I do this for a living in the corporate space (also do talent development for K12) and the reality is it's not close to true. A leader can change the values of an organization in 45 seconds. Members can begin talking about the environment differently in about 45 seconds. But, "the culture" comes from actions, behaviors, and shared mindsets built over time. And, the reality is it often takes turnover and talent acquisition. You can help people develop skills. You're highly unlikely to change their personalities.
I don't know if our recruitment/player personnel department has performed personality and skills assessments, but each player should have a personalized development profile. The new versions of these assessments are not the stupid/fake surveys corporations once did. Every organization needs to be "people first" now because processes/info move quickly and are easy to copy. "People" are now the competitive advantage.
Mario can get us a bump through new values and accountability. Our leap to sustainable success will take a ground up approach through recruiting specific types of development-focused players.
Mi amigo, I couldn't disagree more. And that's because I've personally been tasked with turning teams around in various [redacted].
To some extent, people are still, at their core, very much children, or primal animals, especially when we're talking about immature young adults like college football players. The same kid that is a culture killer under one admin can be instantly either neutered or better yet empowered to be a leader under the next. How? One word:
Respect.
If you don't respect your superiors and leadership, or in this case, your coaches (Golden, Manny, etc.), it's going to show. If you don't BELIEVE in them, you aren't going to be willing to run through a wall for them. You will always judge their intentions. You will pause. If you don't respect the boundaries and obligations your coaches set forth, you are going to cheat and skimp on your responsibilities and that's contagious. That's the epitome of broken culture. That contagion.
Conversely, when an alpha who has the track record, has "it," and commands respect, walks through the door, that same culture problem kid can absolutely flip. These kids CRAVE real leadership. They crave discipline. Not to be crass, but it's akin to breaking in a horse or a dog. The animal WANTS to be led. You just have to earn it. You have to dominate them. When the coach isn't respected, the superstar kids are essentially higher than the staff on the org chart. The kids have leverage because the coaches need these kids to save their jobs because they are weak. A guy like Mario is not going to stand for anything less than total commitment. From ANYONE. Not a walk-on, not a 5-star QB. And the kids can FEEL that, and therefore instantly know they aren't the alpha anymore. Coach is.
And yes, there will always be some kids who are lost causes. You weaponize that. You make them the example. Anyone left that hasn't already, gets the message. FAST. Almost all of these kids were the best player on their HS teams. They were leaders in one way or another at one point. We don't have a roster full of bad kids. A lot of good kids don't reach their potential because they aren't led correctly. Mario will salvage a lot of careers IMO. In some cases, by helping a kid who doesn't have the talent and athleticism to play at the level he demands find new homes where they can find the field. And I mean "helping" literally. To their benefit. Not giving up on the kid or pushing him to the curb, but helping him fit where he should be from a talent-perspective. Utilizing your relationships across CFB to help them.
45 seconds. It's like a sudden cold front coming through. Everything changes, suddenly. I've seen it. I've done it.
EDIT add-on: Remember these kids are walking into a new world too. Speaking of culture, they are certainly experiencing culture shock right now. Basically EVERYONE they "worked" for is gone. Everyone being brought in is a serious person with a rep. Intense, hard-*** working leaders. Guys who've been there. No more Patke or Baker experiments. Everything is being done in a different way. Right now they are in the 4Q program, and all the little leaks we've been hearing is that they LOVE it. We keep hearing "these coaches are serious." Kids WANT to be pushed and challenged as I said above. But you can't challenge a kid or push a kid if you don't have their respect. It's about "buy-in."
Listen to the slightly excruciating YouTube players interview and read this thread linked below where you'll find it. The kids are going through **** and they are eating it up! The players even mention cancers and buy-in. Can skip to when the players come on. From the players mouths:
"Every one is on board. Some people who used to be a problem are now all bought in."
"This increase in support for the football program makes us feel the love and makes us want to play harder."
h/t
@mcmachete
Troutman, Arroyo, Kam Kitchens and Chase Smith on the Miami Flo show talking about the changes with the new staff.
www.canesinsight.com
I could talk about this forever. Good convo.