Who Do We Think We Are?

In looking at the Tennessee Volunteers’ roster, my first impression is, “Wow! These guys are BIG!” It is like looking at the roster of an NFL team. That, and the home fans (over 105K orange clad fans will be behind the Vols when we play in Knoxville on September 8, 2007), will make this a very difficult team to beat.

But I hold out hope primarily because I saw our Golden Eagles beat a Tennessee team for a half. Peyton Manning took control and shredded us in the second half of that game. I have hope because Quarterback Eric Ainge (#10, 6′6″ 220lbs, Sr) is not Peyton Manning. He is a big guy with experience, so obviously not a pushover. With a 152 passer efficiency rating last season, our defense will have a hard time disrupting him. He’s a classic drop back passer and not much of a run threat. The key will be creating coverage sacks.

Ainge’s favorite targets from last year are not on this year’s roster, but his tightend Chris Brown (#28, 6′3″ 250lbs, Sr) is. As are all thre running backs: LaMarcus Coker (#22, 5′11″, 195lbs, So), Arian Foster (#27, 6′1″ 225, Jr), and Montario Hardesty (#2, 6′0″, 205lbs, So). The top guy is Coker who averages 6.4 yards per carry and is the recipient of a pass hear or there. He was also called on to return kicks (20 yards per kick).

Overall, Tennessee runs a fairly balanced offense, leaning on the pass a bit more than the run. But with more experience in the backfield, I suspect they’ll lean on the running game more this year.

The defense sports a lot of juniors and seniors, but defensive back Jonathan Hefney (#33, 5′9″, 185lbs, Sr) was last year’s most notable return with five interceptions and 66 solo tackles (2nd leading tackle in 2006). He was also the primary punt returner averaging 12.1 yards per punt. Jerod Mayo (#7, 6′2″, 230lbs, Jr) and Ryan Karl (#39, 6′0″, 218lbs, So) will lead a solid linebacking corp.

If this team has a weakness, it is their defense that gave up 19.5 points per game last year. They also lost the turnover tally, although by a small margin.

It appears their kicker graduated. Their punter is returning.

As far as comparability to last year, we had two common opponents: Marshall and Memphis. They, like us, smashed both of them. Between the two of them, the Vols recorded over 1000 all purpose yards. Most of Tennessee’s highlights came from these two games.

While I’d be hard pressed to not give the Vol’s their due, a win is not impossible. It is obvious Southern Miss will have to play beyond themselves to win. Last year Tennessee only lost two home games (Florida (20-21) and LSU (24-28)). For Southern Miss to win this game they will have to hold Tennessee to less than 21 points. No small feat with this seasoned team.

Source: utsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/tenn-m-footbl-body.html

On September 1, 2006, the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks will come to Hattiesburg to play the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.  I am fairly sure the opinion of any Southern Miss fan (and a large percentage of the rest of the world that knows American college football) is that Southern Miss will wipe the field with them.  Rather than just jump to that conclusion, I took some time to get to know the team and players that call themselves Skyhawks.

For one, they are the 2006 Ohio Valley Conference Champions.  Having won all but one of their conference games.  This earned their head coach, Jason Simpson, the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors.  How often do you hear of a first year coach taking the conference championship?

Coach Simpson is going into his second season with the Skyhawks.  Born in Mississippi, Simpson played Quarterback at Mississippi State for two years before transferring to Southern Miss to play baseball.  At Southern Miss, he was a two-time all-conference selection in baseball.

The Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator, Chris Boone, also has ties to Southern Miss.  Boone played football at Jones County Junior College before finishing at Southern Miss.  He was a student assistant (defense) at USM during 1996-1997.

Maybe the biggest threat on the Skyhawk’s roster is Tailback Donald Chapman (#1, Sr, 5′10″, 215lbs) who was the conference rushing leader.  During last season, he rushed for 1412 yards, averaging 5.2 yards per carry, and scoring 15 TDs.  He didn’t play during the spring game.  Fullback Marcus Dawson (#30, Sr, 6′0″, 235lbs) and Tailback Josh Chapman (#2, Jr, 6′0″, 190lbs) also had some carries, but nothing compared to Chapman.

