re: Chip Kelly: There is something there if the ex-players keep saying something

Lets analyze Chip Kellys comments from yesterday:

quote:

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No, and I said talk to the players we have on our current team. We have an open door policy. I had a long talk with Brandon last spring when he came in and sat down and talked with me. You can come talk to me whenever you want to come talk to me. But, we also have a pretty structured day where guys are in meetings. I don't just sit and walk around and say, ‘Hey, let me go grab him and let's sit down and let’s have a coffee together.’

When they get here, they are doing stuff. Especially in the offseason, we are limited with our time. When you get guys for four hours, there's not a time where we are all sitting around holding hands singing ‘Kumbaya’ together. We're in meetings rooms getting stuff done. They are in the weight room getting stuff done and they are on the training field getting stuff done and then they are out of there. I think maybe if they expand our time, where we could spend more time.

I don't think it's any different than any other head coaches in terms of where you are. I think position coaches – that's one of the things I miss about being a position coach. You get to be pretty close to your players because you're with your players all the time, and that's a great bond to have but as a head coach, you're not in those meetings.

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My first issue with these comments is the "they can come to me" attitude. IMO, that is a poor form of leadership, a form of leadership that doesnt show much investment in the personal well-beings of the players. He doesnt see that the huge problem is that NOONE wants to go talk to him, so why in the hell would they choose to go talk to him, when he knows they probably wont and when they think he doesnt like them. He must not care. Whether you say that is necessary or not, multiple studies and things have showed that empowerment of your employees and having them feel more invested in your goals improves performance. By him saying, "they can come talk to me" but then follow that up with "but our days are structure" doesnt really sound like hes open to the prospects of forming or molding those relationships. It could be a personality thing or it could be a stragetic manuever.

He has a clear misunderstanding of how much he NEEDS people. All his "Structure" appears to be apart of the problem.He devalues people and relationships with people, especially in this business; he looks at them like pieces to a machine. It doesnt work that way, especially when must of them make more $ then you. HE NEEDS THOSE BLACK DUDES. his response cant be "well those black dudes can come talk to me." No! Step out of your comfort zone and go mend the fences. You need those relationships to succeed..who will you depend after you run all your "guys" out of town, or if you cant get you guys?

Its a maneuver that could burn him if the conditions in the locker room deteriorate, for example, after or in the midst of a multiple game losing streak. Do you think the players will want to talk to him then, or will believe him when he tries to rally the troops? It will look fake arse hell and they wont buy into it. The fact that he can schedule in random chit chat time or team building looks to me like he thinks his system can plug and chug players, and that he is not a very amendable coach to his personnel and players. I know we were discussing Belicheck earlier; how many times have we seen him flip from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and back to a 4-3 based of his players skill sets? We have seen him go from ground and pound to an air raid offense; hes more adaptable than it appears.