Up front disclaimer: 1) tl;dr 2) i didnt want us to hire Bruce, was unhappy for years, finally came on board and feel a little burned 3) Don't know the better alternative
Bruce Weber is a lot of things that people will agree on (honest, hard-working) and disagree on (cowardly, panicky, short sighted). He is our coach and he's here for a while. When the team does well, people still complain about him a bit but overall feel okay about him. When the team sucks, well...."I told you so" is a 16-page thread.
Regardless of one's opinion of Bruce Weber it simply comes down to one key area that determines so much of one's success or failure nowadays: Communication skills. He simply does not have decent or even adequate communication skills. Three examples:
1) Game day coaching: i noticed last year and have noticed in the past few games that when the players are in the huddle and Bruce is telling them what to do that a players steps up and basically provides input. I believe the lack of a "leader" on this team is misplaced criticism. I believe we lack an "interpreter." Last year, Barry was an animated participant in the huddle, effectively distilling what Bruce said into digestible, actionable information. This year you sometimes see X do it and i noticed Carti doing it last night. We see Bruce running around and yelling and "stirring the drink" while the team is playing but i think the players largely ignore that because he isnt getting his point across. Bottom line: Bruce doesnt effectively communicate on game day unless he has someone to do it for him.
2) With the media: if Bruce ever gets fired, it will be because Gene has a large file pf quotes which sound like Bruce doesnt know what he is doing. For example:
Bruce needs to do a much better job of illustrating his plan, being able to state it for fans, players and students and galvanize his base. Instead he says things like "I don't know what to do." I'm confident he doesnt mean that but it makes him look - truly - moronic. I believe it also affects his third area....
3) Attracting Talent: who wouldnt want to come play or coach for a conference champion? Well until this most recent recruiting class a whole lot of good players. I think Bruce is probably as awkward in front of recruits as we expect. But the biggest part of his communication miss here is setting expectations. Frankly i also think its the same with his staff. Bruce has been a coach for a long time and doesnt have any assistants with a high level HC job and I believe its probably due to a lack of setting expectations. Communcating a path for people to be successful and consequences for not being successful gets you players and coaches that dont contribute to the program. I think there are a lot of coaches- A LOT - that respect Bruce. But if you asked them if they want to work with him the answer is largely no. And, i think it comes down to communication.
I wish the AD would invest in a PR assistant and communications training for coach. I want him to be successful amd i want to be proud of him and the program. But until he can better illustrate what he wants from his guys, what he expects and what will happen if those expectations aren't met, and what his vision for the program is, then....well, I guess we will have to "ask Fran Frascilla about it."
/rant
Bruce Weber is a lot of things that people will agree on (honest, hard-working) and disagree on (cowardly, panicky, short sighted). He is our coach and he's here for a while. When the team does well, people still complain about him a bit but overall feel okay about him. When the team sucks, well...."I told you so" is a 16-page thread.
Regardless of one's opinion of Bruce Weber it simply comes down to one key area that determines so much of one's success or failure nowadays: Communication skills. He simply does not have decent or even adequate communication skills. Three examples:
1) Game day coaching: i noticed last year and have noticed in the past few games that when the players are in the huddle and Bruce is telling them what to do that a players steps up and basically provides input. I believe the lack of a "leader" on this team is misplaced criticism. I believe we lack an "interpreter." Last year, Barry was an animated participant in the huddle, effectively distilling what Bruce said into digestible, actionable information. This year you sometimes see X do it and i noticed Carti doing it last night. We see Bruce running around and yelling and "stirring the drink" while the team is playing but i think the players largely ignore that because he isnt getting his point across. Bottom line: Bruce doesnt effectively communicate on game day unless he has someone to do it for him.
2) With the media: if Bruce ever gets fired, it will be because Gene has a large file pf quotes which sound like Bruce doesnt know what he is doing. For example:
Bruce needs to do a much better job of illustrating his plan, being able to state it for fans, players and students and galvanize his base. Instead he says things like "I don't know what to do." I'm confident he doesnt mean that but it makes him look - truly - moronic. I believe it also affects his third area....
3) Attracting Talent: who wouldnt want to come play or coach for a conference champion? Well until this most recent recruiting class a whole lot of good players. I think Bruce is probably as awkward in front of recruits as we expect. But the biggest part of his communication miss here is setting expectations. Frankly i also think its the same with his staff. Bruce has been a coach for a long time and doesnt have any assistants with a high level HC job and I believe its probably due to a lack of setting expectations. Communcating a path for people to be successful and consequences for not being successful gets you players and coaches that dont contribute to the program. I think there are a lot of coaches- A LOT - that respect Bruce. But if you asked them if they want to work with him the answer is largely no. And, i think it comes down to communication.
I wish the AD would invest in a PR assistant and communications training for coach. I want him to be successful amd i want to be proud of him and the program. But until he can better illustrate what he wants from his guys, what he expects and what will happen if those expectations aren't met, and what his vision for the program is, then....well, I guess we will have to "ask Fran Frascilla about it."
/rant
