Video: Coach P.J. Fleck Mic'd Up: August 2018 Practice

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With all that we've read and heard recently about abusive coaching behavior - belittling, screaming, cursing, humiliating - I am very glad that we have a coach who is positive and encouraging. There are those fans who will sneer and use words like "phony" and "salesman" and snake oil", and to those I say this: Aren't you proud of having a coach who carries himself like this?

[Cue some comments about how this video only shows one side of the story, therefore we can't trust it or believe it]
 

I'm not convinced that always being warm and fuzzy with players will bring out the best in them. It's very Wacker like.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
I'm not convinced that always being warm and fuzzy with players will bring out the best in them. It's very Wacker like.
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I wouldn't call it as being warm and fuzzy. Positive reinforcement with direct accountability and honest evaluations can be very effective in developing players. A lot of it has to do with recruiting. You need to recruit players that truly want to get better and have a passion for the game.
 



Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
I'm not convinced that always being warm and fuzzy with players will bring out the best in them. It's very Wacker like.
Click to expand...

Wacker was a good man, and while he didn't win here he demonstrated at lower levels he was an excellent coach (4 national championships between 2 different schools...he also did well at TCU). I don't think you have to always be a hard ass just as being always warm and fuzzy all the time is a bad thing. I know that Fleck is not always warm and fuzzy...I've seen him get after players in videos.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Wasn't Tony Dungy like that?
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Dungy was far from warm and fuzzy. He was a metronome of consistency. Very calm, confident in his plan. Keep the course, do the right things and it will work out. To a fault, he believed in his system of bend don't break. Got him a super bowl ring.

He wasn't negative, but he wasn't "warm and fuzzy" either. He just was.
 




No goosebumps for me, but that was fun to watch. On the field, Fleck is filled with his message and a relentlessly positive attitude.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Dungy was far from warm and fuzzy. He was a metronome of consistency. Very calm, confident in his plan. Keep the course, do the right things and it will work out. To a fault, he believed in his system of bend don't break. Got him a super bowl ring.

He wasn't negative, but he wasn't "warm and fuzzy" either. He just was.
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I thought I always got a positive vibe from him. Might have been fairly flat line positive, but I think that is still positive.
 

Lots of different coaching styles can work. There is no "right answer" for how to coach (think of how different successful coaches like Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin, Tony Dungy, and Mike Zimmer are). I think the important thing is to be yourself, which I think is true of PJ. I think his positivity is genuine. Whether that will translate to wins, I don't know, but I do think he is sincere.
 

If one looks at all the successful coaches out there it seems like there is a pretty wide range of temperments. And, the NFL is a different animal than FBS. Carroll vs Belichick. Tomlin, Zimmer, etc, etc. some players probably respond better to one approach than another.

We are training a new puppy and there is some disagreement on whether solely positive reinforcement is sufficient vs some negative reinforcement. Some dogs probably respond solely to positive reinforcement but of one observes an older dog with a puppy there is plenty of teeth baring, snarling, snapping to educate the young one on what not to do.
 




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