Worrisome talk from Fedora

[UNCGridironFanatic]

Saw the All Access vid of the locker room scene post-GT. In it, Fed was addressing the team...he said, I quote, "there is no doubt in my mind that we can win the Coastal this year". To me, that is a very dangerous mindset to impart to the team at this juncture. What he did at 1-5 in 2013 is the way to talk to your football team...remember that? "Let's be 1-0 this week". He correctly inculcated the idea in his team that every game was a one game season. And we won 6 of the next 7. That should be the mantra every year, in season.

Talking long term goals after 5 games is a surefire way to have your team come out tight on gameday.

The guy won a big one Sat., no need for him to plant the seed of his own demise w/ nonsense talk like that.

 

[uncboy10]

Couldn't disagree more. That's absolutely where the bar should be set and the players already know that.

 

[UNCGridironFanatic]

Sorry, that is so wrong on so many levels. You achieve big goals by focusing on and achieving shorter term and intermediate goals that logically build to the whole enchilada along the way. Business, politics, sports, etc. You don't "set the bar" at the long-term goal 5/12ths of the way thru when any one of the 7 smaller tasks that have to be taken care of can ruin the long term goal.

Doing it any other way than the old "one game at a time" truism is a surefire way to guarantee failure.

 

[heelmanwilm]

Teams set goals at the beginning of the year. Attainable goals. One of theirs is to win the coastal. Surely u cant expect them to not discuss it.

 

[uncboy10]

Sorry, that is so wrong on so many levels. You achieve big goals by focusing on and achieving shorter term and intermediate goals that logically build to the whole enchilada along the way. Business, politics, sports, etc. You don't "set the bar" at the long-term goal 5/12ths of the way thru when any one of the 7 smaller tasks that have to be taken care of can ruin the long term goal.

Doing it any other way than the old "one game at a time" truism is a surefire way to guarantee failure.

So you're saying long term goals don't play a part in politics, business, or sports? That's nonsense. There is nothing wrong with mentioning the big picture after a big win like that. Then Monday morning you get back to work getting ready for Wake Forest. Pretty simple really.

 

[Tom79]

Um, most teams goals include winning their conference or conference division and if capable winning in playoffs/bowls.
The big picture is one goal, win conference. The mechanics of it would be one game, one week at a time, not overlooking any opponent.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

Give it a rest dude. Your act is tired. You're also BEYOND wrong. The fact that you could watch that video and have ANYTHING negative to say is disgusting to me.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

The guy won a big one Sat., no need for me to make myself look like downright stupid and obnoxious w/ nonsense talk like this.

Fixed that for you.

Seriously, how stupid do you think our players are? Do you think they fail to grasp the ever-so-complex concept that winning the Coastal requires wins every week? Also, you do realize that you're watching a cherry-picked 15 seconds of what he said after the game, running with it, and jumping to wild conclusions?

The man ain't perfect, but at least wait til we lose a conference game before bashing him....especially after the biggest Carolina Football victory in years and years. If we come out and lose to Wake, then by all means get upset and I will be right there with you.

And one final thing: if you re-watch the video, you'll notice that at halftime, Landon Turner rallies the troops with the question "Do you want the Coastal or not? Coastal on 3, 1-2-3 COASTAL!" Seems like it worked pretty good didn't it...? Are you going to try to tell me we looked past GT to the bye or something?

 

[TVJ]

Saw the All Access vid of the locker room scene post-GT. In it, Fed was addressing the team...he said, I quote, "there is no doubt in my mind that we can win the Coastal this year". To me, that is a very dangerous mindset to impart to the team at this juncture. What he did at 1-5 in 2013 is the way to talk to your football team...remember that? "Let's be 1-0 this week". He correctly inculcated the idea in his team that every game was a one game season. And we won 6 of the next 7. That should be the mantra every year, in season.

Talking long term goals after 5 games is a surefire way to have your team come out tight on gameday.

The guy won a big one Sat., no need for him to plant the seed of his own demise w/ nonsense talk like that.

So what was Fedora supposed to say - "You guys suck. You may have lucked out today but you have no chance going forward"? As they say on TV, Come on, man!

 

[BeezerHeel]

Nothing much to add after reading thru all these posts except to the OP - don't try to be the smartest man on a MB.

 

[gunslingerdick]

I don't think the OP deserves the beating he's taking for his post but I do agree with most here that I have no problem with what Fedora said and that's coming from someone that's consistently critical of our head coach.

