A lot of discussion, positive and negative, has focused on Holtz's play calling, coaching hires, recruiting, and whether he can win on a consistent basis. But I have heard him comment on several occassions regarding, at first it was the need for, and more recently it has been the accomplishment of, a change in the team culture.
I don't know what the state of the team "culture" was when he took the job, but my casual observation of player public comments, the total "buy-in" by the defensive unit of the Diaz philosophy, the willingness of the team to welcome and embrace without resentment the short-term leadership of Sokol and Bates, the seeming general willingness to advance team goals over individual goals, and a seemingly widespread mutually shared respect between players and between players and coaches, all indicate that if the culture has not changed, it has at least been dramatically enhanced.
Whether or not Skip can lead us to the Promised Land, in my opinion his dramatic improvement in early recruiting, something hardly ever even attempted by all previous coaches, his demonstrated determination to build a sustainable program through the high school ranks, and the clear pattern of recruitment of players that fit a vision of a team that is both fast enough to be a constant big-play threat, and physical enough to run between the tackles and challenge good P5 teams (the latter point being still a work in progress), has already elevated him to a point for consideration as one of our best-ever coaching hires. Consistent winning with some significant P5 victories would secure that title.
This post was edited on 1/1 9:58 AM by rhshirley
This post was edited on 1/1 11:26 AM by rhshirley
I don't know what the state of the team "culture" was when he took the job, but my casual observation of player public comments, the total "buy-in" by the defensive unit of the Diaz philosophy, the willingness of the team to welcome and embrace without resentment the short-term leadership of Sokol and Bates, the seeming general willingness to advance team goals over individual goals, and a seemingly widespread mutually shared respect between players and between players and coaches, all indicate that if the culture has not changed, it has at least been dramatically enhanced.
Whether or not Skip can lead us to the Promised Land, in my opinion his dramatic improvement in early recruiting, something hardly ever even attempted by all previous coaches, his demonstrated determination to build a sustainable program through the high school ranks, and the clear pattern of recruitment of players that fit a vision of a team that is both fast enough to be a constant big-play threat, and physical enough to run between the tackles and challenge good P5 teams (the latter point being still a work in progress), has already elevated him to a point for consideration as one of our best-ever coaching hires. Consistent winning with some significant P5 victories would secure that title.
This post was edited on 1/1 9:58 AM by rhshirley
This post was edited on 1/1 11:26 AM by rhshirley
