Is Losing contagious?

[Skinsfan1906]

When Bill Parcells was hired as the coach of the Cowboys, he said that the FIRST thing that he had to change is the "culture of losing" in the Cowboys organization (recent years).

Champ Bailey recently stated that (and I'm paraphrasing): "Good teams find a way to win. It seems like we always find ways to lose".

We have not been a consistent "winning" franchise in over 10 years. Has our organization grown acustomed to LOSING? Maybe they need to put our super bowl trophies in a glass case in the MIDDLE of the locker room to remind our players of our tradition. Not living in the past, but recognizing what is to be expected in the locker room.

I believe that it all begins with the owner. Snyder definitely wants to win (although I don't always agree with how he goes about it).

In the locker room, IT STARTS WITH THE COACH. Spurrier (I hate to say it), doesn't exude "confidence" in my opinion. He always shrugs his shoulders and says "maybe we should" this or "hopefully" that. We need a PIT BULL of a coach that will not tolerate losing and is not as passive as Spurrier (IMO). Thoughts.............

[PennSkinsFan]

We have a culture of "give the game away, and if by chance we are playing real well and in command, lets immediately pursue prevent defense to give the opposite team time to catch up to us, so again, we can give the game away" mentality. Thats a perfect explanation for Redskins football.

[Skinsfan1906]

Yep! True. However, it hasn't always been that way. WHAT HAPPENED? Oh, I know. Riggins retired, Gibbs left and the hogs got old. Since then, we forgot how to play ball control offense.

[skins74]

I agree with you 1906, SS never has any answers and Parcell always has an answer. That stuff gets back to the players and they lose confidence in their coach. If you don't have the answer then make something up. I like the honesty, but there comes a time when it starts to hurt the team. If we were winning the honesty would be fine.

[Smiley]

What ios worse is that we seem to have a culture of high priced, overrated talent that run to the owner (and he obliges) when players start cryin'. Start trading these overrated players, Lavar, Samuels and Champ (franchise tage em'). Time to get some young talent and rebuild with a solid base. Trotter, bye, bye. Gardner, bye, bye. Bruce, bye, bye.

[skins74]

Smilack for Skins GM!

[NamVet4]

Originally posted by Skinsfan1906
When Bill Parcells was hired as the coach of the Cowboys, he said that the FIRST thing that he had to change is the "culture of losing" in the Cowboys organization (recent years).
Absolutely ! There are many ways to change the culture and winning is the most obvious!
Champ Bailey recently stated that (and I'm paraphrasing): "Good teams find a way to win. It seems like we always find ways to lose".
A fair statement . I would also like to hear Champ, LaVar and other key players say: Hey, I'm playing poorly - I have to step it up!

We have not been a consistent "winning" franchise in over 10 years. Has our organization grown acustomed to LOSING? Maybe they need to put our super bowl trophies in a glass case in the MIDDLE of the locker room to remind our players of our tradition. Not living in the past, but recognizing what is to be expected in the locker room.

Not a bad idea ! However, in all honesty, in the era of free agency I seriously doubt that any team will develop a winning tradition beyond 2 or 3 years.
I will accept an above 500 season tho' !( With a playoff run as often as possible! )
I believe that it all begins with the owner. Snyder definitely wants to win (although I don't always agree with how he goes about it).
Now here is the challenge! Can Danny Boy translate all that enthusiasm into a plan that will get his hand picked coach to be a winner? Danny Boy must step up and publicly single out his coach, criticize him and reward him. The "carrot and the stick" approach.
In the locker room, IT STARTS WITH THE COACH. Spurrier (I hate to say it), doesn't exude "confidence" in my opinion. He always shrugs his shoulders and says "maybe we should" this or "hopefully" that. We need a PIT BULL of a coach that will not tolerate losing and is not as passive as Spurrier (IMO). Thoughts.............

Agreed.!! I don't like the shrug the shoulders and shuffle the feet routine.
A little passion would go a long way !

Good post Skinsfan1906 ! :D

[SkinsFan#1]

I'm actually hoping that Nebraska comes calling Spurrier and he goes running to the Corn Fields and leaves this franchise at seasons end, this franchise with or without Spurrier at the helm will be a loser IMHO so cut the ties now and bring in a guy who is an assistant or something and let him and the team rebuild together from the bottom up,(sad thing is we have been in the rebuild mode for yrs now) cut ties with alot of these over priced players who IMHO can't make a stop on defense to save their lives as another poster stated in an above post, bring in a guy who wants to play football and wants to show he deserves to be a NFL player, not 1 who just picks his check up and deposits it in his bank and then goes out and gets 24' spinners for his Caddy to keep up with MTV Cribs.

[Skinsfan1906]

Originally posted by NamVet4
Absolutely ! There are many ways to change the culture and winning is the most obvious!

A fair statement . I would also like to hear Champ, LaVar and other key players say: Hey, I'm playing poorly - I have to step it up!


Not a bad idea ! However, in all honesty, in the era of free agency I seriously doubt that any team will develop a winning tradition beyond 2 or 3 years.
I will accept an above 500 season tho' !( With a playoff run as often as possible! )

Now here is the challenge! Can Danny Boy translate all that enthusiasm into a plan that will get his hand picked coach to be a winner? Danny Boy must step up and publicly single out his coach, criticize him and reward him. The "carrot and the stick" approach.


Agreed.!! I don't like the shrug the shoulders and shuffle the feet routine.
A little passion would go a long way !

Good post Skinsfan1906 ! :D

Thanks, Namvet. Also, thanks for wishing me a belated Happy BDay (on another thread). Great post on your part as well. I just wish that SS would be FIRM on his approach to winning. As much as I didn't care for him, at least Marty was firm and was convinced.....in his own mind, I might add............as to what it takes to win.

Secondly, living in BMORE, I am swamped with Ravens stuff. Although I can't stand them, I must admit that their coach is a genius "motivator" and they continue to baffle me with doing MORE WITH LESS. If you look at their team (on paper) and ours, it is very clear that the Redskins are far more talented. However, that has not translated into wins. The Ravens, however, have Ray Lewis, Todd Heap, Jonathan Ogden, Peter Boulware, Ed Reed, Matt Stover...................AND A BUNCH OF NOBODYS!!! There is SOMETHING that we are doing wrong............or something that they are doing right.:(

[Skinsfan1906]

Originally posted by SkinsFan#1
bring in a guy who wants to play football and wants to show he deserves to be a NFL player, not 1 who just picks his check up and deposits it in his bank and then goes out and gets 24' spinners for his Caddy to keep up with MTV Cribs.

Hey, leave Rod Gardner out of this!:D

[jsarno]

I do think it takes a coach with a WIN OR NOTHING attitude. Something we haven't had.
Every time something bad goes wrong Spurrier gives that famous look of "gosh darnit", and grabs his visor.

How about blow up and rip some new ones? This team is too passive, and Spurrier is part of the problem.

[JoeDaSchmoe]

This is my single main issue with Spurrier. It's not that he passes a lot. That can work if done right. It's not that he's a risktaker. That can be a good thing, too. It's not even that he doesn't really focus much on defense or special teams. Some successful head coaches are single-minded like that. It's that he has no fire. He's been driving around in a golf cart telling people "Aw, shucks" or "Dagnabit" for a year and a half, which is less motivating than a bunch of Enya music. Get someone who will scream at the players! Get someone who will stand up in front of 100 reports and yell "We play to win the game!" Kick the "Well, shoot, it's time to kick some rocks around and hope for better things" mentality out of here and maybe we'll win a bit more.