The Body Language

[ray233]

There is a time for me each year where I am completely consumed by Husker football. The idol that is the Big Red, seems to surface just before fall practice, continually ramping up my anticipation level, until kickoff roughly 5 weeks later.

 

To pass this time, I usually have to engulf myself in Husker happenings for 30-60 minutes a day. Outside of reading the same stories from different news outlets (and pretending like they're new), I start to dig around through statistics and look for signs of hope and positive numbers in Nebraska's favor. Adding to the situation, is the fact that we are embarking on the results of another regime change, affording me the opportunity to look at the very subtle changes in program that may or may not translate to the field.

 

As my patience has grown thin, I have officially decided to do more than sit back and read any and everything that is published regarding Nebraska Football. I am now going to fill some of that time gap by exercising my post count...

 

Enough of that BS. On with the meat of the post.

 

 

The Body Language

 

As the desperation grew this off season, I decided that one of the best gifts I could give myself would be a $9.99/month subscription to Huskersnside.com. I haven't decided on whether I'm happy or disappointed that their full game "archives" do not have any game footage from the Callahan era whatsoever. But in reality, one in my position can't be too picky...and besides, I don't buy DVDs of movies that I didn't like in the theater.

 

What is available, however, is a collection of tunnel walk videos throughout the years. I found it very interesting to watch the body language of the players as they prepared to take to the field throughout the different coaching regimes. Mainly 1994-1995, 2003 and 2007. Here's what I noticed:

• 1994-1995, These guys approached the field like they weren't allowed eat without a victory. Very business-like. Heads held high and intense focus. They believed they could beat everyone....and did. These guys were all pretty calm through the walk. They reminded me of hitmen. Even before the first championship, they walked with their heads high. Their body language said "We will succeed".
  
• 2003, I'm not sure how much of the influence on Bo's defense was leftover from previous years, but these guys were fired up for every play. You could easily see the results on the field, but even in the tunnel walk, guys were amped...bouncing around and brimming with energy. These guys just couldn't wait to take the field. You don't see any uncertainty in them. Their body language said "We will leave every single drop on the field".
  
• 2007, Something was wrong. For the most part, guys were casually moving through the line. A couple of guys seemed 'fired up' during the sequence, but upon further review, it appeared to be more of a frolic of fonfidence (fake confidence) than anything else. A couple guys are almost dancing around and acting silly, as opposed to the intense focus witnessed by previous walks. Also, from the view of the horseshoe (behind the heads of exiting players), it appears that many players have their heads down a bit as they walk by. I can understand the tall guys ducking their heads, but for the most part, Billy's boys looked like they were trying to psyche themselves up instead of actually just being psyched for game day. Their body language said "We're down, but we'll try".
  

Reviewing the Tunnel Walk videos really got me thinking about team "swagger". Team swagger typically develops from one of two sources: A coaching philosophy that attempts to breed it, or the experience of success. Either way, it seems to be a very consistent ingredient in good to great teams. True confidence can not be underestimated, and it is painfully obvious to most of Husker followers, that Callahan's teams did not have it. Some of his player's had it, but the team never did. There is a gigantic difference between the two. Confident teams win games, confident individuals win awards.

 

One of the more intriguing ideas from this brief study was about the swagger of the coaches alignment with the team attitudes. Tom Osborne was a guy who didn't talk much about it. He was hard-working and quietly passionate. By most accounts, he was also nice and extremely humble. However, you never got the feeling that he was unsure of himself in the slightest bit.

 

Bo is a football man. He lives breathes and eats the game of football, and technically, he is very disciplined in his approach to it. But Bo brings his heart with him to the football field, and apparently his heart is made out of organic volcano lava. Bo's passion is infectious, not just to the players, but even to the fans. His drive for excellence and no-nonsense approach to achieving it is hard to look beyond. He is a fiery leader, but more importantly, Bo Pelini is a trusted teacher. His players believe in him, his staff believes in him and the fans believe in him. This passion and fire takes a hold of his players from the onset. Bo does not have to convince his players to play hard. He breeds passion, brotherhood and accountability until it is an automatic process. Pelini doesn't wait patiently for confidence, he installs it like a defense. You can see it in all of his players.

