"Half the team wasn't on the same page..."
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VERY concerning comment from Horton. How in the hell can half the team be on a different page at this point in the season? Stoops preaches accountability, etc. but when I hear these kind of comments from players it clearly tells me he has lost some of these players.
Maybe half the team had the schedule wrong and thought they were playing Charlotte last week. Hope they got the new schedule emailed to them.
Does anyone know of any team in the history of this country that held a players-only meeting & saved their season? Because in my faulty memory every time it happens it is with a team that his horribly disappointing or on a horrible losing streak....and the meetings do absolutely nothing to stop this.
http://www.nationofblue.com/82444-2/
“We had a team meeting. I’m glad we had it,” said sophomore running back Mikel Horton. “Half of us were on the same page and the other half wasn’t on the same page.”
The little things have been killing Kentucky’s chances of winning of late. Giving up late points in the second quarter against Auburn and Mississippi State. Players getting out of their lanes on kick coverage againstTennessee. Those things made a difference in each of those contests.
“We didn’t listen to the coaches as much as we needed to as far as the small things, like technique,” Horton continued. “The losses we have are from little things that we really need to fix – that we did ourselves. Not because the team is better than us. We have to choose to change the program.”
After the team meeting called back Patrick Towles and Josh Forrest the group identified some of their problem areas and put the onus on themselves to make changes for their overall good.
“We sat down for about 45 minutes to an hour and talked about what we need to do the last four weeks. What do we need to change for us. Not for the fans. Not for the crowd. Not for the coaches, but for us. What we do need to change for our brothers and we figured out we need to come together more as a family,” he finished.
What a match-up this week. Half our team is apparently not listening to the coaches. 2 players on their team just popped for dope & suspended. Our team had all the appearance of quitting last week. Their team has not scored a touchdown in 2 1/2 games. Our fanbase angry at players & coaches. Theirs ready to ride their coaches out of town on a rail.
http://www.nationofblue.com/82444-2/
“We had a team meeting. I’m glad we had it,” said sophomore running back Mikel Horton. “Half of us were on the same page and the other half wasn’t on the same page.”
The little things have been killing Kentucky’s chances of winning of late. Giving up late points in the second quarter against Auburn and Mississippi State. Players getting out of their lanes on kick coverage againstTennessee. Those things made a difference in each of those contests.
“We didn’t listen to the coaches as much as we needed to as far as the small things, like technique,” Horton continued. “The losses we have are from little things that we really need to fix – that we did ourselves. Not because the team is better than us. We have to choose to change the program.”
After the team meeting called back Patrick Towles and Josh Forrest the group identified some of their problem areas and put the onus on themselves to make changes for their overall good.
“We sat down for about 45 minutes to an hour and talked about what we need to do the last four weeks. What do we need to change for us. Not for the fans. Not for the crowd. Not for the coaches, but for us. What we do need to change for our brothers and we figured out we need to come together more as a family,” he finished.
What a match-up this week. Half our team is apparently not listening to the coaches. 2 players on their team just popped for dope & suspended. Our team had all the appearance of quitting last week. Their team has not scored a touchdown in 2 1/2 games. Our fanbase angry at players & coaches. Theirs ready to ride their coaches out of town on a rail.
It happens. I'm not getting upset about that because sometimes that happens even with the best of coaching staffs. It is a problem if we don't deal with it right away. I do feel that we lost the last two games because they were better teams. However the manner in which we lost them was unacceptable. We will totally unprepared, undisciplined and put out very poor effort. Losing to better teams is one thing but getting destroyed because you didn't put forth a reasonable effort is something else. That has to stop now.
Probably why Stoops said there would "probably be more" referring to transfers after Snodgrass left.
This is what is sounds like to me. You have a competitive environment now and some players may have become complacent with the routine. It's pretty clear that CMS is dealing with a difficult situation, players are being passed on the depth chart, taken off the depth chart, transferring etc..and CMS has to balance putting the best players on the field while maintaining depth, experience and knowledge from players who are now backups or at least seeing less reps. The challenge is preventing those players from developing a 'don't care' attitude that can lead to not listening to the coaches, bad technique, less concentration and so forth.
