Winning is Predictable

 

I’m off the road a few weeks, so I thought I’d share a blog from home this time.  In between seminar seasons, I’ve enjoyed my favorite sport – American Football.

The “FRS - Find Your Fuel” television commercial featuring Tim Tebow sums up what it takes to be a winner – Determination.  Tebow also clearly illustrates the point of this blog – winning is predictable.

So, after watching Nick Saban’s Alabama Football team win the NCAA National Championship last evening, and witnessing Tebow’s performance on Sunday when he led the Denver Broncos to an NFL playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, I was inspired to write about this topic.

First- Nick Saban and the University of Alabama Crimson Tide.  Is Saban’s winning 3 NCAA National Football Championships coincidence?  No.  Luck?  I don’t think so.  I like the saying, “The harder you work, the luckier you get.”  To accomplish this major football triumph, it was neither luck nor coincidence.  Winning is predictable. 

The Alabama Crimson Tide Football program has a proud history of winning thanks to coaching legend Paul “Bear” Bryant.  As the head coach at Alabama, he lead teams to six National Champions during the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Bryant, who earned his nickname by wrestling a bear at age 13, was known for being tough. As a college football player he played an entire game with a broken leg.

His toughness carried over into his coaching.  In his first coaching job at Texas A&M University in 1954, upon arrival he began cleaning house.  He felt that many of the players on the team were weak and not properly trained or coached. He decided that his players needed a camp away from the distractions on campus so he arranged for the camp to be held at the small town of Junction, Tx.  The Junction Boys was the name given to the survivors of Bear Bryant’s 10 day summer football camp.  There has been a book and a movie made in the same name.

The oppressive heat combined with the brutal practice schedule caused many players to drop out of the football program from illness or disgust.  Practices began before dawn and usually lasted all day with meetings in the evening until 11:00 PM. The conditions were too much for many players and each day, there would be fewer and fewer players at practice as men would quit the team. By the end of the 10-day camp, only a fraction of those that started were left.  In his first year as the head coach at Texas A&M only 35 of his 111 man roster made it through his brutal boot camp where he banned water breaks in 100 degree weather.

Recognized as one of the greatest coaches ever, he cited his 1-9 Texas A&M team of 1954 his favorite.  Those that didn’t quit bonded together like no other team after learning what they were capable of.  I remember my college football coach, Jim Butterfield, telling us stories about the Junction Boys during our summer camps.  Coach Butterfield won three Division III Football National Championships for Ithaca College.  Winning is contagious.

Bryant was old school.  He might actually be the definition of old school.  After some mediocre seasons in the 1990’s and 2000’s, The University of Alabama sought to return to its winning days.  After all, Winning is Predictable.

In 2006 they searched for a new head football coach to turn their program around and bring them back into National Championship contention.  They looked to Nick Saban, who had won a National Championship as coach of Louisiana State University (LSU) in 2003 and who was coaching in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins.  Saban arrived at Alabama a year later, and by 2009, Alabama had won another National Championship.   Winning is predictable.

Saban and Alabama won again last night in total dominance over the undefeated #1 team in the country shutting down their powerhouse offense only allowing them to cross the 50 yard line once in the entire game.   Renowned announcer Brett Musburger commented on the incredible coaching effort of Saban.  In fact, it wasn’t until three minutes left in the game that Alabama received its first penalty of the entire game.

When Courtney Upshaw was handed the award for defensive MVP, he said the whole Alabama defense deserved it and handed it to his teammates.  When Nick Saban was asked about becoming the first coach to win three BCS national championships, he talked about the performances of his players. When Heisman Trophy finalist Trent Richardson talked about scoring only one touchdown in what was, for him, a subpar game, he said that what mattered was winning it. That team-first attitude coming from the top down, as much as anything, won Saban and the Crimson Tide its second national championship in three years. 

Musburger added, “I think the winner of this game walks off as a legend.”  Saban is a legend.  Saban becomes one of only ten college coaches to win three National Championships.  Winning is predictable.

There are so many other examples that come to mind.  Imagine collegiate and NFL Archie Manning star having two sons that go on to start at the Quarterback position for Division I Football programs, both go on to be No. 1 Draft picks in the NFL draft and both go on to win Super Bowls.  Coincidence? No.  Winning is predictable.

Currently featured on Fox NFL Sunday, Jimmy Johnson was the first football coach whose teams won both the National Championship and the Super Bowl.  wins  No matter the sport …Sisters Venus and Serena Williams becoming World leading Tennis Champions.  Winning is predictable.

TEBOW

… and last but not least, Tim Tebow.  I’ve lived my life by the adage, “Successful people do the things that unsuccessful people don’t want to do.”  Whether it was on the playing field, in the practice, on the lecture circuit, or in my relationships, this adage served me well.

Tim Tebow’s favorite quote is, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”  So as NFL analysts compute his passing efficiency, Tebow throws a the winning touchdown pass in the NFL Playoffs leading his team to a playoff win.  Tebow becoming the starting Quarterback for the Denver Broncos or winning last week’s playoff game wasn’t an accident.  It wasn’t luck.  It was predictable.  Winning is predictable.

While the media has caused a broader audience to follow Tebow recently, he’s been a winner all his life.  Just have a brief look at his resume:

• Winner of the James E. Sullivan Award as the Nation’s most outstanding amateur athlete in any sport
• Two-time winner of the Maxwell Award as the Nation’s top College Football player
• Winner of the Davey O’Brien Award as the Nation’s Best College Quarterback
• First-ever sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy
• Winner of two NCAA National Football Championships
• First Round NFL Draft pick in 2010
• Winner of the starting Quarterback position with the Denver Broncos

Winning is predictable.

With Tebow at the helm In 2008, early in the season, his University of Florida Football team lost to the University of Mississippi 31-30.  In the post-game interview Tebow apologized and made a promise.

This promise led his team to the National Championship game. Watch his determination, confidence and conviction in his halftime rally speech to his team mates in this game.  The intensity is palpable.

Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators went on to win the National Championship Game that season.  Winning is predictable.

So whether or not Tebow’s Denver Broncos advance any further in the NFL Playoffs this year, Tim Tebow has proven that he can be a starting Quarterback in the NFL.  He’s a first class individual and an inspiring leader – traits that will carry him throughout everything he accomplishes in his life.  Winning is predictable.

Relationship expert and motivational speaker Mel Robbins talks about how to get anything you want in life. Simply stated, you have to harness the force required to step out of your comfort zone, be impulsive, and get things done – especially when you don’t feel like it.  Successful people do the things that unsuccessful people don’t want to do.

~My thoughts from the Lounge.