USC Loses And It's On The Coach...And Your College Picks

You know as I stayed up and watched as Oregon State who was a twenty five point underdog at home against Southern California go out to a twenty one point lead and hold on for the win I was so happy I did not even try to pick that game. This happens every year to USC. They play huge against a major opponent (if you can call Ohio State a major opponent) and absolutely kill them on a national network stage. Then they turn around and blow a game where they are a huge favorite against a mid-level or worse conference team. Last year it was Stanford, the year before it was this same Oregon State squad. When teams repeatedly blow games that they should easily win. C'mon, the Pac-10 aside from USC is absolutely a waste of space. The conference should lose their BCS affiliation for being so pointless. OK, back to the point...if teams blow games like USC has year after year you have to blame coaching. It is clear that USC has huge talent. They have enough talent to compete against the Kansas City Chiefs. They have massive depth in every position. On paper, they are the most talented team in college football (by the way, Georgia, Florida, and Oklahoma are close). They should kill teams like Oregon State and Stanford. Instead, they lose. It's a coaching problem. Pete Carroll has been known as a "players coach." What this means in laymans terms is that he is a "fun" coach. These types of coaches try to be one with the players. They try to be a brother in arms with them and be their friend rather than someone with clear authority. Their teams are run in a loose framework with little discipline, structure, and the players run the show. This did not work for Coach Carroll when he coached in the NFL where he had marginal success. He lucked out by being at USC where it is very easy to recruit a constant flow of talent. The campus is in LA. The weather is great. The women are hot. They compete for major bowls every year. They are on TV all the time. I don't have a coaching background, but I could recruit talent to USC. It is clear that Coach Carroll does not prepare his teams well to play games they should easily win. When loose coaches let the players set the tempo for the team it is like handing a credit card to Lindsey Lohan with no credit limit. It gets unpredictable, up and down, and eventually things fall flat. When you let young men (or women) who are 18 to 22 set the tempo for your team then emotions and energy will rise and fall worse than the current market. That is what happens when you have a "players coach" at the major college level. Coach Carroll is that type of coach and USC is that type of team: overly emotional, somewhat undisciplined, and prone to mental lapses. What is required is a coach who instills a sense of structure, order, routine, and discipline. This does not mean that the coach has to be mean and yell at the players using every four letter word imaginable. You do not have to be Bob Knight. But, a coach needs to demonstrate that there will be rules, there will be accountability, there will be order, and there will be a "right" way things are done. In major college football and in the NFL these are young men who in most cases did not come from a background where there was a sizable amount of leadership, structure, discipline, and order. Unfortunately, the better the player the less amount of accountability. These players need these things in order to feel secure and have the right level of confidence. They need to learn these things because they will eventually need them after football is over. The lack of consistent order causes chaos and unpredictable behavior. That is what happens with the "players coach." My favorite example of a coach that teaches fundamentals, expects accountability, has consistent order, and commands respect without being a Bob Knight is Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy.



Coach Dungy runs his team with discipline, structure, accountability, and with a soft tongue. His players report that he rarely raises his voice and they do not recall a time where he has used any profanity. His players all respect him as a calming influence and someone who expects players to hold themselves accountable, to follow rules, and meet expectations. He runs his program with clear rules and expectations. His structure and discipline are consistent and effective. When was the last time you heard a Colt player provide bulletin board material to opponents the week before a game? When has anyone seen a player on his team openly call out another player or the coaching staff? When have seen his team panic in key situations? When has anyone seen the team openly look the other way when a teammate runs afoul of team rules or the law? It just does not happen. Colt players often report that they worry most about disappointing Dungy and their own teammates rather than worrying about their own stat sheet or their next contract. The Colts are a quiet franchise. They have very little drama and discord. Their coach personifies this image. He leads quietly with clear expectations, consequences, and structure. He runs his team. If Manning played for the Cowboys, for example, he would be running the team all on his own without a net and no one to reign him in. On the Colts, he is a vocal leader, but one that has restraint. The results of all of this quiet leadership? They speak for themselves. A Super Bowl title and consistent play-off appearances. No dips. No big ups and downs. Just steady winning and the respect of the rest of the league.



