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2009 Feb 03
Signing Day 2009: Why Character Counts
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On National Signing Day – Pigskinmas for college football fans – you’ll hear a lot of numbers. Height. Weight. 40-yard dash time. Yards. Tackles. Top 100 this. Top 20 that. Rarely in our lives are so many people reduced to a compilation of numbers, but that’s what football recruiting has become.
They’re important, those numbers, as they generally indicate potential of a team. Not Tennessee, UCLA or Notre Dame, mind you, but most squads.
But as you pore over those player biographies for the next week, trying to figure out which teams play for the BCS title in 2012, do yourself a favor. Skip to the end of those bios, and see which kids have their grade point averages listed. Which kids played more than one sport. Which kids have been involved beyond football – and want fans to know that. Which kids are active in their religion, whatever it may be. Which kids overcame an injury. Which kids are represented by two parents or, if not that, at least some kind of father figure.
Those buried intangibles point the way to leaders who make college football teams. Their absence generally breaks them.
It’s a cliché, but character counts.
Nebraska fans know this because they watched the 2007 team crash and burn under aloof, me-first leadership, while the 2008 team scratched its way to nine wins because of a tight-knit, hard-working bunch of unheralded seniors that began with quarterback Joe Ganz, the career backup who shined in his one full season starting at the position.
Ganz was a decent athlete. He had a decent arm. But his intangibles? His ability to make teammates believe? His terrific relationship with Nate Swift and Todd Peterson, who worked with him for five years to achieve on-field chemistry? That was the stuff of winners.
Nebraska’s coaches have been around long enough to spot leaders when they see them on the recruiting trail. Not every kid will be. Some players really are clay needing to be shaped. More than half of NU’s class, I’d wager, is comprised of such athletes. Others could grow into the role over time.
But a small few possess the leadership look when they step on campus. They have infectious personalities and they instinctively know how, when and why to push their teammates’ buttons.
Too many of those guys, and they just push each other’s buttons. But too few of them, and the coaching staff is left with too much responsibility. And coaches make crappy babysitters.
The best teams are largely self-governed, handling issues of effort and discipline well before it reaches management. Grassroots accountability wins more games than a coach left to be judge, jury and executioner. And, quite often, a leader is better defined by what he doesn’t say than what he does. A leader doesn’t have to be loud, or a raconteur. Just sincere – with the skills to back it up.
It was instructive watching defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh last year. Yes, he played well, and yes, he has considerable physical gifts. But his leadership – as a junior, mind you – was equally impressive.
You’ll recall after NU’s 62-28 loss to Oklahoma, head coach Bo Pelini chose not to make the players available afterward. The following Monday – whether it was by design or not – NU conducted “reserve scrimmage,” dismissing the starters well before practice ended. Most of them left. Not Suh. He went back out and watched the rest of the scrimmage, standing with the coaches. After that, surrounded by 20 reporters, he answered questions about the OU game for nearly a half-hour.
That’s a small thing, but it’s leadership. Suh didn’t have to do any of it. He didn’t have to let teammates call him “Ducky,” after the “Land Before Time” dinosaur character. He didn’t have to return for his senior season for a degree. He didn’t have to soak up the defense last spring, when he sat out with a knee injury. He didn’t have to be one of best lifters on the team in the weight room.
None of it was required for Suh to play well and succeed in the NFL. It was just in his character.
Who in the 2009 class has those qualities? If you really want to know whether the Huskers can compete for a Big 12 and national championship by the end of this decade and beyond, think about it.
Join Husker Locker today -it's free!
See also: Fixing a Broken Recruiting System with Thought, Not Rules
They’re important, those numbers, as they generally indicate potential of a team. Not Tennessee, UCLA or Notre Dame, mind you, but most squads.
But as you pore over those player biographies for the next week, trying to figure out which teams play for the BCS title in 2012, do yourself a favor. Skip to the end of those bios, and see which kids have their grade point averages listed. Which kids played more than one sport. Which kids have been involved beyond football – and want fans to know that. Which kids are active in their religion, whatever it may be. Which kids overcame an injury. Which kids are represented by two parents or, if not that, at least some kind of father figure.
