Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
The Skip Report: Recommit and Refocus
10/21/2015 3:38:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
It was 6:40 last Monday morning when the 'Cats gathered together in their locker room, and outside the sun had not yet risen. In their wake were a pair of bad losses and now, ahead of them, was a trip to improving Nebraska. But no coach had called for this meeting and no coach was present here. The catalyst for it instead had been their leaders, who now took turns addressing the group.
The safety Traveon Henry spoke. The superback Dan Vitale spoke. The linebacker (and former Navy SEAL) Tom Hruby spoke, and so did some others. "It was a matter of, 'There's no passing the buck, there's no passing the blame,'" another of them, the defensive end Deonte Gibson, will say when describing this meeting's theme. "It's two losses. You win and you lose as a team. . . . You can't abandon ship. At the end of the day, dang, you lost two games pretty badly. But you're 5-2. So it was, 'YES, WAKE UP!!!' But also, 'Chill out. It's not that bad. It could be worse.'"
"I thought it was really positive. Compared to last year, I think it was a much more productive meeting," adds the running back Justin Jackson, another member of the team's 14-man Leadership Council. "I think we kind of put into perspective what's going on right now. Obviously we didn't play well the past two games. But we've played four top 20 teams and we're two-and-two. We've just got to relax, refocus and recommit to our goals. To being 1-0 each week. To going hard in practice and really improving in practice so it can show up in the game."
"When we got that second loss this past week, honestly I was a bit worried about how the team's attitude was going to be," concludes the offensive guard Matt Frazier. "But we came in Monday. . .just to check in with everybody and say we're still a good football team and we just need to get back to what we were doing when we were winning. That's playing with attitude, and investing completely in what we believe in. And, honestly, I feel like this whole week has been going great. We've had two great practices so far. I think we're going to be ready to play this weekend. Our attitude is where it should be."
It began in January during their winter workouts, and continued on through spring practice and summer drills and fall camp up in Kenosha. This is when the 'Cats coalesced, and built the binds that bound successful teams together. Often, as they roared through their first five games of this season, they talked of this, talked of their closeness and their affinity for each other, of their pursuit of perfection and their collective sense of responsibility.
But any season is a marathon, not a sprint, and any skein of twine, no matter its tensile strength, can unravel and snap if stressed enough. The 'Cats recognize this, understand this all too well, and this explains well enough that Monday meeting. "We know how this could go if you fall off the ball," explains Jackson. "We know how this could go if you aren't all in after some tough times, after some adversity.
"We have guys who are older now, some young guys who played last year, who know how it feels to slide down a slippery slope to a 5-7 record. We don't want that. This team is much better than that. We want to do it for these seniors, for all the hard work we put in through the first five games and the whole off-season. We really want to perform to show not just ourselves, but the world what type of team we think we are."
What must they do to put that team on display?
"Overall, as a team, it's recommitting," says Jackson. "I think the past few weeks, not only the past few games, but during practice, I don't think we've really been committed and have had that one goal in mind, and really strived towards that. I think we kind of fell off the ball. Obviously, with school (starting), we've had some distractions, but we can't let that be an excuse. So that's really been the motto this week, to recommit, to refocus.
Last Monday, while speaking of his players, Pat Fitzgerald said, "I want to see them play with passion, cut it loose." So maybe, just maybe, have they gotten so caught up in the moment that they're playing tight?
"I don't know. Maybe," says the quarterback Clayton Thorson, one more member of the Leadership Council. "I don't know exactly what happened, but we've just got to respond. That's the big part right there. Just responding. We're a good football team. People might have written us off, but we're a very good football team and we believe the last two games aren't (representative of) what we're capable of doing. I just think it's like Coach Fitz said, just cutting it loose, playing free. I think when we do that we can be a really good football team."
"Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit," says Matt Frazier. "Maybe guys are a little too timid in some places. But I don't think that's the main problem. I think he's (Fitzgerald's) talking about having fun. This is a game we love to play. So just go out there and enjoy it. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. For the most part, I don't think we are afraid to make mistakes. But we do need to cut it loose a little bit and have fun."
"No-o-o-o. It's over-thinking too much," says Gibson. "There were times, even in the five wins, if you break down the film, you can see some over-thinking going on. It didn't hurt us at the time because we had guys playing pretty well. So when you come down to it, guys aren't playing as well as they were, and they're over-thinking it, kinda playing themselves out of the game. That's where a lot of the inconsistencies happen on defense. Guys trying to do a little too much. We've just got to get back to do our job, which was our focus."
How do you lose that focus?
"It's football," Deonte Gibson finally says with a knowing grin. "Football's a crazy sport. Momentum swings, and there's a loss of focus at times. We look back and watch certain plays. It's just one misfit here, one missed tackle there. . . . There's been a lot of missed assignments. Those things are correctable. That's the promising side. The swallow-the-pill side is you look at the scoreboard and, 'That sucks.' But those two losses are behind us, and right now we're more than ever focused on Nebraska."
Bottom line question, cleaned up. Are they angry?
Deonte Gibson chuckles. "A little bit. But we'll be OK," he then says.
"Yes. Yes," Matt Frazier says. "I'm upset, and a lot of guys on the offensive line are upset. Those are the guys I spend the most time with, and we're mad we haven't been doing it the last couple of weeks. We had a better game this past week. We're happy that we took steps forward. But we didn't get the team result. So there are a lot of guys who are really mad we're not getting the results that we want.
