Sonny’s leadership the past week has been disgraceful. He knew this schedule snafu last December and although I don’t recall him bitching about it then (it wouldn’t surprise me in the least now that I think about it), the fact that he did it this week is appalling.
Yes, it sucks, and we all feel bad that some kids had to work harder this week in the classroom on a short week. But. That. Is. Life. And life throws you challenges. And Sonny was able to land his message with the press very effectively, supported by data points, etc. But bitching about it this week – of all weeks - is weak-minded and delivered a devastating lack of leadership when the players needed it most.
A leader fights through adversity, or at least displays the confidence to his team that perseverance is possible.
Sonny sounded beaten with this message, and looked beaten on gameday. Yesterday’s outcome was a predictable result in retrospect.
By defending the ‘student-athletes’ this week he thought this would show his players that he supports them, but in reality it had the opposite effect. It sent the message of ‘oh, well then we have an excuse if we don’t win.’ To me, it sent the ‘circle the wagons, this is it’ -mentality message. Yes, leaders protect their people, but they also step up when things get tough. Sonny did not ‘step up’ this week.
Can you imagine Nick Saban or Urban Meyer complaining in a week like this against arguably their most hated rival about a short week? I can’t. I can plainly hear both men saying ‘it is what it is, and we just have focus on the task at hand.’ Now both men say that because they have the utmost confidence in their kids – mostly because they’ve won recruiting battle after recruiting battle. And that leads me to the only reason why Cal lost last night.
The fact is, Cal lost this week because we haven’t recruited well on defense since Sonny arrived. Numbers don’t lie, Sonny. Of all things, you should know this. He can make excuses about injuries and player departures, but his lack of leadership has driven many kids to other schools (Barton, Nickerson to name a few). And he's not getting stud defensive recruits at the sake of his offensive focus.
SC, plain and simple, has better recruits – better athletes – and they will continue running us out of the stadium every time we play them because of this. This won’t change until Cal starts winning recruiting battles on both sides of the ball, not just his precious offensive side. That hasn’t changed in 12 years and Sonny’s bitching didn’t help change things this week. In fact, this disgraceful show of leadership – or lack thereof – saw the program take yet another, long step back.
Sonny’s bitching won’t win recruiting battles. It’s the victim mentality that reminds me of Tedford’s final days. Sad.
Let me be clear, I’m a lifelong Cal fan and I’ve been waiting for Cal’s ‘Cubs-in-the-World-Series moment’ – but Sonny is not the coach that will deliver that moment.
Time to move on.
Yes, it sucks, and we all feel bad that some kids had to work harder this week in the classroom on a short week. But. That. Is. Life. And life throws you challenges. And Sonny was able to land his message with the press very effectively, supported by data points, etc. But bitching about it this week – of all weeks - is weak-minded and delivered a devastating lack of leadership when the players needed it most.
A leader fights through adversity, or at least displays the confidence to his team that perseverance is possible.
Sonny sounded beaten with this message, and looked beaten on gameday. Yesterday’s outcome was a predictable result in retrospect.
By defending the ‘student-athletes’ this week he thought this would show his players that he supports them, but in reality it had the opposite effect. It sent the message of ‘oh, well then we have an excuse if we don’t win.’ To me, it sent the ‘circle the wagons, this is it’ -mentality message. Yes, leaders protect their people, but they also step up when things get tough. Sonny did not ‘step up’ this week.
Can you imagine Nick Saban or Urban Meyer complaining in a week like this against arguably their most hated rival about a short week? I can’t. I can plainly hear both men saying ‘it is what it is, and we just have focus on the task at hand.’ Now both men say that because they have the utmost confidence in their kids – mostly because they’ve won recruiting battle after recruiting battle. And that leads me to the only reason why Cal lost last night.
The fact is, Cal lost this week because we haven’t recruited well on defense since Sonny arrived. Numbers don’t lie, Sonny. Of all things, you should know this. He can make excuses about injuries and player departures, but his lack of leadership has driven many kids to other schools (Barton, Nickerson to name a few). And he's not getting stud defensive recruits at the sake of his offensive focus.
SC, plain and simple, has better recruits – better athletes – and they will continue running us out of the stadium every time we play them because of this. This won’t change until Cal starts winning recruiting battles on both sides of the ball, not just his precious offensive side. That hasn’t changed in 12 years and Sonny’s bitching didn’t help change things this week. In fact, this disgraceful show of leadership – or lack thereof – saw the program take yet another, long step back.
Sonny’s bitching won’t win recruiting battles. It’s the victim mentality that reminds me of Tedford’s final days. Sad.
Let me be clear, I’m a lifelong Cal fan and I’ve been waiting for Cal’s ‘Cubs-in-the-World-Series moment’ – but Sonny is not the coach that will deliver that moment.
Time to move on.