Those buried intangibles point the way to leaders who make college football teams. Their absence generally breaks them.
It’s a cliché, but character counts.
Nebraska fans know this because they watched the 2007 team crash and burn under aloof, me-first leadership, while the 2008 team scratched its way to nine wins because of a tight-knit, hard-working bunch of unheralded seniors that began with quarterback Joe Ganz, the career backup who shined in his one full season starting at the position.
Ganz was a decent athlete. He had a decent arm. But his intangibles? His ability to make teammates believe? His terrific relationship with Nate Swift and Todd Peterson, who worked with him for five years to achieve on-field chemistry? That was the stuff of winners.
Nebraska’s coaches have been around long enough to spot leaders when they see them on the recruiting trail. Not every kid will be. Some players really are clay needing to be shaped. More than half of NU’s class, I’d wager, is comprised of such athletes. Others could grow into the role over time.
But a small few possess the leadership look when they step on campus. They have infectious personalities and they instinctively know how, when and why to push their teammates’ buttons.
Too many of those guys, and they just push each other’s buttons. But too few of them, and the coaching staff is left with too much responsibility. And coaches make crappy babysitters.
The best teams are largely self-governed, handling issues of effort and discipline well before it reaches management. Grassroots accountability wins more games than a coach left to be judge, jury and executioner. And, quite often, a leader is better defined by what he doesn’t say than what he does. A leader doesn’t have to be loud, or a raconteur. Just sincere – with the skills to back it up.
It was instructive watching defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh last year. Yes, he played well, and yes, he has considerable physical gifts. But his leadership – as a junior, mind you – was equally impressive.
You’ll recall after NU’s 62-28 loss to Oklahoma, head coach Bo Pelini chose not to make the players available afterward. The following Monday – whether it was by design or not – NU conducted “reserve scrimmage,” dismissing the starters well before practice ended. Most of them left. Not Suh. He went back out and watched the rest of the scrimmage, standing with the coaches. After that, surrounded by 20 reporters, he answered questions about the OU game for nearly a half-hour.
That’s a small thing, but it’s leadership. Suh didn’t have to do any of it. He didn’t have to let teammates call him “Ducky,” after the “Land Before Time” dinosaur character. He didn’t have to return for his senior season for a degree. He didn’t have to soak up the defense last spring, when he sat out with a knee injury. He didn’t have to be one of best lifters on the team in the weight room.
None of it was required for Suh to play well and succeed in the NFL. It was just in his character.
Who in the 2009 class has those qualities? If you really want to know whether the Huskers can compete for a Big 12 and national championship by the end of this decade and beyond, think about it.
Join Husker Locker today -it's free!
See also: Fixing a Broken Recruiting System with Thought, Not Rules
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Tags: recruiting, nebraska football, suh, ganz
Home > Blogs > Official Husker Locker Blog > Signing Day 2009: Why Character Counts
Suh is a great example of true genuine character. Hes a whole lot more than a football player. Go Huskers!!!
– Feb 14, 2009
Three decades of 9 win seasons by teams with character is without question the foundation of our tradition. All other things - MNCs, NFL representation, national recognition - are tributaries of this single concept. Hard hitting NU teams who compete, win, and lose with character is why I have lived and breathed NU football for well over 30 years. SI can have thier @#$* rankings, our coach understands the Husker way and I for one am very glad for it.
– Feb 6, 2009
As the paradigm shifted for FSU, look what happens when you recruit marginal, and I'm being polite, character athletes. Coaches and the support system enveloping these 'characters' takes up inordinate amount of time to keep them on the straight and narrow.
– Feb 5, 2009
I couldnt agree more. I would rather lose with class than win with thugs.
GBR
– Feb 3, 2009
Exactly!! Too often coaches recruit for everything but one of the most important, and unmeasurable, qualities - character. What good is an athlete that runs and leaps like a gazelle with hands with flypaper to a team or program if you see his name and photo more often in the public record than the sports section?
– Feb 3, 2009