By Jimmy Hyams
Most any coach that takes over a program says he must change the culture.
Doesn’t matter if the previous team won 10 games or made it to the Final Four – the new coach believes he has to alter the mindset of his players.
With that in mind, Tennessee’s first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt is tasked with turning around the fortunes of a program that endured its first-ever eight-loss season and didn’t win an SEC game for the first time in school history.
How long does it take to change the culture? A spring practice? Summer workouts? And entire fall season?
“Each program is a little bit different and some of it probably has something to do with leadership,’’ Pruitt said. “When you change the culture, I don’t think sometimes it’s measured in wins and losses.
“It’s the `buy in’ factor. It’s people trying to do it the way you want it to be done.
“If you look over the history of guys taking jobs, it seems like lots of times you can look from Year One to Year Two and you see a big jump. I think that’s part of guys (coaches) having the opportunity to change the culture.’’
You saw that jump at LSU from the first to the second year under Nick Saban. You saw it again when Saban took over at Alabama. You saw it with Mark Richt at Georgia and Bob Stoops at Oklahoma and Kirby Smart at Georgia.
But you wonder if Saban or Richt or Stoops or Smart faced at their new schools what Pruitt faces at Tennessee.
During the spring game, Pruitt said several players “flat-out quit.’’ That’s not a good sign. If a player quits during the spring game, will he quit when adversity strikes during a real game or when he’s at practice or in the weight room or in the classroom?
“One thing that don’t take any ability is the effort that you give,’’ Pruitt said. “Effort and toughness has nothing to do with ability and I think it’s the habits that you create.
“Sure it (players quitting) bothered me, but at the same time, it’s a learning lesson. I would rather teach the lesson in April than have to learn it the hard way in September and October.’’
Is that part of changing the culture?
“To me, I think it’s a really good measurement of who you are,’’ Pruitt said. “Who you are as a competitor. When things don’t go your way, how are you going to respond? It’s easy to play at your best when the sun is shining and everyone is cheering for you. But sometimes it gets a lot tougher when you’re on the road and things aren’t going your way. You got to find a way to change the momentum.’’
And in Pruitt’s case, he’s got to find a way to change the culture.
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