A Perfect Time To Point Out The Problem With Our Football Team

It's the way they think.

Yesterday was a loss...but clearly an impressive effort. Yes, that's what I'm saying--impressive. So what is the problem then? The problem has been, and will be until we get a coach, that we need that effort from the kickoff of the first game of the season to the final whistle of the last. We don't get it. It's cultural. Maybe a good coach could overcome the culture. It's our only chance until the culture changes. We need a sharp motivator at the helm. A guy (or girl I suppose) that gets that effort and doesn't make mistakes keeping our team in the hunt as opposed to being a liability. We play desperate when we are desperate. It is clear to me the Bills culture has no understanding of the constant desperation in the short NFL season that wins championships.

People being paid huge money to play a game should need no motivation beyond their over inflated paycheck.

That's exactly why the culture is at fault. It doesn't matter where you go or what you do it's leadership and mindset that drives an organization to success. And it doesn't matter how much money is being thrown around either. They are motivated as individuals...but they don't have the mindset to be a team the way they need to be.

at the pro level most players have been to the rodeo... rah rah speeches by a coach mean little to them; it's not the same as college.

that's not to say there aren't ways to motivate them. Bill Parcels was/is big into embarrassing a man's pride... either privately or publicly. He also was famous for cutting or benching players who got hurt easy... players played terrified that he would take their jobs and pride all the time. He also was big on building up pride. Bill Parcels where-ever he went transformed players into men and leaders. You hear about a Parcels 'guy', parcels loved his "guys" and liked to pick up as many of them as he could when he came to a new team. His teams turned around fast, not because those players were "great" (most were nothing more then average), but because they brought the "parcels" way into the locker room, and provided leadership to the other players.

That's what a great coach does. I'll refrain from comment about Belicheat (wait, wasn't that a comment?), but you'll notice Parcel's coaching tree towers over pro-football in much the same way George Allen's did. That is because he trained his coaches like he trained his players.


what we need is leadership, not a cheerleader. We need leaders in this locker-room (i don't care how good they are at football, as long as they don't suck up a roster spot). That's the biggest and most glaring problem we have now. Many coaches are quite successful without being good leaders, because they valued players with those skills. Gailey has never shown in his coaching career a willingness to use, or interest in, good leadership in his locker-room.

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Originally Posted by HAMMER

People being paid huge money to play a game should need no motivation beyond their over inflated paycheck.

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Money is actually not a good motivator. All the research points in the other direction, that being paid a lot based on performance actually is an inhibitor! Further, like many other American, players get bored with their job & their role. You throw millions of dollars towards a good player that doesn't have a 'love for the game' and he will respond similarly to an average Joe who just won the lottery.

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Originally Posted by Ingtar33

at the pro level most players have been to the rodeo... rah rah speeches by a coach mean little to them; it's not the same as college.

that's not to say there aren't ways to motivate them. Bill Parcels was/is big into embarrassing a man's pride... either privately or publicly. He also was famous for cutting or benching players who got hurt easy... players played terrified that he would take their jobs and pride all the time. He also was big on building up pride. Bill Parcels where-ever he went transformed players into men and leaders. You hear about a Parcels 'guy', parcels loved his "guys" and liked to pick up as many of them as he could when he came to a new team. His teams turned around fast, not because those players were "great" (most were nothing more then average), but because they brought the "parcels" way into the locker room, and provided leadership to the other players.

That's what a great coach does. I'll refrain from comment about Belicheat (wait, wasn't that a comment?), but you'll notice Parcel's coaching tree towers over pro-football in much the same way George Allen's did. That is because he trained his coaches like he trained his players.


what we need is leadership, not a cheerleader. We need leaders in this locker-room (i don't care how good they are at football, as long as they don't suck up a roster spot). That's the biggest and most glaring problem we have now. Many coaches are quite successful without being good leaders, because they valued players with those skills. Gailey has never shown in his coaching career a willingness to use, or interest in, good leadership in his locker-room.

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In Jimmy Johnson's own words Fear is the best motivator something Parcels mastered. It's all about manipulative player behavior, habits and installing a certain mentality and culture.

There are certainly different approaches to finding a winning culture. But I also think your scenario doesn't work here because of the culture built from the top. Players are not retained and we have even seen highly contributing players be snuffed off at the ends of their careers here. That takes it's toll on the player attitude over time towards the organization. And a vocal leader? Seriously that is not going to be allowed in the culture at OBD. So I would agree with you leadership would be tantamount to the team...but the reason it's not here flows from the leadership above.