 

Like Pelini, Callahan eats and breathes the X's and O's. Also, like Pelini, Callahan is highly disciplined in his approach. The big difference in attitude between the coaches, was that Callahan created a culture of emotional discipline in conjunction with the demands on players' schematic understanding of his complex offense. There were just a couple of problems, though:

 

 

The Fall of Callahan

 

Callahan's staff approached the game with a business-like mentality, but without the confidence of success. Player's developed more as co-workers, than family. Many played for themselves and to salvage their opportunities. The culture was very much in tune with Callahan's NFL background. In the NFL, the guy behind or in front of you is a threat to your bottom line. Your exceeding him could be the difference between a Mercedes and a Maybach. The difference between taking a cold shower, or wading in an olympic-sized swimming pool in the shape of your head. Player's don't typically establish a brotherhood in the NFL, because there is too much internal competition. In the age of free agents, salary caps and multiple contract clauses, being a rich man is a lot of hard work and loyalty and passion generally take a backseat.

 

In college football though, (hopefully) none of your teammates are getting paid. You don't play for pay, you play to win. The bottom line in the college football world, is winning. Sure, some players have the opportunity for individual ability to take them to the next-level, but being on a losing team can hurt those chances just as much as anything else. The NFL Draft is all about perception. Who looks the part? Who's going to stay out of jail? Who has the best stats? If your team is in the tank, then the perception can get muddled. The lack of sacks for a defensive end don't always take into account how many times he was double-teamed (because the rest of the line was mediocre). Scouts don't really care that you're a better player than your teams 3-9 record says you are. They don't care that your receivers never ran crisp routes and dropped passes, leading to your 1:2 touchdown to pick ratio. On the other side of this, scouts do pay more attention to a mediocre player on a National Championship team.

 

The point is, that in college football being on a winning team counts big. It's all that matters in college and it counts big in the evaluation of players for the next-level. The right mix of millionaires can win in the pros. In college, the desire to win has to replace the fear of not getting a contract extension. That culture has to be set and maintained. Since there's no guaranteed money to motivate players, there has to be personal coaching too. The impending threat of not making it to "The League" will not create a brotherhood of football players. If anything, it will separate players as they enhance their focus on "me" and me's opportunities.

 

Selfishness opposes help defense, playing for the man next to you...even playing for the fans. Bill Callahan's business plan game plan did not prepare his players for college football. Players who's talent exceeded the bad seasons enough to give them a shot at the NFL, may be better prepared for the pro culture, I'll give him that. However, those players were few and far between. The truly gifted players will adapt, even with poor coaching in college. But for everyone of them, there are 15 guys on the team that will live or die from the coaching they receive.

 

Often times, college is the transition into adulthood both physically and emotionally for players. At this point in their lives they can need as much advice in life, as they do with their field techniques. Unfortunately, even the best coach can't play 'poppa' to every young man on the roster. Player's have to hold each other accountable. Player's have to resolve their own issues and motivate one another. The best coaches are able to establish this culture within the team, enabling the players to govern their own relationships. This is where the bond forms. The brotherhood.

 

Callahan (slash Pederson) did not maintain Nebraska's football family. They tore down the successful farm to build a skyscraper in it's place. They turned away from Nebraska's foundation, which has always been exemplified in the relationships and the attitudes of the players. The organism that is Nebraska football rejected these changes like a bad heart transplant, and as a result, four seasons of Big Red football died on the operating table. At this point, the program didn't need another new heart, it needed the old one back.

 

Our beloved Huskers got that heart back when Tom Osborne returned. The confidence and swagger of Nebraska football has stayed with him, even when it was nowhere to be found on the field. He doesn't have to call plays and recruit to be effective. He doesn't have to reinstate the option. What he has to do is make decisions for the program that are in line with the Nebraska way. The ethics, the tradition, the swagger. Bo Pelini was a decision. He was a decision made with the interests and understanding of Nebraska Football at it's core, by the undisputed beating heart of the program for the last few decades. Tom Osborne made a family decision.

 

 

The Rise of Pelini

 

Husker football has not been Husker football for four years. They still wore the uniforms, walked the tunnel and played the game, but they just didn't get it. They didn't understand it. They didn't know it.