If UK ever wants to get out of the doorway, we're going to have to do what we can to stymie the bleeding. Just because players-only meetings happen and haven't helped before (to the level some would hope) does not mean that it won't work this time. We didn't put that meeting ahead of any other activity which could've helped the team. The guys chose to have it on their own time.
Some younger guys are probably upset that they aren't getting the shots when in reality, they haven't earned them. Half the team might be sulking. Half the team might just be pissed that they are recruited over.
Also, I hate to bash the Joker years, but I'd rather half the team be on the wrong page as opposed to the whole team. Improvement, however marginal, is still improvement.
Some younger guys are probably upset that they aren't getting the shots when in reality, they haven't earned them. Half the team might be sulking. Half the team might just be pissed that they are recruited over.
Also, I hate to bash the Joker years, but I'd rather half the team be on the wrong page as opposed to the whole team. Improvement, however marginal, is still improvement.
Those meetings typically amount to nothing. If half your team is working against the other half, one meeting probably is not going to cure that issue.
My biggest fear is we lay another turd in Georgia and lose both halves. Georgia is still Georgia and they are desperate for a win. Very dangerous time for us, IMO.
I don't think we will win but I want us to compete better. Show something and it could generate momentum for the last 3.
My biggest fear is we lay another turd in Georgia and lose both halves. Georgia is still Georgia and they are desperate for a win. Very dangerous time for us, IMO.
I don't think we will win but I want us to compete better. Show something and it could generate momentum for the last 3.
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IIRC the 2006 UK team had a team meeting following a 49-0 loss to LSU and it served the team well.
What the hell does it hurt? At the minimum it shows that there are at least some on the team trying to take some leadership and looking for the team to take ownership of their problems.
Is it a guaranteed cure to all problems? Of course not. But the first step to addressing problems is admitting that a problem exists.
I'm really not sure why this is big news or why folks on a message board are trying to psychoanalyze the quotes of 18-22 yr old kids or how anyone could see this as anything but a positive?
People want to ***** and moan about two poor performances in a row and then they want to try and find faults with a team meeting where the team takes it upon themselves to evaluate their deficiencies. Coaches can preach and drill these things every day but it is still up to the players to buy in 110% and take responsibility for their own play. I think many of you forget that these are 18-22 yr old kids and most 18-22 yr olds I've ever come across think they already know everything they need to know. It is only as they get older and more mature that they start to grasp the fact that in fact they don't know it all. That they need to be more attentive to detail. That they may think at the time that they are playing hard, perhaps because it is as hard as they have ever played in their life, and up until they got to college, that was good enough.
I have a friend who played in the NFL. I once asked him what was the hardest part about going from college to the NFL. He said it was learning how hard that you had to play on every down. Said he went through the same thing in college from high school, it just wasn't as extreme.
yeah I think competitiveness is what we as fans and the players need to see Saturday. We might not beat Georgia but this getting blown out crap has gotta end.
We're seeing a bit of a changing of the guard so to speak with more and more young guys on defense getting more reps so I'm sure that is a bit of a sore spot for the older guys. They just need to finish strong. Give it all they got for the last 4 games and let the chips fall where they may. At the end of the day these guys are still in great position to get 7 wins, especially if we get Boom back(sounds like injury not as bad as they initially thought)
That pretty clearly happened after the Auburn game. I was sitting right behind our sideline in Starkville and as soon as I saw them come out of the tunnel I told my wife we were done. No energy, no emotion, and it showed on the field. At halftime of that game I said this team was likely finishing 4-8, with a shot at 5-7. I still stand by that.
I have no clue what was said or what the real issues are, but I think its a combination on things. Some older guys are probably upset they have been passed on the depth chart and the coaches have basically given up on them (remember Stoops comment on having to move on when someone had been given 1000's of reps and still not getting it done). Probably a group who is not happy with Towles and want Barker. Another that is frustrated with the performance of the Oline (I think Boom has been very frustrated with them). Some younger guys who are being kept on the field too long and keep making mistakes (hence older guys are pissed they are not playing in front of them). I think its a whole host of things that frankly comes down to real leadership which I think this team lacks. That 2006 team had true alpha leaders on it (Woodyard, Tamme, Woodsen, Burton, etc).
