Lack of Enthusiasm / Energy

[GaUSFBull]

In watching the other games, it is obvious that we lack any passion for playing. Our coaches and players talk a good game, but even in their interviews, there isn't excitement.

We seem to be non-chalant about everything. Blocking is casual, our defensive backfield plays off opposing receivers, our running backs don't hit the holes with authority...

Am I wrong?

No, and it's a reflection of the leadership. The team takes on the personality of the coach. Just compare Holtz to Leavitt. I've never seen Skip get really fired up or angry.

Here we go again. We go through this at least once a year now since Skip has been here. We're still losing the same teams as we lost to with Leavitt at this point. Skip's sideline demeanor has NOTHING to do with the reasons we win or lose.

You don't think players get fired up when their coach shows some passion? Why do you think baseball managers purposefully get thrown out of games? I never said its the reason why we win or lose, but the attitude of the coaching staff certainly influences the players.

Gotcha, then tell me how many points we can add to games if our coach gets fired up?

[LrdNorman]

In watching the other games, it is obvious that we lack any passion for playing. Our coaches and players talk a good game, but even in their interviews, there isn't excitement.

We seem to be non-chalant about everything. Blocking is casual, our defensive backfield plays off opposing receivers, our running backs don't hit the holes with authority...

Am I wrong?

No, and it's a reflection of the leadership. The team takes on the personality of the coach. Just compare Holtz to Leavitt. I've never seen Skip get really fired up or angry.

Here we go again. We go through this at least once a year now since Skip has been here. We're still losing the same teams as we lost to with Leavitt at this point. Skip's sideline demeanor has NOTHING to do with the reasons we win or lose.

I'm not necessarily looking for Holtz to scream at his players. That's not passion, that's screaming. However, with our "sense of urgency" that gets mentioned in interviews, there doesn't seem to be that passion for playing football.

Andre Davis not going for the catch on the sideline in the 4th quarter against Rutgers? Murray not hitting the holes like he wants to mow someone over? Where's the Lejiste that used to try to knock someone's head off each play?

Both Nevada and Rutgers played with passion -- intense and purposeful.

I guess my frustration is knowing what we could be, not what we are. We could be that great team.

With all that, I've put this last week behind me and am now starting a new week with Ball State on the docket. It hasn't been easy, but hopefully there will be much more intensity this week....

[BullFan98]

In watching the other games, it is obvious that we lack any passion for playing. Our coaches and players talk a good game, but even in their interviews, there isn't excitement.

We seem to be non-chalant about everything. Blocking is casual, our defensive backfield plays off opposing receivers, our running backs don't hit the holes with authority...

Am I wrong?

No, and it's a reflection of the leadership. The team takes on the personality of the coach. Just compare Holtz to Leavitt. I've never seen Skip get really fired up or angry.

Here we go again. We go through this at least once a year now since Skip has been here. We're still losing the same teams as we lost to with Leavitt at this point. Skip's sideline demeanor has NOTHING to do with the reasons we win or lose.

Right, it's his coaching.

[hbryan]

I asked the magic 8-ball this morning, and we would have beat Rutgers if Leavitt was still here or if Woolard would have pulled the trigger and picked up Mike Leach. The magic 8-ball never lies.

Edited September 16, 2012 by hbryan

[El_Toro_86]

Teams do take on the personality of their coach.

When coaches coach tight, players play tight and that is what's happening with our Bulls.

When coaches are confident and relaxed, players are confident and relaxed and play that way. Skip is tight, conservative, close to the vest whatever you want to call it and his players take on that persona. He said in the week leading up to Rutgers that it would be low scoring like a baseball game. He also said something about liking 1 point victories. His players pick up on this. His sphincter is so tight it could probably sharpen a pencil. I know it's coach speak,but I'm so tired of listening to his press conferences where he talks about the other teams like they're Packers. It's old.

Leavitt was emotional and undisclipined and his players reacted to it. The emotion carried them to big wins (Auburn, etc) and the undisclipined part cost them games.

Somewhere lies a happy medium.