 

[UNCGridironFanatic]

Give it a rest dude. Your act is tired. You're also BEYOND wrong. The fact that you could watch that video and have ANYTHING negative to say is disgusting to me.

I don't have an "act", and if I did, it is certainly no more " tired" than your attack dog mode anytime somebody posts something w/ which you disagree, to the point you claim what they say is somehow "disgusting". I didn't attack Fed; I called his comments, quote, worrisome. As for what Fed might have said, maybe emphasizing the one game at a time approach to securing the bigger goal.

You need meds, dude.

 

[UNCGridironFanatic]

Our kids aren't stupid, THNation. But as anyone who has ever worked w/ young people (insert Cutcliffe joke here) knows, they are VERY PRONE to getting ahead of themselves and not honoring the processes that set them up to succeed.

And the fact is, this is a 180* for Fed. He's consistently been a one game at a time guy. That is what makes it worrisome.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

Maybe he feels his team is ready now to challenge for the whole thing? When before he didn't?

And I come off so pissy because you force me into staunchly defending Fedora even when I don't necessarily want to haha. But he won huge, huge currency with me for beating Tech in Atlanta. That's something none of our previous 4 coaches could do.

I like the opposite viewpoints you bring to the board but IMO you're way over the top. Like way, way over the top. Criticizing his message to the team? That's Pack Pride-level stuff.

ETA: And your timing is really what sends me over the edge. The dude just took this program to a monumental high, and you want to tear him down STILL? Okay.

 

[UNC71-00]

I'm again with Grid.

Does anyone here think Dean Smith ever said to his team in January "There's no doubt in my mind we can win the conference?"

Remember a few weeks ago when Fed talked about GT before the Delaware game? And we came out flat for the first half against the Blue Hens- actually had to change QBs as some of you may recall. Not saying there is a definite cause-effect, but not saying there isn't.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

I'm again with Grid.
Does anyone here think Dean Smith ever said to his team in January "There's no doubt in my mind we can win the conference?"

Since when is confidence and self-belief a bad thing? What do you want Fedora to say? Should he trot out a Bunting-ism like "let's keep chopping wood!"

 

[UNC71-00]

Since when is confidence and self-belief a bad thing? What do you want Fedora to say? Should he trot out a Bunting-ism like "let's keep chopping wood!"

You have completely taken the position of defending Fedora on every point.

I hope he keeps winning. I want him to be the most successful coach in the history of football. However given his tactical moves from the past 4 years, he has put himself under the microscope. That's fine if you don't want to look into the scope, but no one thinks it is a good idea to talk about winning a championship after 1 game. You know that.

It has nothing to do with confidence and every thing to do with looking ahead. You want players to stay in the present at all times- coaches can look ahead, but it's never a good idea to involve the players in such an exercise.

 

[UNCGridironFanatic]

It has nothing to do with confidence and every thing to do with looking ahead. You want players to stay in the present at all times- coaches can look ahead, but it's never a good idea to involve the players in such an exercise.

Exactly. Precisely the point.

And let me address the "monumental high" viewpoint on this win. I'm thrilled we broke thru in ATL, against a team that has tortured us for the better part of 2 decades. And the manner in which we did it was gutsy as heck. But let's keep it in perspective; we didn't win the Super Bowl; we beat a 2-3 (now) team that is struggling. No doubt it's a breakthrough OF SORTS; to do what we want to do, though, we're going to have to beat better teams than this year's Tech.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

You have completely taken the position of defending Fedora on every point.

Not true. I completely 100% agree that Fedora and his staff, among other things, :
- blew the Zero Dark Thursday Miami game
- failed to keep the team united last season which led to the Moo disaster (the likely culpable coaches were on defense and were all replaced)
- at times, make lousy in-game decisions

The dude is. not. perfect. Never going to say he is. I do think though that y'all are the way over the top. Quit holding him to Dean Smith standards. There are maybe a hand-full of coaches in any sport that have coached as effectively (on and off the court) in the history of sports. Holding anyone, including Roy Williams, to that standard is beyond ridiculous.

All I'm saying is give the man his due, for once, after a potentially program-changing win. That's all.

 

[heelmanwilm]

To any players who may be lurking

There is no doubt in my mind you're capable of winning the coastal, playing in a top tier bowl, and finish the season ranked in top 15

 

[UNCGridironFanatic]

To any players who may be lurking:

I agree w/ heelmanwilm. You guys can do all the things he alluded to in his post. But to do so, you're going to have to approach your business week to week, never looking past an opponent, or even looking past the next play. In other words, as your coach said when we were 1-5 in 2013, "1-0" is the mantra...one week at a time.