There are other coaches out there that are demanding and expect accountability and responsibility. Tom Coughlin of the Giants (another Super Bowl champion) may have gone a little too far in many respects, but he is not a players coach. He has clear rules and expectations. His team responds accordingly. The players that have complained have been prima donnas who got too accustomed to playing by their own rules. In the end, they acquiesced. Coughlin softened up before last season, but still kept the structure and discipline in place. The result: a remarkable play-off run and the biggest upset in Super Bowl history in February.



Coach Carroll has won a national championship at USC. I am not suggesting that he is a bad coach. He has consistently won at USC for years. They are a major national college football power. Yet, he is a "players coach" and as a result his teams have huge swings in mood and behavior (just like Sarah Palin), little self-control (like John McCain), and are vulnerable to bottoming out and crashing the party (like the GOP during a major financial crisis). The loss to Oregon State last night is not surprising. It has happened before and as long as Carroll remains at USC it will happen again.


Dippy is currently in jail for stalking Sarah Palin. He was quite delusional when he was arrested as he was ranting about robot cyborgs from the future and that he had to marry Palin in order to get her pregnant with "super soldiers" to fight the robots that were protecting her. I am guessing this is from all the mushrooms he got a hold of from his brother, Malcolm, who is a guy who thinks that Jerry Garcia is still alive. Dippy wrote his college football picks on a scrap of toilet paper and someone got it smuggled out. He asked if I would bail him out. I just don't think I can post $200,000.

So here we go:
Minnesota at Ohio State (-19)
I am only picking this game because I am going to Minnesota next weekend. I am really hoping that I will find people that will talk like they do in Fargo. That would be very cool. Minnesota is a putrid team. Ohio State is over-rated. Does not matter as Ohio State will destroy Minnesota by at least three touchdowns. Take OSU.
Dippy: Minnesota.

Virginia at Duke (-7)
When do you ever see Duke actually favored in an ACC game? Has it happened since Spurrier was coaching in Durham? Virginia may not win a game against a I-A school this season. They can not do anything. Their quarterback has been kicked off the team because he can't lay off the tree. Their coach is simply terrible. Their defense can't stop anyone. Take Duke.
Dippy: Virginia.

Mississippi at Florida (-22)
I truly do think that Florida is the best team in the SEC. They have a major chip on their shoulder this season. Tebow is more concerned about winning than padding his numbers. Florida wants to win the SEC this year. They will take their frustration that everyone is talking about Georgia out on Mississippi who will forever be a second tier SEC team, which is good enough to go to a fifth tier bowl game. Take the Gators.
Dippy: Mississippi

Tennessee at Auburn (-6.5)
I am amazed that the line in this game is so low. Auburn played tough against LSU and they are a very good team. Tennessee is not as good. They got torched by Florida because they made so many mental errors and by the time they got the head out of their own ass it was too late. Auburn is the 2nd best team in the SEC West. Tennessee is the fourth best team in the East. Take Auburn at home against an over-rated Tennessee team.
Dippy: Auburn.

Alabama at Georgia (-6.5)
You know that college football is king in Georgia when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sent a breaking news text message to it subscribers that the Bulldogs would be wearing black on Saturday and they wanted the fans attending the game to wear black as well. In New York, this news would be buried on page C10. The problem is that players win football games, not jerseys. The Bulldogs need to be careful. It's a stunt to try to rally around a jersey color for inspiration. Try winning. If the line was seven I would pick Alabama who might be better than we think. Georgia does have the better team, but it's going to be tight. I do think that the Dawgs will win by a touchdown. Take Georgia.
Dippy: Roll Tide, Asshole who won't bail me out of jail!!!!

Dippy:
Last week 8-2
Total: 17-11-2

Fox:
Last week 5-5
Total: 15-13-2