Coaches Advisor – October 2004
October 2004 – This Month in Coaches Advisor…
Program Turnarounds – Examples and tips from Howard Schnellenberger – Miami, Louisville and Central Florida and Herb
Hand – West Virginia
People who can turn things around in corporate America are a hot commodity and they often move from company to company quickly. They do their job and move on. Right the ship and jump to the next challenge. Some do stay and continue to build and sustain the program, but a lot leave.
What names come to mind in football? In 1979 Howard Schnellenberger took over a program that was close to being dropped and led them to a National Title in 1984. Well chronicled in Bruce Feldman’s new book, ‘Cane Mutiny How the Miami Hurricanes Overturned The Football Establishment , Schenellenberger
was a no BS kind of guy who weeded out the punks, kept the warriors and recruited fast, athletic players by putting up a “recruiting fence” in South
Florida and renaming the area the “State of Miami.”
In Louisville he was the architect of the most successful decade in school history and produced a school best 10-1-1 record. At Florida Atlantic he was
given the reigns and told to build a football program from the floor up! To date, in the 4th season, they are 5-0, and 22-18 overall. According to the coach, “it is easier to build a program from scratch than to resurrect a dying one.” Why? You don’t have this adjustment period where the transition is so volatile while change is implemented. You build it to order.
In all cases Schnellenberger played very aggressive schedules, ran a pro-style, balanced offense and recruited players to fit his style. But the problem with turnarounds is usually an attitude. Attitudes by the players and assistant coaches. Attitudes of the administration, media and attitudes about the players and team by the community. The bottom line is that Schnellenberger had a plan, believed in it and ran it in the face of adversity.
Once legendary coach Don Nehlen retired, new coach Rich Rodriquez walked into a program coming off a bowl victory. Hardly a typical turnaround, but he did have
a plan for his program and the goal was a national championship. Implementing the plan meant change and in that first year WVU suffered, going 3-8.
According to Herb Hand, recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach at WVU there are a few fundamentals to turning a team around. Hand can speak from the
experience of going 3-8 in his first year at WVU to 9-3 in the next..
1) “First you have to have a plan for your team and program and you have to believe in that plan. During times of change you will have a lot of opportunities to question what you are doing. Your schemes, your methods, etc. And if you panic, and don’t stick to the plan you lose the confidence of your players, your coaches and sometimes your fans.
2)
“Once you and your staff believe in a plan, you need to get the players to buy into the plan. The seniors are key in my mind and need to be sold first. The underclassmen will usually be fine, but you don’t want “Lockerroom Lawyers” working behind your back. Since you can’t always be in the lockerroom you need guys who shut people up when complaining starts.
3) “Plan for the entire program – a lot of guys are great X’s and O’s people and at the college level there is not a coach who does not know his stuff. The difference in winning is a guy who can put all the pieces together. Hire the right staff, motivate the players, communicate with the community and administrators and discipline the team. You need a plan for all of that – hiring the right guys, recruiting players, discipline, conditioning, fundamentals and techniques. Fail to plan and you plan to fail, it is that simple.”
4) “If you believe in what your plan is, don’t get knocked off course by losing at first. Look at Jimmy Johnson’s first year with the Cowboys, 1-15! From what I read – Johnson and his staff knew and really believed that they were doing the right thing and just needed A) the right players in place, and B) to better execute the game plan and they would be ok. They never once wavered on their plan and it obviously paid off.”
5) “Surround yourself with winners. If I was an AD hiring a coach for this situation, my preference would be a guy who has won before or was part of a winning organization. The experience and understanding of these key points and having done it before is huge!