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I can’t imagine the challenge
facing Coach Charlie Strong. He was
named the head coach at the University of Texas’ prestigious football program
in January of this year. Between the
date of his hire and the Longhorns’ first game in late August, he was entrusted
with rebuilding the culture of football at one of the most prominent athletic
programs in America. He inherited a
program which, while still venerated among major universities, had been through
several rough years under the previous coach, Mack Brown, who enjoyed nearly
two-decade tenure at UT.
The University’s leadership had the
wisdom to allow Coach Strong to bring in his own staff of assistant coaches,
offensive and defensive coordinators, and other key leaders from his prior
stint at the University of Louisville, effectively giving Strong the reigns to
re-cast the culture of football at UT.
One of the things Coach Strong immediately introduced at Texas is a
culture of respect, rather than a culture of entitlement. During spring practice, Coach Strong removed
the beloved Longhorn logo from the sides of the players’ helmets, simply
stating, “You have to earn those Horns.”
Strong has built his team’s culture
around five key principles, which sound like common sense to many people, but
in the world of competitive college athletics (and the larger world of major
sports) are major ethical grey areas: honesty, treating women with
respect, no drugs, no stealing and no weapons. You can read a broader description of these values, as
well as an interesting conversation between NFL leadership and Coach Strong, at
the link below.
http://texas.247sports.com/Bolt/Charlie-Strong-is-the-talk-of-the-NFL-31587363
An article from earlier this year
goes into more detail about Coach Strong’s philosophy of football:
http://www.barkingcarnival.com/2014/1/14/5308182/culture-change-at-texas
As the first article points out,
the NFL is deeply concerned with learning these five core values because all of
them have become issues for several of the leagues’ high-profile players during
the last few months. I think it’s clear
why the NFL’s leadership – including their commissioner, Roger Goodell – sought
out Coach Strong’s counsel.
Coach Strong – and the team he
leads – has integrity.
Despite all of the pressure to just
make the team a winner, Coach Strong has taken his five core values to the very
heart of the Longhorn football program, and it has been costly to do so. He and his team have integrity because their
values are not merely lip-service; they are real, costly standards for their
whole team to abide by. Nine players
have been dismissed from the team during Strong’s tenure for violating these
five core values. Some of the dismissals
were starters, and some were backup
players. Regardless, the on-field
results of losing that talent have led to a 2-2 record and lackluster
performances against competitive opponents like UCLA and BYU.
Texas’ alumni, fans, and
administration want a winning team. So
why support such a bold move by Coach Strong?
Because he’s teaching his team how to play and live with integrity. Betraying convictions and core values in any
family, organization, or relationship does not lead to healthy outcomes in the
long run. Coach Strong wants his players
to see this reality before it collides with them after they graduate or – under
even greater ethical scrutiny - jump into the NFL. The young men and coaches he’s responsible
for leading are learning that being consistent with the five core values will be
costly in the short term. Buying into
these values is a good experience of real life for these players, many of whom
are stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey with elevated ego and endless praise. Theirs is a precarious position, and Coach
Strong is interested in helping them succeed beyond their time in burnt orange
and white.
Coach Strong and his staff are
helping young men – gifted, talented young men – learn how to navigate real
life and be a blessing to the communities around them, not just by putting
points on the board but by living out an ethic that is about more than
football. I find it highly appropriate
and satisfying that the more “mature” expression of football – the NFL – is
taking lessons from the kid brother in college.
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