Alright, I'm trying my damndest to bite my proverbial digital keyboard tongue on the field goal thing. I'll go philosophizer here to distract myself.
Based on the info I've gathered, I totally get what Diaco is doing I think, I'll try to put it as few words possible - don't hold your breaths - at this point.
Here's a question: What makes a person powerful? What makes a person respected? What is trust? Ok - it's three questions. Not 'a' question.
The answer is simple, it's the establishment of a fact, undeniably, that a person's words and actions match up. (this does not apply, to football coaches, speaking to the media. None of us should ever really trust what a football coach is saying in the media, and I think that is probably so far - that our young head coach, needs to speed up the learning curve on - the media's trust - is earned and shared in what the choose NOT to write, vs what they do report and write. But I digress.
What makes a guy like Saddam Hussein was? Powerful? The leadership of ISIS now? It's because when they say they are going to kill you, if you don't do something they want, they do actually kill you.
Diaco, made it very clear in the offseason that he found a football program that was divided. Coaches vs. players. That kind of environment doesn't really work well with 21st century football players. It's long gone. He's been working non-stop, to heal that, and build a program where everyone trusts each other, and trusts in their leader - and he's working to establish himself as that leader that people know proverbially here - lighten up everyone - if he says is going to kill you, is going to kill you.
It seems pretty clear to me, that the way he was set up his goals and stepwise achievement for this season, that there were things told to players about where, when, why and how they will play, prior to the game minimum, and most likely prior to the season, and Diaco is simply following through with that plan in game one. Chandler Whitmer's comments are what made it all click for me. He said something to the effect that it was difficult to be on the sideline to start the game, knowing that he would play, and wanted to contribute, but it was comfortable in knowing exactly when he would go in, and then he did go in.
Diaco, clearly, is earning the trust of his players, and establishing himself as their leader, because they can see and understand by his actions that what he says he is going to do, he is actually going to do. That's different than the coaching mess we had here in the past 3 seasons, and it's an effective way to build trust. My guess, is that if they're doing it with the QB position, they're doing the same thing every position group.
I think there needs to be a learning curve from everybody though, coaches and players, and that reviewing the BYU game, as a team, that players and coaches need to realize, that the trust step is there, and that the substitution patterns, can't be that strict anymore, in the flow of real game. It seems that would be the case, by what has been said about going into the Stony Brook, and again, if it's the case for the QB position, you'd hope that it's consistent through all the position groups.
Or maybe I just need a cocktail. Is it 5:00 yet?
