also present on the field.
Remember back to 2008 when Texas Tech beat Texas on a last second heave from Harrell to Crabtree? If not, its documented half way through this 60 minutes piece:
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYqsiq0iQC0&w=420&h=315]
Now was it a great play? Undoubtedly. But more important than the incredible physical aspect of that play was the mental. Leach’s statement before the last play, and I quote:
“Alright, lets go score”.
That statement, as simple as it was, was carried out by that Red Raider team. They were fully in-line with their coaches thought process and concepts, and that made them a winning ballclub.
So if there's any positives to take from last Saturday, seeing that this team is emulating their head coach should be the largest.
That's it for now. Thanks to Burning Snowmans for the guest spot, and GO COUGS!
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