The Skyhawks use the one-two punch of two very different Quarterbacks.  Greg Preston (#7, So, 6′4″, 220lbs) and Dexter Anoka (#4, So, 5′10″, 165lbs) each saw a lot of playing time.  Preston brought the better stats, but I suspect we’ll still see both of them taking snaps.  From the stats, it doensn’t appear that either one of them is a running yardage threat, but they both are talented players.  They also picked up Cade Thompson, a transfer from South Carolina.

Their primary targets were Wide Receivers Jessie Burton (#20, Sr, 5′10″, 185lbs) from McComb, Ms. and E J Daniel (#16, So, 5′11″, 191lbls).  They have bigger Wide Receivers, but most of the completions were to these two guys.  Burton also returns punts (average 9 yards per return) and kicks (average 26.2 yards per return).

Their Kicker graduated as did a few of their key Offensive Linemen.  Chapman and Burton can be threats, but with an unproven line, I’m not sure the Skyhawks offense can generate much against Southern Miss.

Their defense, which dominated the Ohio Valley Conference last year lost some key people.  Leading tacklers Mrkeseo Jackson and David Gilmore graduated.  Their coach was pleased with the defenses performance during the spring game, but it remains unknown if the players stepping in are up to the test.

Southern Miss and Tennessee-Martin did face a common opponent last year.  On September 2, 2006, the Tennessee-Martin opened their season with a 3-29 loss at Ohio (Southern Miss played Ohio in the bowl game).  Ohio dominated this game and only the Skyhawks strong defense kept the score that close.

So, Southern Miss’ offense should have no trouble scoring on this young and untested defense.  And Southern Miss’ defense should be able to hold Tennessee-Martin scoreless.  This should be a good tune up for the Eagles as they prepare for Tennessee the following week, but it won’t be much of a game (unless you like onesided battles).

Source: www.utmsports.com

I’ve been thinking a lot about motivation lately.  I’ve had these thoughts mostly because of my new role as offensive line coach for the Las Vegas Showgirlz, but also due to changes at my primary employer.  Obviously, we are all motivated by different things.  Finding or creating that thing that motivates best is a huge challenge for coaches/bosses, marketers and, where required, ourselves.

How Coaches/Bosses Motivate Players/Employees

It can be argued that you cannot motivate someone that isn’t willing to be motivated.  I believe that is true, but it still doesn’t discount the value of setting the right environment and tone to facilitate motivation.  “Motivational Speeches” are a part of it as is the carrot and stick approach to rewarding performance.

Most coaches and many bosses seem to prefer using the stick much more frequently than the carrot.  Instill in the player/employee a level of discipline and scold poor performance.  In the end, the player/employee does what is necessary to prevent future scolding.  If it is effective at all, it is only because the player/employee wants the approval of the coach/boss.  Short of this, the method would be completely ineffective by itself.

Motivating Via Guilt

There has been a lot of discussion on EaglePost reguarding our Athletic Department’s Marketing Program.  From the Hattiesburg American Article - “USM Says Get Off The Sofa”, the program was directed at the fans who are not yet season ticket holders.  The big question: Does guilt motivate?

By targeting “fans”, I’d be inclined to conclude that they are looking to people that might care how others think of them.  But then if they were “good fans” they’d likely be at many of the games already.  In either case, I’ll assume they have a good target audience to start with.

Harbor Pointe posted a brilliant spoof of the old Sally Struther’s comercial (see Crazy Enough To Work?) that earned him an EaglePost HOF post.  The funny and the sad.  Yes, guilt can sell a charity, but can it sell a football program?

This year’s schedule is by far the least fan friendly we’ve had in a long time.  It is reminescent of the four home game seasons of the 90’s.  This schedule is designed to maximize television exposure for our program.  So, would it be any wonder that people stay home and watch the game on the television?  Can you guilt them into coming out on a weeknight?

I believe you sell a football season on the experience of it: Eagle Walk, Tailgating, seeing friends (old and new) and a solid win.

Selling our home schedule is a huge challenge and the further the fan is from Hattiesburg, the worst it becomes.  This approach has been tagged in the article as “a bold move”, but is it the right one?  Time will tell…