 

[UNCGridironFanatic]

Roy Williams does a much better job approaching the standards that Dean Smith set than Larry Fedora does, or has to this point. That standard is a pretty good long term standard to which to aspire, no?

 

[TarHeelNation11]

To any players who may be lurking:

I agree w/ heelmanwilm. You guys can do all the things he alluded to in his post. But to do so, you're going to have to approach your business week to week, never looking past an opponent, or even looking past the next play. In other words, as your coach said when we were 1-5 in 2013, "1-0" is the mantra...one week at a time.

I.E., I'm smarter than your head coach who never makes the right decision.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

Roy Williams does a much better job approaching the standards that Dean Smith set than Larry Fedora does, or has to this point. That standard is a pretty good long term standard to which to aspire, no?

Yeah agreed, that's why he's in THE HALL OF FAME. Dude, like seriously. Have at it. I'm done.

 

[UNCGridironFanatic]

Really, THN11? Quoting what their head coach said to them about taking care of business week to week is me saying I'm smarter than him?

 

[UNC71-00]

Not true. I completely 100% agree that Fedora and his staff, among other things, :
- blew the Zero Dark Thursday Miami game
- failed to keep the team united last season which led to the Moo disaster (the likely culpable coaches were on defense and were all replaced)
- at times, make lousy in-game decisions

The dude is. not. perfect. Never going to say he is. I do think though that y'all are the way over the top. Quit holding him to Dean Smith standards. There are maybe a hand-full of coaches in any sport that have coached as effectively (on and off the court) in the history of sports. Holding anyone, including Roy Williams, to that standard is beyond ridiculous.

All I'm saying is give the man his due, for once, after a potentially program-changing win. That's all.

He has been given his due. He is also being held accountable for yet another stupid move which occurred after the game.

It was a great win. Fedora made a good decision in keeping with Q for GT. He also made a good decision to hire Gene Chizik, who made a decision to adjust the D at half, something we never saw from the previous fool of a DC.

All that being said, every coach from Pop Warner on up knows not to speak in public or to his team about winning an 8 game championship after precisely 1 win.

You can say that we keep riding Fedora's ass and my response is that he keeps giving us cause to do so.

 

[UNC71-00]

Yeah agreed, that's why he's in THE HALL OF FAME. Dude, like seriously. Have at it. I'm done.

Name one other coach who you have ever heard talk about winning a championship after 1 win. I don't care at what level he coaches.

 

[JimmyinVA]

i can see both sides of this debate. i like the coaching philosophy of focusing on the next game only, one game at a time to avoid not being ready to play (e.g. vs. ncsu last year). i also see the value of having long term goals as long you focus strongly on the next opponent, as an obstacle to that goal. perhaps the two coaching philosophies can be combined?

 

[TarHeelNation11]

Name one other coach who you have ever heard talk about winning a championship after 1 win. I don't care at what level he coaches.

Apples to oranges. Fedora wasn't saying it to the media. All coaches use the cliche "one game at a time" to the media. Fedora has used that line countless times...look it up.

This was a situation where he was talking to his team behind closed doors (with a football program cameraman there...thus the video being "All-Access"). Are you privy to what all other coaches say to their team -- not to the media -- in the locker room after wins?

And let me repeat, Fedora has trotted out the "we take it one week at a time" line many times. So I don't know what you want from him. I don't care if he stands up there for 7 minutes post-game and does nothing but hold his middle fingers up. As long as we win.

 

[berry30]

I personally like him mentioning it. He should not mention it after every win or after every game, but I like it. It is one of the goals of the team this year. Keeping them focused on the long term goal is a positive. Getting the players mindset on winning is critical in any way you can do it. We are talking about 18-22 year old kids. With all the outside influences going on in their lives ( school, family, girls, life, weight training, etc.. ), reminding them of the task at hand is a good thing. I just don't want the coastal talk being done on a weekly basis.

Go Heels!!!!

 

[UNCGridironFanatic]

Apples to oranges. Fedora wasn't saying it to the media. All coaches use the cliche "one game at a time" to the media. Fedora has used that line countless times...look it up.

