I know I am going to take a hit for this, But I have been wondering this since the Gary is not the old Gary talk began .... why do players need to be pumped up by the coach? I would really like to hear from former college players, is it really necessary for the coach to pump you up to play well? Yea I can see it once in a while, but is it necessary all the time. I only played sports until high school, but I did not need the coach to pump me up to play my best, I always want to play my best, as a matter of fact we the player fired in other up, not the coaches. Am I completely off base?

I never played scholarship collegiate sports, but I've never been very motivated by that stuff. I know some are. Personally, I've always been most motivated by criticism. I had a boss who was always giving me compliments. I had to beg him to tell me what to improve. I eventually left because I didn't feel I was being challenged. Different strokes for different folks.

A team is made of a lot of different guys who are motivated in different ways. It's good to have different personalities on a staff so you can motivate in all the ways your players may need.

Lou Holtz once said when speaking of what makes a good college player that 40% was based on his physical abilities
and 60% came from motivation. The motivation came from several directions. 20% - Playing for your school and teammates, 20% playing for friends, family and community, and finally from motivation from the coach. The coach provides motivation in two ways, first because you love him and don't want to let him down and the other way is you hate him and don't want to punished from making mistakes.

AGGIEFIGHT wrote: ↑

December 23rd, 2019, 3:59 pm

Lou Holtz once said when speaking of what makes a good college player that 40% was based on his physical abilities
and 60% came from motivation. The motivation came from several directions. 20% - Playing for your school and teammates, 20% playing for friends, family and community, and finally from motivation from the coach. The coach provides motivation in two ways, first because you love him and don't want to let him down and the other way his you hate him and don't want to yell at you from making mistakes.

Lou didn't believe in personal motivation independent of outside influence?

AGGIEFIGHT wrote: ↑

December 23rd, 2019, 3:59 pm

Lou Holtz once said when speaking of what makes a good college player that 40% was based on his physical abilities
and 60% came from motivation. The motivation came from several directions. 20% - Playing for your school and teammates, 20% playing for friends, family and community, and finally from motivation from the coach. The coach provides motivation in two ways, first because you love him and don't want to let him down and the other way is you hate him and don't want to punished from making mistakes.

Thank you AGGIEFIGHT. Lots of truth here, and I would only ad that playing with commitment for your team mates also counts in the equation. Coaches matter and attitudes develop from how coaches develop, work with and prepare players week to week.

Are the players unmotivated? Gary isn't the same "rah rah" coach he once was- and may not appear to be as motivating to the fans. Sitake in contrast is certainly a coach that jumps around more.. but that isn't to say Gary isn't motivating. There are several coaches who are more like Gary now, and several successful coaches who are more like Sitake.

Dabo is a coach that is very into the jump around and celebrate with players. Belichick is known for being the opposite.

I dont think one is right or wrong, nor do I think Belichick has any problem motivating players despite a lack of outward emotion (I'm not comparing Gary to Belichick, I'm comparing personalities in a vacuum)

There was a time or two this season where I wanted Gary to be a bit more intense. There was a series of pass interference calls on our D/ non-calls when we were on offense (I think the Wyo game stands out- but im not 100% sure) where I wanted Gary to blow up- and he didn't.

I remember being pretty close to the sideline during the Wake Forest game- and it appeared that Gary was interacting with the players plenty and coaching the defense specifically, so it's not like he is just standing around doing nothing.

We will see how things pan out. But other than not being a real contender for the MWC Championship, I dont see enough evidence to suggest the players were less motivated this year because of Gary specifically as opposed to a generally disappointing year. It appears more to me that there was a lack of motivation due to high expectations of a great season not being met, as opposed to Gary himself.

Imakeitrain wrote: ↑

December 24th, 2019, 9:06 am

Are the players unmotivated? Gary isn't the same "rah rah" coach he once was- and may not appear to be as motivating to the fans. Sitake in contrast is certainly a coach that jumps around more.. but that isn't to say Gary isn't motivating. There are several coaches who are more like Gary now, and several successful coaches who are more like Sitake.

Dabo is a coach that is very into the jump around and celebrate with players. Belichick is known for being the opposite.

