Since I don't have a Braves/Mets game to watch right now, I'm re-watching some of the most recent Overreaction Sunday video. @Kelly Quinlan made the quoted comment in the thread title a little over halfway through, talking about how the team lacked energy in warmups for the Syracuse game, and I'm assuming similar observations were made on the Louisville trip. I've been trying to decide between three culprits what our biggest problems have been in the two losses that should have been wins: poor execution, poor coaching decisions, or lack of motivation/energy.
After watching and reading @ibeeballin's analysis, we definitely had poor execution issues in the UL game, and there were several against SU also. Brent's coaching decisions in the two losses have been discussed here in depth, and I think we can all reasonably see that he is an inexperienced HC who still has the program moving in the right direction but is growing and learning. Hopefully what they say is true that he's his own biggest critic and he will continue to work hard to get better and not be a barrier to the team's success.
That leaves the motivation thought. Please don't tell me that most of our struggles thus far have been between the ears of our players (or even worse, our coaches). Let's be honest, our players, coaches, and fans alike behaved like the win in Ireland was a bowl game victory and the season was over, Waterford crystal trophies and all. Thankfully we came somewhat ready to play against GSU because it was sold as the "Battle for ATL" and GSU's "Super Bowl", but then we have two ACC road trips and we "lack juice" and seem dead. Other than blaming Delta for flight problems, what gives? I'd love to believe that CPJ's belief that players should be self motivated and should bring their own energy is still valid in today's game, but I'm thinking those days have past. Kirbs had his players wearing t-shirts that said "Nobody Cares" during offseason workouts just a few weeks after winning the natty a few years ago. Fran B makes up some BS objections to Brent's comments and gets his kids to play with juice in his first conference game as a HC, and at least in part, it worked.
Please don't tell me that because we won a treasure chest (Gasparilla Bowl) and some Waterford crystal in Ireland in consecutive games that we somehow thought we were somebody and we had gone from rags to riches in warp speed. I know Brent talks a lot about consistency. How do you create consistency in the motivation/culture aspect of the team? I don't want Brent to have to mimic Kirby or Fran, I think GT can do better than stupid gimmicks or mind games, but I'd love to hear thoughts on how we get this part fixed. We have no reason to be "full of ourselves" as KQ said in the video. GT football is always at its best with a chip on its shoulder. How do you cultivate that mindset consistently?
After watching and reading @ibeeballin's analysis, we definitely had poor execution issues in the UL game, and there were several against SU also. Brent's coaching decisions in the two losses have been discussed here in depth, and I think we can all reasonably see that he is an inexperienced HC who still has the program moving in the right direction but is growing and learning. Hopefully what they say is true that he's his own biggest critic and he will continue to work hard to get better and not be a barrier to the team's success.
That leaves the motivation thought. Please don't tell me that most of our struggles thus far have been between the ears of our players (or even worse, our coaches). Let's be honest, our players, coaches, and fans alike behaved like the win in Ireland was a bowl game victory and the season was over, Waterford crystal trophies and all. Thankfully we came somewhat ready to play against GSU because it was sold as the "Battle for ATL" and GSU's "Super Bowl", but then we have two ACC road trips and we "lack juice" and seem dead. Other than blaming Delta for flight problems, what gives? I'd love to believe that CPJ's belief that players should be self motivated and should bring their own energy is still valid in today's game, but I'm thinking those days have past. Kirbs had his players wearing t-shirts that said "Nobody Cares" during offseason workouts just a few weeks after winning the natty a few years ago. Fran B makes up some BS objections to Brent's comments and gets his kids to play with juice in his first conference game as a HC, and at least in part, it worked.
Please don't tell me that because we won a treasure chest (Gasparilla Bowl) and some Waterford crystal in Ireland in consecutive games that we somehow thought we were somebody and we had gone from rags to riches in warp speed. I know Brent talks a lot about consistency. How do you create consistency in the motivation/culture aspect of the team? I don't want Brent to have to mimic Kirby or Fran, I think GT can do better than stupid gimmicks or mind games, but I'd love to hear thoughts on how we get this part fixed. We have no reason to be "full of ourselves" as KQ said in the video. GT football is always at its best with a chip on its shoulder. How do you cultivate that mindset consistently?