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Originally Posted by Ingtar33

at the pro level most players have been to the rodeo... rah rah speeches by a coach mean little to them; it's not the same as college.

that's not to say there aren't ways to motivate them. Bill Parcels was/is big into embarrassing a man's pride... either privately or publicly. He also was famous for cutting or benching players who got hurt easy... players played terrified that he would take their jobs and pride all the time. He also was big on building up pride. Bill Parcels where-ever he went transformed players into men and leaders. You hear about a Parcels 'guy', parcels loved his "guys" and liked to pick up as many of them as he could when he came to a new team. His teams turned around fast, not because those players were "great" (most were nothing more then average), but because they brought the "parcels" way into the locker room, and provided leadership to the other players.

That's what a great coach does. I'll refrain from comment about Belicheat (wait, wasn't that a comment?), but you'll notice Parcel's coaching tree towers over pro-football in much the same way George Allen's did. That is because he trained his coaches like he trained his players.


what we need is leadership, not a cheerleader. We need leaders in this locker-room (i don't care how good they are at football, as long as they don't suck up a roster spot). That's the biggest and most glaring problem we have now. Many coaches are quite successful without being good leaders, because they valued players with those skills. Gailey has never shown in his coaching career a willingness to use, or interest in, good leadership in his locker-room.

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I agree.

Cutting Moorman is a great example of how this team treats vet leadership. Gailey isn't a fan of leader in his locker room, I suspect this thought process goes back to how he lost his job in Dallas.

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Originally Posted by Typ0

It's the way they think.

Yesterday was a loss...but clearly an impressive effort. Yes, that's what I'm saying--impressive. So what is the problem then? The problem has been, and will be until we get a coach, that we need that effort from the kickoff of the first game of the season to the final whistle of the last. We don't get it. It's cultural. Maybe a good coach could overcome the culture. It's our only chance until the culture changes. We need a sharp motivator at the helm. A guy (or girl I suppose) that gets that effort and doesn't make mistakes keeping our team in the hunt as opposed to being a liability. We play desperate when we are desperate. It is clear to me the Bills culture has no understanding of the constant desperation in the short NFL season that wins championships.

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I don't understand how you could possibly think that a team's mental attitude has any effect on their success. What does thinking have to do with football?

And even if thinking had anything to do with football, how in the hell can you say that the culture within the organization of the team has anything to do with the team's mentality.

In unrelated news, when Tom Brady was warming the bench at the University of Michigan, he hired a sports psychologist to learn how to control his anxiety and adopt a winning mentality.

I think Chan Gailey needs to do same thing. Obviously some coaches and players have naturally winning mentalities. But you can also learn some really important competencies to control anxiety and increase your mental focus. And perhaps just as importantly, if not more, Chan needs to learn the things that he has been doing in the face of defeat over the last season and a half that have psychologically hurt the team. He has hurt the team, and I'm fairly confident it was not intentional on his part.

Problem is exactly what Chandler said. No killer instinct.

The first time I saw Fitz pissed is when he got hit last Sunday. As much as I hate Brady the guy breeds fire into his teammates. As a team, they will step on your throat even if they are 3 TD's ahead.

Other than Kyle and even Kelsay, no other player on this DL is aggressive. They don't have a Killer mentality.

MARRIO IS SOFT! Sheppard belongs on the bench.

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Originally Posted by justasportsfan

Problem is exactly what Chandler said. No killer instinct.

The first time I saw Fitz pissed is when he got hit last Sunday. As much as I hate Brady the guy breeds fire into his teammates. As a team, they will step on your throat even if they are 3 TD's ahead.

Other than Kyle and even Kelsay, no other player on this DL is aggressive. They don't have a Killer mentality.

MARRIO IS SOFT! Sheppard belongs on the bench.

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I loved when Fitz got pissed yesterday, it's the first time I saw it too. Agree about Brady too. Brady flipped out on one of his guys yesterday when he got sacked.

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Originally Posted by Ingtar33

I agree.

Cutting Moorman is a great example of how this team treats vet leadership. Gailey isn't a fan of leader in his locker room, I suspect this thought process goes back to how he lost his job in Dallas.

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and it goes back to how he got the job here too. He's a yes man and he likes yes men. It's a good old boys club now.

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If only lack of thinking counted for points!!

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Originally Posted by K-Gun

I don't understand how you could possibly think that a team's mental attitude has any effect on their success. What does thinking have to do with football?

And even if thinking had anything to do with football, how in the hell can you say that the culture within the organization of the team has anything to do with the team's mentality.

In unrelated news, when Tom Brady was warming the bench at the University of Michigan, he hired a sports psychologist to learn how to control his anxiety and adopt a winning mentality.

I think Chan Gailey needs to do same thing. Obviously some coaches and players have naturally winning mentalities. But you can also learn some really important competencies to control anxiety and increase your mental focus. And perhaps just as importantly, if not more, Chan needs to learn the things that he has been doing in the face of defeat over the last season and a half that have psychologically hurt the team. He has hurt the team, and I'm fairly confident it was not intentional on his part.

