Givincer
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I'm sure you all know Wade Phillips often says (paraphrasing) "the player's mistakes aren't their fault, they're my fault." He also often says "I don't expect anymore from the players than the players expect from themselves." While there's something admirable about a person who is willing to take all the blame like that, there's also something... well, stupid about it too. This is in stark contrast with Bill Parcells who often said he told the players "don't be the one who makes the mistake to lose your team the game." Complete opposite, in fact. Full accountability to no accountability.
And, while Wade's very odd philosophy, once given consideration, has some interesting (maybe even appealing) elements to it, it's ultimately detrimental, in my opinion.
Now, Phillips' reasoning for doing this I think has everything to do with giving players the confidence to play without really worrying about mistakes. One obvious unintended consequence of this is that, invariably, there are going to be at least some players on the roster who take him literally. 'How many' is aside from my point that there are going to be at least some, under a head coach who espouses this philosophy.
Now, what this does is leaves some players without any feeling of accountability for their play. I believe most players on the team do feel accountable, because most human beings would. But I really do believe some of the players buy into the "Coach is responsible for my errors, I won't worry about them" attitude, literally, and I think it has an absolutely terrible impact on the team's ability to win big games. It is an artificial way to instill confidence in players. Players need to instill confidence in themselves by being able to not make mistakes during games.
Players have to be held accountable by their head coach at least to some extent, for there to even be a reasonable chance that every player on our roster holds themselves accountable.
It may seem odd (even a bit contradictory) to say I still think Wade Phillips is a good coach. But the fact is, he's got a 17-7 record here, and right now, to say he is anything but is not exactly an easy case to make. I support Wade. I don't want to see him fired. I'd rather just see him change his tone on who exactly is accountable when the team loses and when the players make mistakes.
And, while Wade's very odd philosophy, once given consideration, has some interesting (maybe even appealing) elements to it, it's ultimately detrimental, in my opinion.
Now, Phillips' reasoning for doing this I think has everything to do with giving players the confidence to play without really worrying about mistakes. One obvious unintended consequence of this is that, invariably, there are going to be at least some players on the roster who take him literally. 'How many' is aside from my point that there are going to be at least some, under a head coach who espouses this philosophy.
Now, what this does is leaves some players without any feeling of accountability for their play. I believe most players on the team do feel accountable, because most human beings would. But I really do believe some of the players buy into the "Coach is responsible for my errors, I won't worry about them" attitude, literally, and I think it has an absolutely terrible impact on the team's ability to win big games. It is an artificial way to instill confidence in players. Players need to instill confidence in themselves by being able to not make mistakes during games.
Players have to be held accountable by their head coach at least to some extent, for there to even be a reasonable chance that every player on our roster holds themselves accountable.
It may seem odd (even a bit contradictory) to say I still think Wade Phillips is a good coach. But the fact is, he's got a 17-7 record here, and right now, to say he is anything but is not exactly an easy case to make. I support Wade. I don't want to see him fired. I'd rather just see him change his tone on who exactly is accountable when the team loses and when the players make mistakes.
