ImpTheDimp
Recruit
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2012
- Messages
- 19
...and it was depressing. My arrival to law school at The U coincided with Butch's arrival to the program and I had actually somewhat forgotten how difficult things were in the beginning. I won't launch into an analysis of why the program is where it's at but things were never the same after Ohio State and Randy Phillips' attitude and missive during the documentary serve as the perfect examples for why we failed for so long.
In any event, watching the documentary, at first, I was struck by the similarities between Butch's and Al's inheritance of the program. However, by the end of the film, the differences between the two were more clear than ever. Here are my two main examples:
(1) Butch never made excuses--he was working with extremely limited schollys after sanctions so he brought in a sports psychologist to help identify guys that were leaders and could make a difference; he made the most of those limited roster spots and brought in guys with heart, pride and courage--guys who thrived on motivating others; ****, Ed Reed reiterated that the players mainly ran the practices under Butch's watchful eye. Those guys were scared to under-perform and have to face their teammates. Along these same lines, those players/leaders made sure to handle team business within the team and excelled because of their pride in both themselves and this university.
(2) At first, Al looked like he had all the makings to be Butch, Jr., but like his predecessors, i.e. Randy and Coker, ended up failing in the evaluation and motivation departments, leaving us with some talented kids who lacked the intangibles that Butch was able to see in kids. From what I've read and seen Kaaya and Chad Thomas may fit that old mold, but absent them, sadly, it looks like we are stuck in a leadership void from both the player and coaching perspectives. Things will never change here until that leadership void is fixed.
Personally, I thought Al was the guy for the job--and, like many of us, I too was fooled by the polished one-liners and the slicked-back hair. I was done with Al after last winter's Penn State flirtation. I know it will never happen, and I know it's not even worth mentioning it...but a guy can hope--bring back Butch and go 'Canes!
In any event, watching the documentary, at first, I was struck by the similarities between Butch's and Al's inheritance of the program. However, by the end of the film, the differences between the two were more clear than ever. Here are my two main examples:
(1) Butch never made excuses--he was working with extremely limited schollys after sanctions so he brought in a sports psychologist to help identify guys that were leaders and could make a difference; he made the most of those limited roster spots and brought in guys with heart, pride and courage--guys who thrived on motivating others; ****, Ed Reed reiterated that the players mainly ran the practices under Butch's watchful eye. Those guys were scared to under-perform and have to face their teammates. Along these same lines, those players/leaders made sure to handle team business within the team and excelled because of their pride in both themselves and this university.
(2) At first, Al looked like he had all the makings to be Butch, Jr., but like his predecessors, i.e. Randy and Coker, ended up failing in the evaluation and motivation departments, leaving us with some talented kids who lacked the intangibles that Butch was able to see in kids. From what I've read and seen Kaaya and Chad Thomas may fit that old mold, but absent them, sadly, it looks like we are stuck in a leadership void from both the player and coaching perspectives. Things will never change here until that leadership void is fixed.
Personally, I thought Al was the guy for the job--and, like many of us, I too was fooled by the polished one-liners and the slicked-back hair. I was done with Al after last winter's Penn State flirtation. I know it will never happen, and I know it's not even worth mentioning it...but a guy can hope--bring back Butch and go 'Canes!