Have we gotten a personal foul or late hit penalty this year? I honestly can't remember.

Skip needs to coach with more confidence and lose the conservative tight approach. Let it rip Skip. There's still time.

[hbryan]

Teams do take on the personality of their coach.

When coaches coach tight, players play tight and that is what's happening with our Bulls.

When coaches are confident and relaxed, players are confident and relaxed and play that way. Skip is tight, conservative, close to the vest whatever you want to call it and his players take on that persona. He said in the week leading up to Rutgers that it would be low scoring like a baseball game. He also said something about liking 1 point victories. His players pick up on this. His sphincter is so tight it could probably sharpen a pencil. I know it's coach speak,but I'm so tired of listening to his press conferences where he talks about the other teams like they're Packers. It's old.

Leavitt was emotional and undisclipined and his players reacted to it. The emotion carried them to big wins (Auburn, etc) and the undisclipined part cost them games.

Somewhere lies a happy medium.

Have we gotten a personal foul or late hit penalty this year? I honestly can't remember.

Skip needs to coach with more confidence and lose the conservative tight approach. Let it rip Skip. There's still time.

+1

[smazza]

In watching the other games, it is obvious that we lack any passion for playing. Our coaches and players talk a good game, but even in their interviews, there isn't excitement.

We seem to be non-chalant about everything. Blocking is casual, our defensive backfield plays off opposing receivers, our running backs don't hit the holes with authority...

Am I wrong?

i have been saying this for years

we need to recruit football players with passion

holtz is not a fiery type guy but he had success at other places

[usfgrad84]

You don't need to have a fiery type of personality to be a great a coach. Bill Walsh was not a fiery kind of guy. I don't think Jim Tressel is a fiery kind of guy. Marv Levy was not. Dungy is not. You can go on and on.

From what I know, from a few people that had business dealings with the program (with both Skip and Leavitt), is that Skip is an extraordinarily nice guy. My friend has been out to several practices over the course of Skip's tenure here and said that he doesn't push the kids hard at all and seems to come across as trying to be more friendly to them. When Leavitt was there it was brutal. Total intensity the entire time. if you were late to practice. You had to run. If you screwed up. You had to run. Forgot a pad in the locker room. you had to run or push ups or something. With Skip he says it is more like. OK. get your stuff and get out there.

A lot of people used to blame our late season collapses on the kids just being burned out late in the season from such intensity.

I can't say for sure, but I am starting to believe that what this guy tells me is true. If you look back to a lot things that happened on the field it is reflective of how the teams have performed. During Leavitt's time here we screwed ourselves a lot of times because of idiotic aggressive penalties. Everything about Leavitt's teams were overly aggressive. With Skip's teams everything seems to be so passive. Think about his first year here with BJ. Don't let him run because there is no back up. Defense...bend but don't break. Stuff like that.

[NewBullBacker]

Murray kept showing a little fire after a couple of runs giving us in the student section the louder motion with his hands and it fired us up... Can't remember a time when I wanted to get louder. Also after we scored the touchdown to tie the game, I remember at least half the team jumping up and down on the sidelines like we were in the student section, so I don't think the intensity is totally gone...

[usfgrad84]

Anyone can have intensity after big plays. Todd Chandler hits himself in the helmet after every play he makes.

I am talking about the intensity and fire going into the game. and throughout the game.

The one guy that I found most fiery all the time, the one that hated to lose more than anyone I can remember from USF was Terence Royal. One thing I will never forget was the UCONN game in 2006 (The Voodoo 5 game). I was with one of the player's parents and we were waiting to talk to the players before they got on the bus. It took Terence Royal 20 minutes after the game to leave the field. A coach had to come out of the locker room to get him and then about five minutes after that he comes running back out on the field. He left it all out on the field every game. He could not accept losing that game and he didn't want to leave. That's the kind of fire that Leavitt infused into his players. Sometimes it led to stupid personal foul calls, ultimately it was his undoing here and after a while it became old, but that's the kind of mentality that let us overachive as we moved up from a start-up program and each step along the way.

We need to see that kind of desire burning deep within each player every game.