91AggieLawyer said:
He is Ass My Dude said:
Cignette seems to have exceptionally efficient camps. He knows something about how to increase effective learning and focus. He has stated they don't give players a second rep at a play if they mess up. The play is run once and they move to the next. That surely increases focus.
Maybe, but I believe Saban did the exact opposite. I know for a fact that Saban was out on the practice field telling his players to "keep doing it until you can't do it wrong." That is a direct quote -- not a paraphrase.
If that's true (about the approach), which one is right?
This is the problem we get into: Saban was successful doing things his way, so we assume that MUST be the way. Then, someone else comes along -- Dabo, then Kirby, Day, now Cignetti -- and they all do things differently from Saban with somewhat similar results (maybe not as consistent, but they win). People are like, OK, let's do it that way or...
When you look closely at it, you realize that Dabo, Kirby, Day, and Cignetti, didn't make a wholesale copy of Saban. We don't need a wholesale copy of any of them. I think we know more about what doesn't work than what does (e.g. sticking with the wrong QB -- Mond/Reed; lack of attention to defense -- Sumlin; too complicated of an offense, at least for the QB -- Jimbo; lack of creativity on offense and letting your assistants coach-- Slocum; and excessive stubbornness and a refusal to change -- all of the above, including Elko).
Now: do/did any of the coaches I mentioned above (when they were winning, at least) have really ANY of these qualities? Or, at least, more than 1? (Keep in mind there's a huge difference in some stubbornness being the difference between 12-1 vs. 11-2 and winning 9 or 10 games vs. 4).
Saban did not focus on winning or scoreboards. That's the whole point.
1.) He understood the details of how to accomplish what you want in the game, and he forced perfection in every detail.
2.) He knew how to convey that message to the fans, the team, the players, the admin, the whole damn state.
3.) He did not allow naysayers, malcontents, or anyone that wasn't interested in being all in. He sold the buy in.
4.) The winning and NC is the result of these efforts, not the goal.
We have a huge issue at A&M and it starts heavily with dumbass boosters and BMA. We have everything we need to win except the attention to detail, refusal of accepting sloppy work, and buy in of every one at every level of the organization. We still treat our football program like a game and not like a business.
We are mediocre. We have always been mediocre, and we will always be mediocre until this changes. This is the recipe for success for literally everything in life...football, marriage, sales, you name it. You create consistency and hard work on the small things and the big things work out.
Again, we have everything we need. But, when it gets hard, we freak out, dumbass boosters want instant results, and we fire everyone and start over.
Fisher could have been great. He knew the system. He just didn't have the drive and stamina to maintain it.
