From a Different Perspective, Gifford Observes Accountability Issues

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
“Everybody talks about accountability and how it had been a problem the last few years,” he says. “When you’re a player, people tell you it’s a problem, but you don’t necessarily see it. You don’t see it like a coach would. But being able to see it from the outside, it was very, very evident.”

People often ask what went wrong as Nebraska slid to 4-8 last season under Mike Riley, who was ousted as head coach a day after the final game. Obviously, a lot went wrong during Riley’s three-year tenure, but a lack of accountability among players surely would rank near the top of any list.

Once Gifford was able to leave the vortex of the storm, during rehab, that deficiency became clearer to him.

“I think being able to see it from that viewpoint, and the way (first-year strength coach) Zach Duval and (first-year head coach) Scott Frost talked about it and started changing things, really helps me understand what needed to be done,” says Gifford, who started each of the first seven games last season and made 39 tackles.

Listening to Gifford, Duval’s importance becomes evident. Duval makes it a point to teach leadership methods, Gifford says, and the overarching message is that it can’t be only the coaches who put their foot down when necessary.
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LJS

 
It's kinda odd.  We, as fans, have talked about lack of accountability on the team for some time.  But, in our own lives, do most of us hold co-workers who are slacking off "accountable?"  I would say most of us do not.  Because no one wants to be the disliked co-worker.  Same applies for these young men on the Nebraska football team--no one wants to be disliked in the locker room.  But it is great to hear the issue being recognized as a problem and now being addressed.

:thumbs

 
Making Chimichangas said:
It's kinda odd.  We, as fans, have talked about lack of accountability on the team for some time.  But, in our own lives, do most of us hold co-workers who are slacking off "accountable?"  I would say most of us do not.  Because no one wants to be the disliked co-worker.  Same applies for these young men on the Nebraska football team--no one wants to be disliked in the locker room.  But it is great to hear the issue being recognized as a problem and now being addressed.

:thumbs
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This is why I love being in sales.  You either produce or you get clipped.

 
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Ahh, I remember my days of working sales in a clothing store. And how they turned my designated area of the store the dumping ground for clearance clothes that were about 5 months out of season. Great environment for trying to make your sales quota!

 
Making Chimichangas said:
It's kinda odd.  We, as fans, have talked about lack of accountability on the team for some time.  But, in our own lives, do most of us hold co-workers who are slacking off "accountable?"  I would say most of us do not.  Because no one wants to be the disliked co-worker.  Same applies for these young men on the Nebraska football team--no one wants to be disliked in the locker room.  But it is great to hear the issue being recognized as a problem and now being addressed.

:thumbs
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One word for your post..."ouch".....hurts to look at oneself through the same lens we look at others.  Good post.

 
Making Chimichangas said:
It's kinda odd.  We, as fans, have talked about lack of accountability on the team for some time.  But, in our own lives, do most of us hold co-workers who are slacking off "accountable?"  I would say most of us do not.  Because no one wants to be the disliked co-worker.  Same applies for these young men on the Nebraska football team--no one wants to be disliked in the locker room.  But it is great to hear the issue being recognized as a problem and now being addressed.

:thumbs
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You definitely see this in many different types of organizations.  I think it's also a common thing for people in an organization to THINK they are holding each other accountable or doing the best they can...when in reality, the outside world is looking at them knowing they are not doing what it takes for success.

You really need to be able to step outside the "group" and try to see what the outside world sees.  That's tough to do sometimes and rather humbling.

 
Making Chimichangas said:
It's kinda odd.  We, as fans, have talked about lack of accountability on the team for some time.  But, in our own lives, do most of us hold co-workers who are slacking off "accountable?"  I would say most of us do not.  Because no one wants to be the disliked co-worker.  Same applies for these young men on the Nebraska football team--no one wants to be disliked in the locker room.  But it is great to hear the issue being recognized as a problem and now being addressed.

:thumbs
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I'm sure that is true, but I also think that people see it in the beginning and comment on such things then nothing happens and you become the person shaking the boat.  Unfortunately even people who do speak up get ignored by the people who actually could make change.  After a while you just give up trying when the people who do have the ability to cause change just do nothing, i see it in companies all the time.

 
HuskerInLostWages said:
I'm sure that is true, but I also think that people see it in the beginning and comment on such things then nothing happens and you become the person shaking the boat.  Unfortunately even people who do speak up get ignored by the people who actually could make change.  After a while you just give up trying when the people who do have the ability to cause change just do nothing, i see it in companies all the time.
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That is definitely true.  Mike Riley had the power to hold his players accountable and he never did.  Problems like this are almost always a top-down problem.

 


I always felt that Bo tried very hard holding players accountable.  However, this "horizontal leadership" was something he never figured out how to develop.

 
HuskerInLostWages said:
If you cant hold yourself accountable first and foremost, you cant try and instill accountability in others.  Bo never had a problem pointing fingers at anyone but himself, how could he teach it to the kids?
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Eh, I think this is one of those "people read into it what they want to" type of things.  There is basically no difference between "explaining what happened" and "blaming someone else" other than how the statement is interpreted.  

Coaches are in a lose/lose position.  If they talk about what went wrong on the field they are blaming the players.  If they speak more generally the are just spewing "coach speak."

Under Pelini, the vast majority of fans went out of their way to put almost all the blame on the coaches and very little of the blame on the players.  For at least the first two years under Riley a lot of people were finding any way they could to blame the players and make excuses for the coaching staff.  But I think it's pretty clear now that the true story was a lot closer to the inverse of those two situations.

 
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