"But we're channeling that anger and putting it in the right direction. We're not getting negative on each other. We're not turning that anger into something bad. Instead, it's actually spun into a positive. We're staying together. This is the closest team I've been a part of."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
It was 6:40 last Monday morning when the 'Cats gathered together in their locker room, and outside the sun had not yet risen. In their wake were a pair of bad losses and now, ahead of them, was a trip to improving Nebraska. But no coach had called for this meeting and no coach was present here. The catalyst for it instead had been their leaders, who now took turns addressing the group.
The safety Traveon Henry spoke. The superback Dan Vitale spoke. The linebacker (and former Navy SEAL) Tom Hruby spoke, and so did some others. "It was a matter of, 'There's no passing the buck, there's no passing the blame,'" another of them, the defensive end Deonte Gibson, will say when describing this meeting's theme. "It's two losses. You win and you lose as a team. . . . You can't abandon ship. At the end of the day, dang, you lost two games pretty badly. But you're 5-2. So it was, 'YES, WAKE UP!!!' But also, 'Chill out. It's not that bad. It could be worse.'"
"I thought it was really positive. Compared to last year, I think it was a much more productive meeting," adds the running back Justin Jackson, another member of the team's 14-man Leadership Council. "I think we kind of put into perspective what's going on right now. Obviously we didn't play well the past two games. But we've played four top 20 teams and we're two-and-two. We've just got to relax, refocus and recommit to our goals. To being 1-0 each week. To going hard in practice and really improving in practice so it can show up in the game."
"When we got that second loss this past week, honestly I was a bit worried about how the team's attitude was going to be," concludes the offensive guard Matt Frazier. "But we came in Monday. . .just to check in with everybody and say we're still a good football team and we just need to get back to what we were doing when we were winning. That's playing with attitude, and investing completely in what we believe in. And, honestly, I feel like this whole week has been going great. We've had two great practices so far. I think we're going to be ready to play this weekend. Our attitude is where it should be."
It began in January during their winter workouts, and continued on through spring practice and summer drills and fall camp up in Kenosha. This is when the 'Cats coalesced, and built the binds that bound successful teams together. Often, as they roared through their first five games of this season, they talked of this, talked of their closeness and their affinity for each other, of their pursuit of perfection and their collective sense of responsibility.
But any season is a marathon, not a sprint, and any skein of twine, no matter its tensile strength, can unravel and snap if stressed enough. The 'Cats recognize this, understand this all too well, and this explains well enough that Monday meeting. "We know how this could go if you fall off the ball," explains Jackson. "We know how this could go if you aren't all in after some tough times, after some adversity.
"We have guys who are older now, some young guys who played last year, who know how it feels to slide down a slippery slope to a 5-7 record. We don't want that. This team is much better than that. We want to do it for these seniors, for all the hard work we put in through the first five games and the whole off-season. We really want to perform to show not just ourselves, but the world what type of team we think we are."
What must they do to put that team on display?
"Overall, as a team, it's recommitting," says Jackson. "I think the past few weeks, not only the past few games, but during practice, I don't think we've really been committed and have had that one goal in mind, and really strived towards that. I think we kind of fell off the ball. Obviously, with school (starting), we've had some distractions, but we can't let that be an excuse. So that's really been the motto this week, to recommit, to refocus.
Last Monday, while speaking of his players, Pat Fitzgerald said, "I want to see them play with passion, cut it loose." So maybe, just maybe, have they gotten so caught up in the moment that they're playing tight?
"I don't know. Maybe," says the quarterback Clayton Thorson, one more member of the Leadership Council. "I don't know exactly what happened, but we've just got to respond. That's the big part right there. Just responding. We're a good football team. People might have written us off, but we're a very good football team and we believe the last two games aren't (representative of) what we're capable of doing. I just think it's like Coach Fitz said, just cutting it loose, playing free. I think when we do that we can be a really good football team."
"Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit," says Matt Frazier. "Maybe guys are a little too timid in some places. But I don't think that's the main problem. I think he's (Fitzgerald's) talking about having fun. This is a game we love to play. So just go out there and enjoy it. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. For the most part, I don't think we are afraid to make mistakes. But we do need to cut it loose a little bit and have fun."
"No-o-o-o. It's over-thinking too much," says Gibson. "There were times, even in the five wins, if you break down the film, you can see some over-thinking going on. It didn't hurt us at the time because we had guys playing pretty well. So when you come down to it, guys aren't playing as well as they were, and they're over-thinking it, kinda playing themselves out of the game. That's where a lot of the inconsistencies happen on defense. Guys trying to do a little too much. We've just got to get back to do our job, which was our focus."
How do you lose that focus?
"It's football," Deonte Gibson finally says with a knowing grin. "Football's a crazy sport. Momentum swings, and there's a loss of focus at times. We look back and watch certain plays. It's just one misfit here, one missed tackle there. . . . There's been a lot of missed assignments. Those things are correctable. That's the promising side. The swallow-the-pill side is you look at the scoreboard and, 'That sucks.' But those two losses are behind us, and right now we're more than ever focused on Nebraska."
Bottom line question, cleaned up. Are they angry?
Deonte Gibson chuckles. "A little bit. But we'll be OK," he then says.
"Yes. Yes," Matt Frazier says. "I'm upset, and a lot of guys on the offensive line are upset. Those are the guys I spend the most time with, and we're mad we haven't been doing it the last couple of weeks. We had a better game this past week. We're happy that we took steps forward. But we didn't get the team result. So there are a lot of guys who are really mad we're not getting the results that we want.
"But we're channeling that anger and putting it in the right direction. We're not getting negative on each other. We're not turning that anger into something bad. Instead, it's actually spun into a positive. We're staying together. This is the closest team I've been a part of."
••••••
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