 

They're learning now.

 

They're meeting the players who had success. They're meeting players who loved college football and hated half pads because they couldn't lay the wood to each other. They're being taught football as a primary and schematics as a secondary. They're evaluated on their ability to play football, instead of their ability to retain hundreds of plays they'll never use. Nebraska football is experiencing a resurgence of intensity. Star ratings are not what made Nebraska great. Effort was and will be again. Toughness was and will be again. Passion was and will be again. These are family traditions.

 

We simply can't avoid these factors. These things define Head Coach Bo Pelini. They define his staff and will naturally define his team as a whole. It's cause and effect. You'll see it on the stat sheet, but more importantly, you'll see it in the players. The fight. The hustle. The attitude.

 

The season won't be perfect, but it will be great to watch. We lost big because of the little things. We learned that big-budget, Hollywood coaching can not get around the small things. You can't avoid the tradition. You can't avoid the basics. You must respect college football for what it is.

 

Many of us were excited about the possibilities of change....now we're clamoring to go back to the future with Bo Pelini. The grass wasn't really greener, and I'm more excited to be a Husker fan than ever. I will be watching things closely. As a fan of this great program, I am starving for some on-the-field success and the swagger that comes along with it.

 

I will be paying especially close attention to the body language in the opening act: The 2009 Tunnel Walk.

[hskerholic]

This is a great read and i totally agree with it

[papersun87]

Heck of a post. *golf clap*

[hskrpwr13]

Interesting analysis regarding the tunnel walk. Excellent post. I think your analysis about BC is old news though. I think most of us realize his NFL/business-like running of the team was not conducive to winning college football. The one thing I disagreed with was your analysis about being a pro prospect. The scouts don't care about win/loss records. Yes, being on a great team may get you more TV face time, but the NFL scouts see deeper than that through extensive research, end of year all-star games, and combine-like workouts.

[missouri_husker24]

awesome read

[ray233]

Interesting analysis regarding the tunnel walk. Excellent post. I think your analysis about BC is old news though. I think most of us realize his NFL/business-like running of the team was not conducive to winning college football. The one thing I disagreed with was your analysis about being a pro prospect. The scouts don't care about win/loss records. Yes, being on a great team may get you more TV face time, but the NFL scouts see deeper than that through extensive research, end of year all-star games, and combine-like workouts.

 

hskrpwr,

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

If you look at a team like the 2003 Huskers (oddly enough), they were ranked pretty high in many defensive categories and had a pretty weak offense (Jamaal Lord/Josh Davis).

 

The team went 9-3.

 

Out of the defensive starters on that team, 8/11 were drafted. The other three were invited to workouts, as well as many other players on the 2-deep. There was not that much NFL talent on that team, but other guys were able to reap the benefits of the team having a high-profile season defensively.

 

Of course scouts aren't "measuring" a player's win/loss record along with his 40 time. However, they do follow the hype for evaluation. That whole Husker defense got a deeper look from scouts because of the production of the whole unit.

 

I don't think Baylor's defensive players got as much preliminary attention from the scouts that year. Being on the 'radar' counts for something, and a good team can get you there.

 

IMHO

[HuskerFan505]

Awesome Post.

[OLDMAN]

Awesome Post.

 

 

 

 

Bla Bla Bla.................. don't you have some comic books to read or maybe Harry Potter?

[admo]

Awesome Post.

 

 

 

 

Bla Bla Bla.................. don't you have some comic books to read or maybe Harry Potter?

easy there...

[Eric the Red]

[huskernumerouno]

Awesome Post.

 

 

 

 

Bla Bla Bla.................. don't you have some comic books to read or maybe Harry Potter?

Maybe you should go kick a puppy or something. It has to suck to be so negitive all the time.

[HuskerTrucker]

totally awesome post, good observations.

[phantomhusker]

Awesome Post.

 

 

 

 

Bla Bla Bla.................. don't you have some comic books to read or maybe Harry Potter?

He sure hasnt been drinkink any kool-aid

[bbhusker]

Excellent post. Completely agree.

[Husker_x]

Awesome Post.

 

 

 

 

Bla Bla Bla.................. don't you have some comic books to read or maybe Harry Potter?