Its either going to work itself out or linger on until the season is over and hopefully younger leaders emerge and start holding everyone more accountable. Coaches can only do so much.
Its either going to work itself out or linger on until the season is over and hopefully younger leaders emerge and start holding everyone more accountable. Coaches can only do so much.
because we are fanatics (abbreviation: "fan") of our local or favorite sports team, and come here to discuss the current news of the day about said sports team
and I don't view it as a positive because in my 41 years of living and following sports when a team in a bad situation has a players-only meeting it very rarely has positive results.
This team just has no leaders, noone who can grab those who spout off negatively towards the coaches behind their back in the lockerroom by the neck and tell them to shut the F up.
Playing time as mentioned by ukalumni00 is a big problem, far too few receivers get in rotation, running back carries make no sense at all from game to game, true freshmen years were burned for a few defensive guys against ULL but then sit on the bench from there. Meanwhile the starters play 99% of the snaps and now just like last year are beaten up, hurting, sore, and then go out and play against better competition than we faced the first part of the year and we look 2 steps too slow. Stoops last year & this just does an awful job of sticking to his starters especially on defense to play almost every snap, he has to have the courage to play the backups and live with their mistakes so that the starters have SOMETHING in the tank by November. Bud Dupree & Z Smith were DONE last year after 6 games until the 2 week rest for UL, thought Stoops would have learned from that last year but here we are again with a tired beaten up played too many snaps starting front 7 defense. And no bye week to save us.
You say that the team "has no leaders" and yet two players took it upon themselves to get the team together. In my 58 years of living and following sports that defines leadership to me. Also, if you don't see it as a positive...how in the hell is it a negative?
It's like getting screened for colon cancer. They might not find anything...they might find something but it's too late to do anything about it...but they might find an issue and it be early enough to be treated and cured. Two out of three things there are positive.
I'm not sure what games you've been watching. I've seen more substitutions made this year than in any other I can remember. I also see fans bitching because this backup or that backup is in the game when they make a mistake and/or get burned.
It may not work - the players wont become more talented because of this meeting - but it is NOT going to hurt anything.
We were never expected to win either of the last two games, but if we had lost in the same way we lost to Florida or even Auburn, we might have more respect for where this season might be headed and how it might end. The defense played well enough to beat Florida. We would still be discouraged, but at least we would be able to say we gave effort and fought to the bitter end. I hope the players only meeting gets these guys on the same page and they come out fired up on Saturday. This season is FAAARRR from over and they still have an opportunity to do some great things, I just hate seeing players no realizing that and quitting way too early.
I would venture to say this is 100% accurate. When you see an all freshman secondary you know upper classmen are not happy. Add some younger guys who expected to see the field almost immediately and I can see uproar amongst the troops. Its always been my experience the players will revolt against a coach when they don't think he is playing the best guys. The kids are in practice, they know who should be playing. I think Stoops is playing his best guys regardless of class. When some of those only see reps on special teams who've played for 2/3 years then it becomes, "me"
The negative is that the situation got so awful and so toxic that a players-only meeting had to be called in the first place. As is the case in virtually every other sport & situation where a players-only meeting occurs, any positivity that might be gained are dwarfed by the bad situation that caused the need for it to be convened.
Hope and pray I'm wrong, hope bad attitudes were called and rooted out, and the team plays a competitive highly enthused game on Saturday. Past history tells me the hope is in vain. I expect a listless defeated team like the one that went on the road to Tennessee last November.
Exactly.
The meeting isn't a negative. The "half the team is on a different page" is horrendous.
I can understand this if the team were 1-6, but to have this type of crap happening when the 1st bowl in 5 seasons is absolutely in their grasp is very, very discouraging. Not just for the rest of this season, but for any promise of an improved team in 2016.
Thanks. Knowing your background, you probably have more insight to the situation than anyone else who responded. I'm not a big believer in layers only meetings, but my purpose was to get clarity on the statement. I really don't understand how that happens, or what it means. I was certainly not a college athlete, but if you're a competitor, it seems like you would do everything in your power to win every game, regardless of your personal circumstances. Just baffling that we hear these things seemingly year after year with UK football.
