IMO a lot of issues we've faced in recent years can be chalked up to the staff being extremely stubborn and unwilling to adapt or change our scheme both in-game and week to week. See the quotes from a recent interview with former OSU/new PSU DC Jim Knowles. I felt like JL was the last HC or Coordinator we had that was willing to make big time adjustments. I hope we can look back after this season and say this new-ish staff did the same.
"You have to be able to look at yourself when something isn't right, or something isn't working, you have to find an answer. You can't throw up your hands and say, 'Well, this is what we do, and this is what we have.' No. You have to search and study for those answers and for a young coach, you have to find those answers before the problems occur." Knowles also shared that you've got to be willing to stand in front of the players and own your mistakes - because we all make them - and go about fixing those issues with a plan.
Then Knowles shares an interesting nugget, while talking about the last thing he tells his guys before they hit the field. "The last thing I tell the guys before they leave the locker room before the game is, 'All your mistakes are on me today. All your good plays are on you, but all your mistakes are one me because if you make a mistake, you're not trying to make a mistake. So either I didn't have you prepared, or maybe you made that mistake during the week and I didn't get it corrected well enough. When you get to game time, I think those guys have the ability to play free because not everything is going to go right, and they can't be worried about looking over their shoulder, so I take responsibility for all the mistakes on game day and I am accountable for that."
We've had coaches take the blame but it usually, clearly comes across as coach speak. The way Knowles phrases seems extremely genuine. Fickell has only recently begun to admit some faults. I hope he continues to be transparent when things go well or not.
"You have to be able to look at yourself when something isn't right, or something isn't working, you have to find an answer. You can't throw up your hands and say, 'Well, this is what we do, and this is what we have.' No. You have to search and study for those answers and for a young coach, you have to find those answers before the problems occur." Knowles also shared that you've got to be willing to stand in front of the players and own your mistakes - because we all make them - and go about fixing those issues with a plan.
Then Knowles shares an interesting nugget, while talking about the last thing he tells his guys before they hit the field. "The last thing I tell the guys before they leave the locker room before the game is, 'All your mistakes are on me today. All your good plays are on you, but all your mistakes are one me because if you make a mistake, you're not trying to make a mistake. So either I didn't have you prepared, or maybe you made that mistake during the week and I didn't get it corrected well enough. When you get to game time, I think those guys have the ability to play free because not everything is going to go right, and they can't be worried about looking over their shoulder, so I take responsibility for all the mistakes on game day and I am accountable for that."
We've had coaches take the blame but it usually, clearly comes across as coach speak. The way Knowles phrases seems extremely genuine. Fickell has only recently begun to admit some faults. I hope he continues to be transparent when things go well or not.
