Motivation and Belief

Aggie84025 · Post by **Aggie84025** » August 15th, 2019, 11:13 am

I believe a lot of Gary's success the first time around can be attributed to the amount of motivation and belief he instilled in his players. His team's were super motivated and had the belief that they could beat anybody. Question is with his return does he still have the ability to instill these same things in his teams and have them buy in?

HomeTown · Post by **HomeTown** » August 15th, 2019, 12:05 pm

From the way everyone on and associated with the team is talking it seems like it. I really hope that's the case.

taniataylor · Post by **taniataylor** » August 15th, 2019, 12:20 pm

I can only speak from what a certain someone says, but he LOVES Coach A and Coach Phillips.....I mean loveeeees - he said he has never felt more appreciated and cared for by another coach.....

Machismo · Post by **Machismo** » August 15th, 2019, 1:04 pm

taniataylor wrote: ↑
August 15th, 2019, 12:20 pm
I can only speak from what a certain someone says, but he LOVES Coach A and Coach Phillips.....I mean loveeeees - he said he has never felt more appreciated and cared for by another coach.....

This kind of thing goes a looooong way and was on full display when the Gary Teams took on the Big Dogs. I know we didn't win any of them but it looked like we belonged on the same field, something we had not seen around here for a very long time.

AgMac · Post by **AgMac** » August 15th, 2019, 1:06 pm

This was truly the key to GA's success. During his first stint at USU, our guys played out of their minds hard for Gary. He knew how to get every last bit of effort out of our guys.

I'm not sure if he'll have the same success this time around, but it is encouraging to hear stories like Tania's.

Full · Post by **Full** » August 15th, 2019, 2:41 pm

AgMac wrote:This was truly the key to GA's success. During his first stint at USU, our guys played out of their minds hard for Gary. He knew how to get every last bit of effort out of our guys.

I'm not sure if he'll have the same success this time around, but it is encouraging to hear stories like Tania's.

I don’t think it’s playing for Gary. It’s about the 100 other guys on the team, not the coaches. He knows it’s the players that will carry more emotional weight based on the performance of the team.

That doesn’t mean GA doesn’t care about outcome. He is all in.

dyedblue · Post by **dyedblue** » August 15th, 2019, 6:56 pm

Aggie84025 wrote:I believe a lot of Gary's success the first time around can be attributed to the amount of motivation and belief he instilled in his players. His team's were super motivated and had the belief that they could beat anybody. Question is with his return does he still have the ability to instill these same things in his teams and have them buy in?

Mike Sanford Sr. That was the game changer for the first stint.

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2004AG · Post by **2004AG** » August 15th, 2019, 8:35 pm

dyedblue wrote:
Aggie84025 wrote:I believe a lot of Gary's success the first time around can be attributed to the amount of motivation and belief he instilled in his players. His team's were super motivated and had the belief that they could beat anybody. Question is with his return does he still have the ability to instill these same things in his teams and have them buy in?
Mike Sanford Sr. That was the game changer for the first stint.

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Like Yost was a game changer for Wells ?

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Madmartigan · Post by **Madmartigan** » August 15th, 2019, 8:50 pm

dyedblue wrote: ↑
August 15th, 2019, 6:56 pm

Aggie84025 wrote:I believe a lot of Gary's success the first time around can be attributed to the amount of motivation and belief he instilled in his players. His team's were super motivated and had the belief that they could beat anybody. Question is with his return does he still have the ability to instill these same things in his teams and have them buy in?
Mike Sanford Sr. That was the game changer for the first stint.

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There's this other guy with Gary that is now the highest paid coordinator in the country. I think he's at LSU or something. His name escapes me.

Roy McAvoy · Post by **Roy McAvoy** » August 16th, 2019, 8:31 am

I too am in the camp that how Gary changed USU was his ability to motivate players and get them to believe in themselves. That can only go so far, however, and at some point you need talent, skills, & coaching to win.

I've wondered if Gary recognized that's how he initially succeeded at USU and if somehow at Wisconsin & OSU that either left him or he tried a different approach.

I've also wondered if he'll be able to recreate that at USU because I think that's his greatest strength. So far it looks like it but I guess we won't know until the season.

Heisenberg · Post by **Heisenberg** » August 16th, 2019, 8:47 am

The OP is correct that motivation and belief was a major factor for success but even beyond that was building trust and unifying a locker room that had previously been fractured. I was so fascinated by his approach that I actually wrote my thesis for my masters degree back in 2013 about some of the things he implemented that turned the program around. I interviewed players and coaches under both Wells and Andersen, and I also interviewed Scott Barnes. Unfortunately, I did not get to interview Andersen directly. He had just taken the gig at Wisconsin and I knew getting an interview with him would be tough. However, he did provide members of his staff for me to speak with, which I am truly grateful for.

I believe Andersen did implement his approach well at Wisconsin but failed to implement it at Oregon State. In parsing some of the interviews he has given since, I believe he regrets a few of his coaching hires, and I wonder if that was an impediment to implementing his approach.

As someone who has literally studied and written about the Gary Andersen philosophy (much of which he learned from Ron McBride), I am supremely interested in how his second stint at USU will go.

bigblue · Post by **bigblue** » August 16th, 2019, 9:39 am

Honestly, I been one on here that wasn't allowed that keen on Gary coming back. Just for the simple fact that history says more that half the time it doesn't work out having an old coach come back. But, Gary isn't the normal coach. I don't blame him for going to Wisconsin. That is what you do in the coaching world. His style just didn't fit in at Wisconsin. His jump to Oregon State I think was an attempt to being able to able to have more freedom to coach his style. I really don't blame him for that move. I truly feel bad for him when he just walked away from Oregon State. I know he can recruit here and motivate here. My issue was if he could bring in quality coaches in with him. I must say that I'm pleased with who he brought in. I'm fired up for this season and think we are going to do better than most think.

