Inside Scoop On Discipline?

[Father WASP]

Gailey said after the way we ended he was going to make some changes and toughen things up.

Last year it was evident from the time the team got off the bus at Yellow Jacket Alley - in posture, dress, and attitude, they weren't ready and some tradition had been lost.

This carried over onto the field with dumb penalties and dumb, mental mistakes.

Some would say there is no correlation between appearance and play, and to a certain extent that is true, Army sure has a hard time winning more than a couple a year. I tend to agree with Bobby Dodd and others, that you carry yourself as if something special is about to happen, not like you're headed to the outhouse. That type of atmosphere breeds the slap-backing Suggs was doing after the game with FSU as well.

No speculation or guessing, but does anyone close to the program have inside news about whether we can expect to see a new team this year with regard to appearance and attitude? Please, no more dreadlocks hanging a foot below the helmet and no long, off colored t-shirts hanging out from the seatsuits at Yellow Jacket Alley.

 

[LLCoolJacket]

I don't have your answer father, but I am right there with you.

The sloppy gangsta look may be be freedom of speech, but it sure looks stupid when you get your ass beat 51-7.

 

[GTFish]

I feel that the discipline area will be improved. It started to get that way in the Spring. I will tell you on Friday after the first set of two a days.

 

[flatjacket]

Thank you FW for addressing this issue. I have thought all through last year that there was a discipline problem with the team. I think it is a carry over from the pros and what Gailey was used to being around. A lack of discipline breeds so many problems within a football team. It will carry over to academics also. It affects conditioning and whether a player quits or not. I think especially in football you have to have discipline. When I see the dreadlocks hanging down the back and the sloppy dress that you mentioned, it is a definite sign to me. I hope that CG instills the right amount of discipline (whatever that means) this year and I think we will see immediate positive results.

 

[Father WASP]

I know there is always the usual group that says "I don't care how a guy looks as long as he can play" - but I as a Tech fan don't subscribe to that theory.

Many teams have instituted some sort of event around arrival - Ole Miss through the The Grove, and without mentioning names I know several teams do this in shirts and ties. Whatever Gailey decides to do, it should be done with pride and class. This is one of the most tradition laden programs in the nation, and the players will act and feel like being a part of special if the expectations are out there. No way we should be letting other teams outdo us on the pride factor.

 

[ncjacket]

FW, I agree that giving a team something to rally around, some way of feeling special can be a powerful motivator. I just don't agree that you can pick out "clean shaven" or "gangsta" look and assume that it means anything. I've seen examples of teams that did just the opposite, that is everyone got the weirdest haircut they could think of. It's not what you do, it's the togetherness of it. If Chan institutes a dress code, or grooming code that's fine with me. All I'm saying is that if he does it should be used as a tool to bring the team together, not in the name of discipline and the idea that he will punish those who look "bad".

 

[LLCoolJacket]

NC, I don't believe discipline in this case is used to punish. As a matter of fact, it is the last thing that comes to mind.

To me and most others, I believe, setting no standards for proper dress and grooming is the first step in promoting a loosey goosy attitude, and we do not need that.

This is all my opinion, but standards need to be set and maintained in order to achieve the togetherness, the acting as one that this football program needs. From dress codes to schedules, all need to be stressed and enforced.

From what I have seen and read, no respect for authority was demanded last year, and in the off season leading to flunk out gate. Its not just about coats and ties on the road, its an entire attitude that has been so sorely absent.

I sincerely hope that discipline is a trademark of all Tech teams.

 

[ncjacket]

Gnome, don't disagree. Gailey assumed the guys could be trusted to act like men. Hopefully he learned his lesson and will tighten things up. I also agree that standards for a team are good things. I just don't set the bar where some do. In other words, I don't think dred locks or goatees are bad things. But you can set standards of appearance, dress, etc., without conforming to the standards of those who post on this board is all I'm saying. What's to say the standard is no piercing except earrings? It's a generationaly thing. When I was in school I'm sure many old grad thought it was terrible that some guys had hair hanging out of their helmets.

 

[The Gnome of Zurich]

Originally posted by ncjacket:
FW, I agree that giving a team something to rally around, some way of feeling special can be a powerful motivator. I just don't agree that you can pick out "clean shaven" or "gangsta" look and assume that it means anything. I've seen examples of teams that did just the opposite, that is everyone got the weirdest haircut they could think of. It's not what you do, it's the togetherness of it. If Chan institutes a dress code, or grooming code that's fine with me. All I'm saying is that if he does it should be used as a tool to bring the team together, not in the name of discipline and the idea that he will punish those who look "bad".

<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">NC, it is 10x easier, and better in my opinion, to be very strict up front and then loosen the reins a bit over time if need be than it is to be Hands-Off the first year and all of a sudden be Hands-On. Because Hands-On at GT means knowing when they are brushing their teeth every night. Gailey's is not that way as he put it when he was hired, "I will treat them like men" and Greg Gathers's quote,"we like him, he lets us police ourselves..."