I dont think one is right or wrong, nor do I think Belichick has any problem motivating players despite a lack of outward emotion (I'm not comparing Gary to Belichick, I'm comparing personalities in a vacuum)

There was a time or two this season where I wanted Gary to be a bit more intense. There was a series of pass interference calls on our D/ non-calls when we were on offense (I think the Wyo game stands out- but im not 100% sure) where I wanted Gary to blow up- and he didn't.

I remember being pretty close to the sideline during the Wake Forest game- and it appeared that Gary was interacting with the players plenty and coaching the defense specifically, so it's not like he is just standing around doing nothing.

We will see how things pan out. But other than not being a real contender for the MWC Championship, I dont see enough evidence to suggest the players were less motivated this year because of Gary specifically as opposed to a generally disappointing year. It appears more to me that there was a lack of motivation due to high expectations of a great season not being met, as opposed to Gary himself.

I think the answer to your question is teams take on the personality of their coach. Gary made people believe in a positive way. When he took on walkons who worked he rewarded them. He made them believe to the point they competed in those "body bag games" in a way their talent shouldn't have let them. He saw kids talent and abilities and made them believe. That creates a lot of fun for a team and they play for each other and for their coach. I think Gary still has some of that and if things turn around it will be because of that.

What I see lacking from the first time around is accountability and intensity. I don't see Gary the first time around putting up with some of the effort I saw out of the D line in particular this year. The laziness and lack of scheme discipline. I don't see him holding his defensive coaches accountable the way he did before. That side of the ball is Gary's specialty and he coaches a position group that did not play with the intensity that I would have expected.

The team loves Gary no doubt. Would they through a wall for him like they would last time he was here? I don't see that right now. Are they accountable for there effort and discipline? I don't see that either.

Gary's mojo has never been that of in game genius or a Tom Coughlin by the book culture. He has limitations that severely impact his ability to win if his style doesn't inspire his kids to have that run through the brick wall mentality because they don't want to disappoint their leader and fellow players. They played well the first time because the old Gary inspired a chip against the world mentality and they came out and played for each other and to prove everyone wrong.

That's not a rah rah speech before a game but a passion and confidence that bred that but the culture. I simply did not see much of that in body language this year. That is what concerns me.

I have been criticized for my posts on the defense in particular. I have played enough and watched enough film to see when effort is not there, when guys heads aren't in their assignments. Failing to perform your assignment on any given play needs to be an embarrassment personally and internally that elevates your play and focus. To play great every player needs to have that mentality and focus that they won't disappoint their family i.e. fellow players and coaches and that focus and mentality needs to become laser like as a game progresses.

I saw almost none of that in this defense this year. I really believe Ena's duties running this defense would have been over at halftime at AFA with the old Gary. I said I probably won't watch next year if he's the coordinator. I guess that's because my Aggie fandom can take bad play and lack of talent all of which their was an unfortunate abundance of this year. But as a football player and fan I just can't stomach watching lack of effort, focus, and discipline.

Flame away and I hope I'm wrong because I was big fan of Gary's return.

So I played under Guy for four years and under Gary's first year. Neither was a raw raw dude. But the difference was Guy was a let's give us a shot in the fourth quarter so if we ever got behind then it was an almost forgone conclusion that he wasn't expecting us to win. With Gary it was we have a chance to show others that we belong here and let's walkout with a W whatever it takes. Gary instilled confidence we could win every game. Guy hoped we could win in the fourth quarter if it was close.

Sent from my LG-G710 using Tapatalk

HIckaggie and Bybs25 make some insightful posts here that should be read and contemplated. What ever our immediate AGGIE Football fortunes are, the responsibility is on the current staff or whatever staff Gary chooses to employ...period.

AGGIEFIGHT wrote: ↑

December 23rd, 2019, 3:59 pm

Lou Holtz once said when speaking of what makes a good college player that 40% was based on his physical abilities
and 60% came from motivation. The motivation came from several directions. 20% - Playing for your school and teammates, 20% playing for friends, family and community, and finally from motivation from the coach. The coach provides motivation in two ways, first because you love him and don't want to let him down and the other way is you hate him and don't want to punished from making mistakes.

Love that quote - % this