I would like to see a coaches and players meeting were they are told if you don't win 2 of the final 4, the coaches will lose their jobs and the players lose their free ride. Haha
I like it. It means we have some players who care about the way the last two weeks have gone and hope to change it.
My old High School coach used to call it "Senioritis". Meaning that once the big goals the team set to begin the year started to become unattainable and the coaching staff started looking to the future, the Seniors just quit going all out.
I am hopeful that this is not the case. A Bowl bid should motivate our team's upperclassmen to start in motion the beginning of something special for UK Football.
Having played in HS (not good enough for college) here is what player meetings basically amount to.
1. Guys talking "cool", some cursing, alot of talk about "wanting it more", can tend to start some arguing, etc..
2. It is good to get guys to maybe try a bit harder/push themselves....but usually when teams are playing bad...you just need guys to do "their" job to help the team. Not do more and screw that up as well in the process. The thing you need most when playing bad (outside of better talent) is playing with more focus/discipline. But these sessions usually don't have guys talking about how to focus/stay disciplined on field of play...instead it encourages more of the opposite...(like guys winging it more and more).
We really need our defensive front 7 to play a ton better and do their individual jobs better...that is killing UK right now is about the entire front 7 on D is getting beaten in their individual matchups each snap way more often than they are winning (save CJ Johnson).
We really need our OLine to hold up better...especially on the edges at tackle spots.
The rest of the team can play better...but until the trenches improves...the rest of this isn't going to matter.
1. Guys talking "cool", some cursing, alot of talk about "wanting it more", can tend to start some arguing, etc..
2. It is good to get guys to maybe try a bit harder/push themselves....but usually when teams are playing bad...you just need guys to do "their" job to help the team. Not do more and screw that up as well in the process. The thing you need most when playing bad (outside of better talent) is playing with more focus/discipline. But these sessions usually don't have guys talking about how to focus/stay disciplined on field of play...instead it encourages more of the opposite...(like guys winging it more and more).
We really need our defensive front 7 to play a ton better and do their individual jobs better...that is killing UK right now is about the entire front 7 on D is getting beaten in their individual matchups each snap way more often than they are winning (save CJ Johnson).
We really need our OLine to hold up better...especially on the edges at tackle spots.
The rest of the team can play better...but until the trenches improves...the rest of this isn't going to matter.
Why would the players need to do this? We are right where we are supposed to be, no one expected wins against any of these teams. To need to do this meeting would imply things aren't going the right direction and I just don't see how that is the case.
The troubling thing to me is that the majority of players are Stoops recruits.
Are the Joker holdovers the problem?
Are the Joker holdovers the problem?
I won't pretend to know what the "situation" is but this (^), is, IMO, a pretty accurate take on "team meetings". I'm not sure they "help" but they can't possibly hurt. The real question is why are we here to begin with?
Just can't believe that.
Peace
How you view this whole situation likely depends on whether you are a "glass half full' or a "glass half empty" type of person. On one hand it certainly appears to be a positive that team leaders are emerging and trying to get everyone on the same page. Yet at the same time, it is a bit distressing to learn that half the team isn't already on the same page.
Hopefully the side that is valuing the whole team/program approach win out over the "me" types and reign them in. A team that is in turmoil cannot be successful. This type of situation is perhaps one of those things a first time head coach like Stoops struggles with the most, since they have never been in that position before. Fortunately, he is from a coaching family and has multiple people to turn to for sound advice should he need it.
Hopefully the side that is valuing the whole team/program approach win out over the "me" types and reign them in. A team that is in turmoil cannot be successful. This type of situation is perhaps one of those things a first time head coach like Stoops struggles with the most, since they have never been in that position before. Fortunately, he is from a coaching family and has multiple people to turn to for sound advice should he need it.
Just based on what I know of the UGA program, I seriously doubt that. Most of those players absolutely love Mark Richt. Now, they may feel differently about Schottenheimer or Jeremy Pruitt, but I can't believe the players are revolting against Richt.