Charlie Strong's Expectations

[charlie42s]

I'm curious about them and only knew one before today, which was that off-campus residency was only allowed for Seniors and with special permission.

Here's the full list.

1. Players will attend all of their classes and sit in the front two rows of all of their classes. GAs, academic folks, position coaches will be checking constantly now.
2. No headphones in class. No texting in class. Sit up and take notes.
3. If a player misses a class, he runs until it hurts. If he misses two classes, his entire position unit runs. If he misses three, the position coach runs. The position coaches don't want to run.
4. No earrings in the football building. No drugs. No stealing. No guns. Treat women with respect.
5. Players may not live off campus anymore, unless they're a senior who hits certain academic standards. The University will buy out the leases for every player currently living off campus and put them in the athletic dorm.
6. The team will all live together, eat together, suffer together, and hang out together. They will become a true team and learn to impose accountability on each other. The cliques are over.
7. There's no time for a rebuild. "I don't have time for that." The expectation is that Texas wins now.
8. Players will learn that they would rather practice than milk a minor injury.
9. The focus is on winning and graduating. Anything extraneous to that is a distraction and will be stamped out or removed.
10. Strong met individually with seniors and key leaders and re-emphasized that the plan is to win now. They can lead the new culture or be run over by it.
11. "I don't want to talk about things. I'd rather do things. We just talked. Now it's time to do."

 

[jonvi]

Brilliant.

 

[HizzleRocker]

Love it. Off campus is an issue though. I, for one, would be utterly pissed if I was a Sophmore or Junior, living in an apartment that had my personal belongings in it (won't fit in a dorm), maybe even living with a girlfriend or friend - and now I have to give up my belongings, harm my relationship - all to move into a dorm.

I played college athletics on scholarship, and this is the only one that would have really pissed me off.

 

[charlie42s]

... and I think it's a good move towards building team cohesiveness.

 

[TexasMan]

[*]The team will all live together, eat together, suffer together, and hang out together. They will become a true team and learn to impose accountability on each other. The cliques are over.

This is probably my favorite.

 

[HizzleRocker]

... and I think it's a good move towards building team cohesiveness.

Wouldn't mind it so much if there was a grandfather clause. You come in as freshmen, you move into the dorm with a teammate, and you stay there until you earn the right as a senior with good grades. No problem there.

However, when I was a sophomore I lived in an apartment. I lived there with my girlfriend and we were serious. We had bought furniture which was ours, equipment, a life, etc...

To have forced me out of that with little or no notice would have forced me out of my live in relationship. Would have forced my girlfriend out of her apartment that she could not pay for by herself. Would have forced me to probably go find and pay for some type of storage shelter to put all of my belongings in, etc...

Point is, there are other consequences on kids lives here potentially. I don't mind it moving forward prospectively but don't like it retroactively.

 

[charlie42s]

If a player won't commit to the team and wants to be another type of player, he can find another school/team that will let him do his own thing.
Scholarships are one year commitments.

 

[HizzleRocker]

If a player won't commit to the team and wants to be another type of player, he can find another school/team that will let him do his own thing.
Scholarships are one year commitments.

Meh. I liken it to a non-compete clause given to an already hired employee, with the only consideration being continued employment. Basically there is no consideration. You give it to the employee upon being hired - not after. The employee has already turned down other opportunities, has already relied on things, and has already committed. You can't then change the rules on him.

Again, I actually like the rule - moving forward. I don't like it at all for the guys already on the team.