This was a situation where he was talking to his team behind closed doors (with a football program cameraman there...thus the video being "All-Access"). Are you privy to what all other coaches say to their team -- not to the media -- in the locker room after wins?

And let me repeat, Fedora has trotted out the "we take it one week at a time" line many times. So I don't know what you want from him. I don't care if he stands up there for 7 minutes post-game and does nothing but hold his middle fingers up. As long as we win.

Which brings me back to the original intent of the post, which is more worrisome and confusing than to rip into Fedora. He has more than preached one game at a time publicly....he made it the MANTRA of the 2013 team after the poor start, and continued it into last season. And he wasn't giving lip service to the public; he made it clear that each and every practice, he made sure the kids were focused on being "1-0" in a series of one game seasons. Criticism or not, you can't argue w/ the better finishes to those seasons relative to the starts, and in no small part, IMO, that focus is to be credited (see, I can praise Fed!). So WHY, after 1 league game THIS year, did he go 180* on something that has worked for him and risk changing the team's mindset, potentially???? That's the point; not bashing Fed, as so many of you want to accuse me of doing.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

^^ Because we aren't 1-5 right now. That was a massive hole to dig out of, so obviously it needed to be a one-game-at-a-time thing. That's not the situation this season. We are deeper, older, and sitting at 4-1 (1-0) with a clear goal in front of us. That's how I see it anyway. It's a different psychology when your record is that terrible, versus being "out in front" like we are now.

I'm certainly intrigued to see how it plays out. I expect the team to go to work this week and prep for Wake and only Wake. If we stump our toe, I'll be the first to criticize the staff for not having the players ready, for this is a matchup where we are superior in every way. Let's see how it plays out.

 

[The Sharkster]

Couldn't disagree more. That's absolutely where the bar should be set and the players already know that.

Agree

 

[The Sharkster]

I agree with Fed on this one. If the Heels play the way they played (Sans spotting some team 21 pts) the rest of the way, they are going to be hard to beat. Write it down. There is no way they can't win the Coastal even if they lose one more.

 

[Deezheelz]

SMDH!!!! Larry can't win for losing! No problem with the comment at all. If I was Larry our goals would be 1. Coastal 2. ACC Champions 3. National champions. Coastal comes first in that three step process. And before you laugh at #'s 2 and 3, why in the hell shouldn't that be our goal.

 

[gunslingerdick]

To any players that may be lurking:

Get a life. Don't you have something better to do than to watch an argument between a bunch of crotchety old men on a message board who all think they know better than your head coach what the team should be doing? Go practice, study or have risky, unprotected sex with a couple hotties.

 

[HeelFan58]

ESPN's FPI gives us the best chance of winning the Coastal. I would hope winning the Coastal was a goal of our's and I would think when things appear to be going good it should be brought up and reinforced. Also if it doesn't come to fruition then the goal below it needs to be reinforced.

 

[TVJ]

Let's let Fedora be human. His team just had a huge turn-around victory, broken a 17-year losing streak in Atlanta, and had his faith in Marquise justified. He was excited and deservedly so. Nothing outlandish about what he said.

 

[UNCGridironFanatic]

Nope, nothing outlandish. Nor did I say it was. I just worry about the message it sends, which is in diametric opposition to the message of week by week focus he's sent previously. Not calling for his head, or that he be flogged. Just concerned.

Great win, yes. But 1 of only 8 that we need to get. Frankly, we're the only Coastal team that has a chance against FSU and/or Clemson in the ACCCG, IMO. I just hope that our coaching staff reverts to the "1-0" mantra of years past moving forward. It's simple really....

Moo means less if we don't take care of Va Tech....which means less if we don't take care of Miami...which means less if we don't take care of Dook....which means less if we don't take care of Pitt (on Nat'l TV on Thurs. night)....which means less if we don't take care of uva....which means even less if we don't take care of WFU first. There isn't one of those teams that cannot beat us; not one particularly scares me, either. And every one of them, save uva and probably Wake, is at least the equal to or better than GaTech. One at a time.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

There isn't one of those teams that cannot beat us; not one particularly scares me, either. And every one of them, save uva and probably Wake, is at least the equal to or better than GaTech. One at a time.

Totally agree with this. While we may be the "favorite" right now, we are by no means out of the woods yet. We could lose any of our remaining games and I wouldn't be shocked.

I'm confident the coaches and players 100% know this. They were just celebrating a victory. I have no problem with them believing that they're the best team in the division. Now they need to go out and play like it.