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Again it's what I am alluding too. They have killer instinct when times become most desperate. We have seen this time and again year after year. They are professionals and can muster up a good game in desperation. If only they could do that in earlier games and get more wins that desperation would not be make or break. This is where Ingtar is saying the on the field leadership is missing to get the consistency required in the NFL to have winning seasons. And then we have a boneheaded coach shooting us in the foot as well...

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Originally Posted by justasportsfan

Problem is exactly what Chandler said. No killer instinct.

The first time I saw Fitz pissed is when he got hit last Sunday. As much as I hate Brady the guy breeds fire into his teammates. As a team, they will step on your throat even if they are 3 TD's ahead.

Other than Kyle and even Kelsay, no other player on this DL is aggressive. They don't have a Killer mentality.

MARRIO IS SOFT! Sheppard belongs on the bench.

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Originally Posted by justasportsfan

Problem is exactly what Chandler said. No killer instinct.

The first time I saw Fitz pissed is when he got hit last Sunday. As much as I hate Brady the guy breeds fire into his teammates. As a team, they will step on your throat even if they are 3 TD's ahead.

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And when he got pissed and hit by Spikes how many teammates came to his defense? Not one that I recall.

This team doesn't have a problem. They have problems as in many of them. Changing coaches again will only increase that number. In my opinion this team should change everything from top to bottom, or change nothing at all, and keep playing with the tools you have. Those are the only 2 paths to fixing this organization.

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Originally Posted by DraftBoy

And when he got pissed and hit by Spikes how many teammates came to his defense? Not one that I recall.

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they didn't know what route to run to get to Fitz's aid.

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Originally Posted by Typ0

Again it's what I am alluding too. They have killer instinct when times become most desperate. We have seen this time and again year after year. They are professionals and can muster up a good game in desperation. If only they could do that in earlier games and get more wins that desperation would not be make or break. This is where Ingtar is saying the on the field leadership is missing to get the consistency required in the NFL to have winning seasons. And then we have a boneheaded coach shooting us in the foot as well...

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Even Nix said they play as if there's no sense of urgency. Maybe they do but they certainly don't do it for 4 quarters.

Yep, and to me this clearly is an issue with preparation. They just don't seem to be able to find the right zone of a mental state in the preparation process to perform at that high level consistently despite what transpires in a game. The teams that do that are the winners and the ones that don't are the losers.

Mario was prepared to play vs. the texans due to the media. Then he disappeared again last sunday. The only one who is consistently going 100% every game is Kyle. I think we need to ask Mario for a pay cut and give the 100 to Kyle.

Money is a HUGE part of this game. Just ask the referees.

I really don't think these people are motivated by money. They spend their whole lives giving everything they have to prepare for Sunday's in the NFL. They want to be successful. The money part comes in when you talk about how much money the game is really bringing in and who gets what. But the motivation to go out there and put yourself on the line to win? Does not come down to dollars and sense. The only case I can think of where it might is in a contract year where a player might take more chances with his body to secure a better future...

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Originally Posted by Typ0

I really don't think these people are motivated by money. They spend their whole lives giving everything they have to prepare for Sunday's in the NFL. They want to be successful. The money part comes in when you talk about how much money the game is really bringing in and who gets what. But the motivation to go out there and put yourself on the line to win? Does not come down to dollars and sense. The only case I can think of where it might is in a contract year where a player might take more chances with his body to secure a better future...

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Dollars and cents*, and Kraft doesn't suit up on Sunday. His team does, and the gentlemen he pays to be zebras do as well. This league is so biased it's pathetic.

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Originally Posted by HAMMER

People being paid huge money to play a game should need no motivation beyond their over inflated paycheck.

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Unfortunately, money is a poor motivator. But professionals should be self-motivated. The problem is that a lot of these guys are "professionals" only by virtue of receiving that inflated paycheck. The trick is to find the guys that have the professional attitude. This was how our Super Bowl teams were built. That attitude has been lost.

the problem is they are individually motivated but not motivated as a team. That is the point I am trying to make. If you are making the jump that they are paid well thereby they should be motivated as a team I just don't buy it. The team needs glue that does not exist because it's a weak culture. And after today I get the feeling that Ralph might not be the problem that Russ Brandon is in Ralphs aging years. The organization is all business and no passion. The players from day one are reminded of the business aspect but what about the teamwork and camaraderie required to win? And that is going to be a meeting of the minds between ownership, management, coaching and players that synthesizes a winning attitude on the field from the opening kickoff to the last game of the season. We don't have it. Things are out of whack at OBD.