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Post by **Aglicious** » August 16th, 2019, 11:27 am

I think a big factor in why GA is successful in building trust within the team and being a "players coach" is that he is truly a father figure to many of his players. He relates well to them because he has children that are just a couple of years removed from being players themselves and I think they in turn help him to stay up-to--date with what matters to student athletes today.

I have never been overly impressed by his in-game coaching abilities, adjustments, or clock management. I think he shared a lot of the same weaknesses that Wells had in that regard. I do think his "care factor" (his own term) is off the charts and players pick up on that and want to play hard for him as a result.

The biggest differences I have noticed from coach A's first time here versus now are:

1.) he doesn't seem quite as excitable this time around. I think there's probably many factors as to why that is; he's no longer that guy that was just aching to get his hands on the program to prove to everyone the potential that he saw in it. The program is now several years removed from being in the state it was prior (largely due to GA's efforts) and coach A is also two P5 HC stops removed from the shoes he was in back then. This is not to say he doesn't still have passion or drive to want to do well or that he won't demand the best from his players but he seems more like a "been there done that" sort of coach now. He used to sound more like Craig Smith in interviews his first time around and now he seems more methodical and reflective.

2.) he seems to have have learned from his OSU experience about the value of the coaches he surrounds himself with. In his first stint he had some home run assistants and coordinators but also some guys that were so poor he had to let them go- it was very hit and miss. After the debacle at OSU he seems to have taken a much more calculated are careful approach to the personnel making up his staff. I really feel like most head coaches are only as good as their coordinators and I think GA has assembled one of the greatest staffs we have ever seen in our program. There are some guys like Ena that still need to prove it but he certainly has been given the players to succeed from day one. The real test will come when/if others come calling for Ena and Sanford's (or others) services. Can we keep them? Can GA replace them with the right guy if we can't?

NVAggie · Post by **NVAggie** » August 16th, 2019, 11:50 am

I enjoy listening to Andersen talk. I can see why players want to play for him.

TheAKAggie · Post by **TheAKAggie** » August 16th, 2019, 11:58 am

Aglicious wrote: 1.) he doesn't seem quite as excitable this time around.[\quote]
Low T

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El Sapo · Post by **El Sapo** » August 18th, 2019, 8:57 am

FB is a game of emotion. Especially in college. It can carry a team. No doubt Gary will have our guys ready.

Roy McAvoy · Post by **Roy McAvoy** » August 18th, 2019, 8:58 am

El Sapo wrote: ↑
August 18th, 2019, 8:57 am
FB is a game of emotion. Especially in college. It can carry a team. No doubt Gary will have our guys ready.

What makes you so sure of this? At Oregon State he essentially never had his guys ready.

AggieFBObsession · Post by **AggieFBObsession** » August 18th, 2019, 9:03 am

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑
August 18th, 2019, 8:58 am

El Sapo wrote: ↑
August 18th, 2019, 8:57 am
FB is a game of emotion. Especially in college. It can carry a team. No doubt Gary will have our guys ready.
What makes you so sure of this? At Oregon State he essentially never had his guys ready.

Oregon State was plagued by injuries unlike little we've ever seen before. Gary was mostly snake bit there to say the least.

Heisenberg · Post by **Heisenberg** » August 19th, 2019, 7:01 am

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑
August 18th, 2019, 8:58 am

El Sapo wrote: ↑
August 18th, 2019, 8:57 am
FB is a game of emotion. Especially in college. It can carry a team. No doubt Gary will have our guys ready.
What makes you so sure of this? At Oregon State he essentially never had his guys ready.

While I think it is a little too simplistic to say that emotion alone can carry a team to victory, I also think it it is a major factor in elevating a team's performance. To add my thoughts on Roy's question, I really do think Andersen's misstep at Oregon State was in the hiring of his assistants (again, just parsing the comments he's made since leaving OSU). I don't think any of them bought into Andersen's system. For example, one thing that Andersen does is he requires all the players to meet consistently with their respective coaches, but they are not allowed to discuss football. This allows players and coaches to bond and build trust on a personal level which, in my opinion, also strengthens the caliber of both player and coach. If you had an assistant coach or two that refused to do that, imagine the message it sends to the team and the discord it would create among staff. No wonder the team looked completely discombobulated. Now, this scenario is pure speculation as few people really know what went down at OSU, but I think it serves as an example of how failure of both players and coaches to buy into a system can have detrimental effects for a program/organization.

El Sapo · Post by **El Sapo** » August 19th, 2019, 5:19 pm

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑
August 18th, 2019, 8:58 am

El Sapo wrote: ↑
August 18th, 2019, 8:57 am
FB is a game of emotion. Especially in college. It can carry a team. No doubt Gary will have our guys ready.
What makes you so sure of this? At Oregon State he essentially never had his guys ready.

I'm often wrong but never unsure!!!!

stewusu98 · Post by **stewusu98** » August 19th, 2019, 5:44 pm

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑
August 18th, 2019, 8:58 am

El Sapo wrote: ↑
August 18th, 2019, 8:57 am
FB is a game of emotion. Especially in college. It can carry a team. No doubt Gary will have our guys ready.
What makes you so sure of this? At Oregon State he essentially never had his guys ready.

His team got better his second year from 2-10 to 4-8 and beat their rival Oregon. But in the long run, touche. You are correct he struggled greatly at Oregon State.

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