I was going to post this response to the thread about Herman Edwards vs Scott Frost at this point in their career at their positions. It ended up being very long and I thought it would be best to be scrutinized as it's own thread.
I will preface this post by saying these are simply my thoughts as someone who has not played football past the pee wee and middle school years, so my knowledge of the game is purely from observation. This is definitely not and X's and O's type of post but more of a psychological/sociological hypothesis simply based on observations and speculations.
I am very open to scrutiny, criticism, and skepticism. I just want to get other's thoughts about a simple concept that might be more complex than I/we have considered. These are just my recent thoughts after freezing my arse off in a nearly half empty stadium in freekin Minnesota!
This idea could easily be off, and my lovely partner could give you pages of examples of when I've been wrong before, but I feel that the pressure since Frost's hire has impacted the team's performance. Back to the Herm vs Frost post, there is far more pressure here at NU than ASU, and it isn't even remotely comparable. I have a very strong intuition the coaches and players have experienced this pressure ever since Frost was first hired and they are still working to manage it.
Most of us (myself included) knew that at the time of his hire Frost was our program's savior. The timing synched with Swiss precision as a coaching position came available during a time when invigorated and competent leadership had been restored. Frost's success had proven his acumen as a D1 head coach, with field accomplishments and warranted accolades. Along with him knowing the Nebraska culture and expectations, talk about a perfect match! And 99% of us (my estimation) believed that. I still do...
Frost was hired as the epitome of the Golden Child; progeny of home-grown athletic greatness, a true Nebraska prodigy, gilded in the forge of experience and wisdom exalted from the esteemed sage and Saint of Nebraska football. The intersection of education, preparation, and hubris was complete. Sir Frost was sent on his quest to awaken the great giant of football hegemony.
This may seem to be hyperbole to many, but I honestly feel this description encapsulates how many of us viewed Frost's return, and it may emphasize the type of pressure players are experiencing. This isn't simply an internal/external pressure, it is existential.
Transitioning into metaphor, I believe Huskerdom can at times be an extremely precise and sophisticated pressure cooker, where the compression (obsession) can enhance some ingredients while causing others to compress and deteriorate. I honestly believe the coaching staff is aware of this dynamic and is doing their best to temper the extreme external pressure with their approach, especially with their "no mistakes, just go fast and hard" mentality. As we all know, some foods are much more delicious and complete our anticipation/expectation when properly cooked under pressure... others simply fall short.
Back to this team... we saw them react and rise to the external demand during the first half of a highly anticipated and pressure-driven game against CU, a former conference foe (rival), with the added motivation of vindication for an extremely dirty play endured their leader who was victimized the previous year. This team rose to appreciate and possibly exalt that pressure to a point where they dominated the first half. To me the letdown performance of the second half depicted the exact pressure I feel is difficult for this team to manage. Beginning to fault in front of fans who sacrificed greatly to observe (judge) them could have added to the pressure they have earlier internalized, and contributed to a continuation of poor performance. I wonder if that CU game performance has had an overall lingering effect.
I really believe this team will excel once they start to focus on processes, both team and individual, and less on outcomes or expectations. If players focus on their enjoyment of the game in the present, appreciate what drew them to the game, while maintaining their personal and team goals, maybe the outcomes will fall into place. I realize that may be overly simplistic/reductionistic, but I'd entertain any discussion this long, drawn out theory could provoke
Let's just keep focus on NE football for this discussion, as much as some have noticed I have fallen short myself. Apologies and forgiveness.
I will preface this post by saying these are simply my thoughts as someone who has not played football past the pee wee and middle school years, so my knowledge of the game is purely from observation. This is definitely not and X's and O's type of post but more of a psychological/sociological hypothesis simply based on observations and speculations.
I am very open to scrutiny, criticism, and skepticism. I just want to get other's thoughts about a simple concept that might be more complex than I/we have considered. These are just my recent thoughts after freezing my arse off in a nearly half empty stadium in freekin Minnesota!
This idea could easily be off, and my lovely partner could give you pages of examples of when I've been wrong before, but I feel that the pressure since Frost's hire has impacted the team's performance. Back to the Herm vs Frost post, there is far more pressure here at NU than ASU, and it isn't even remotely comparable. I have a very strong intuition the coaches and players have experienced this pressure ever since Frost was first hired and they are still working to manage it.
Most of us (myself included) knew that at the time of his hire Frost was our program's savior. The timing synched with Swiss precision as a coaching position came available during a time when invigorated and competent leadership had been restored. Frost's success had proven his acumen as a D1 head coach, with field accomplishments and warranted accolades. Along with him knowing the Nebraska culture and expectations, talk about a perfect match! And 99% of us (my estimation) believed that. I still do...
Frost was hired as the epitome of the Golden Child; progeny of home-grown athletic greatness, a true Nebraska prodigy, gilded in the forge of experience and wisdom exalted from the esteemed sage and Saint of Nebraska football. The intersection of education, preparation, and hubris was complete. Sir Frost was sent on his quest to awaken the great giant of football hegemony.
This may seem to be hyperbole to many, but I honestly feel this description encapsulates how many of us viewed Frost's return, and it may emphasize the type of pressure players are experiencing. This isn't simply an internal/external pressure, it is existential.
Transitioning into metaphor, I believe Huskerdom can at times be an extremely precise and sophisticated pressure cooker, where the compression (obsession) can enhance some ingredients while causing others to compress and deteriorate. I honestly believe the coaching staff is aware of this dynamic and is doing their best to temper the extreme external pressure with their approach, especially with their "no mistakes, just go fast and hard" mentality. As we all know, some foods are much more delicious and complete our anticipation/expectation when properly cooked under pressure... others simply fall short.
Back to this team... we saw them react and rise to the external demand during the first half of a highly anticipated and pressure-driven game against CU, a former conference foe (rival), with the added motivation of vindication for an extremely dirty play endured their leader who was victimized the previous year. This team rose to appreciate and possibly exalt that pressure to a point where they dominated the first half. To me the letdown performance of the second half depicted the exact pressure I feel is difficult for this team to manage. Beginning to fault in front of fans who sacrificed greatly to observe (judge) them could have added to the pressure they have earlier internalized, and contributed to a continuation of poor performance. I wonder if that CU game performance has had an overall lingering effect.
I really believe this team will excel once they start to focus on processes, both team and individual, and less on outcomes or expectations. If players focus on their enjoyment of the game in the present, appreciate what drew them to the game, while maintaining their personal and team goals, maybe the outcomes will fall into place. I realize that may be overly simplistic/reductionistic, but I'd entertain any discussion this long, drawn out theory could provoke
Let's just keep focus on NE football for this discussion, as much as some have noticed I have fallen short myself. Apologies and forgiveness.
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