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<a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.ramsondemand.com/blog/2011/12/reason-414-to-fire-spagnuolo-the-4-pillars-are-stupid/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">blog/2011/12/reason-414-to-fire-spagnuolo-the-4-pillars-are-stupid/</a>
I’ve followed Steve Spagnuolo very closely since he was hired, and this whole “4 pillars” thing is an extension of what he learned from Tony Dungy. Most coaches develop a coaching philosophy from someone else they admired, and then they build on that or keep it alive. Sure both of their philosophies are Christian-based. There’s no avoiding that. When Spags first started here, he gave every member of the team a copy of Dungy’s book, “Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance.” That’s a very spiritual book. So, yeah, Faith and Core Values speak directly to what he expects out of MEN, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The NFL is overflowing with Christian athletes. They still hit like assassins, so what’s the big deal. The ancillary benefit is that you don’t have guys getting into trouble at night clubs, sacrificing team goals for personal achievement, stomping on heads and kidneys, and you have good leaders of men to mentor young players entering the league. It’s a win-win.
Tony Dungy’s “pillars” (the guy who won a SB with pillars) are Integrity, Serving, Teamwork and Excellence. I’ll give a brief summary of what that means to Dungy here, and you’ll see where the parallels are rather easily. Anyone have a problem with Tony Dungy? The former defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, turned head coach?
Teamwork: (Team first)
Jesus always pointed out that everybody was important, but nobody was so important they couldn’t get by without them. And that’s what you are trying to sell to your team: that everybody has a role. No matter how small they think it is, even if they are not necessarily the star, they are important.
Integrity (Character)
To me, integrity is what you are all about. It’s what is inside of you. And what’s inside is going to come out when it gets to a critical situation. In my opinion, that’s the difference between a championship team and a good team. It’s the difference between a person you really want to follow and one who is just another person in your life. With people of integrity, you know what you are going to get because that person is the same way all the time; situations don’t change them.
Excellence: (Faith)
I talk about excellence a lot because, I think, from a Christian perspective, that can get lost. We talk so much about how it’s “just God’s will” and that we want to serve Him, but He wants us to be excellent in what we do. I love Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians that in a race we all run to receive a prize, but he says to run to win. We can’t forget that part.
Serving: (Core Values)
Ever since I’ve been in a leadership position, my focus has been the model of Christ as the servant-leader. There are different ways to lead, but I’ve always felt that it’s better if other people follow me because they want to follow, not because I’ve been put up there as the leader and they have to follow. To do that, you have to earn people’s trust and their respect; and the way to do that is to show them you are there to help them. As coaches, that is our job—not necessarily to win a championship, but to help all the players, everyone in the organization, do their jobs as well as they can.
Tony Dungy took a Buccaneers team that hadn’t had a winning season the previous 14 years and immediately put his stamp on the Franchise. He gave them an identity and made them relevant. He did that with a specific vision and he took great care to cultivate confidence and leadership in the men that played the game under him. He never yelled, he didn’t grab face masks, he never publicly embarassed anyone or called anyone out, and he was always even keeled. Sound familiar?
Steve Spagnuolo did the very same thing immediately upon his hiring. If it’s “stupid” to have pillars of character and camaraderie as the foundation of the Franchise and the criteria for developing a roster, then I don’t wanna be smart. I’d rather wallow in my stupidity and abject homerism until the day I die. It’s this specific vision that has a fair amount of people torn about letting Coach Spagnuolo go. It’s uncertain as to what the next “vision” will be. Of course that’s not the only reason. Many others believe that the Rams were on the cusp of being contenders before the first domino fell after Steven Jackson’s 47 yard romp against the Eagles on the Rams’ first play of their opening drive.
But that’s another story entirely.
<a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.ramsondemand.com/blog/2011/12/reason-414-to-fire-spagnuolo-the-4-pillars-are-stupid/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">blog/2011/12/reason-414-to-fire-spagnuolo-the-4-pillars-are-stupid/</a>
I’ve followed Steve Spagnuolo very closely since he was hired, and this whole “4 pillars” thing is an extension of what he learned from Tony Dungy. Most coaches develop a coaching philosophy from someone else they admired, and then they build on that or keep it alive. Sure both of their philosophies are Christian-based. There’s no avoiding that. When Spags first started here, he gave every member of the team a copy of Dungy’s book, “Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance.” That’s a very spiritual book. So, yeah, Faith and Core Values speak directly to what he expects out of MEN, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The NFL is overflowing with Christian athletes. They still hit like assassins, so what’s the big deal. The ancillary benefit is that you don’t have guys getting into trouble at night clubs, sacrificing team goals for personal achievement, stomping on heads and kidneys, and you have good leaders of men to mentor young players entering the league. It’s a win-win.
Tony Dungy’s “pillars” (the guy who won a SB with pillars) are Integrity, Serving, Teamwork and Excellence. I’ll give a brief summary of what that means to Dungy here, and you’ll see where the parallels are rather easily. Anyone have a problem with Tony Dungy? The former defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, turned head coach?
Teamwork: (Team first)
Jesus always pointed out that everybody was important, but nobody was so important they couldn’t get by without them. And that’s what you are trying to sell to your team: that everybody has a role. No matter how small they think it is, even if they are not necessarily the star, they are important.
Integrity (Character)
To me, integrity is what you are all about. It’s what is inside of you. And what’s inside is going to come out when it gets to a critical situation. In my opinion, that’s the difference between a championship team and a good team. It’s the difference between a person you really want to follow and one who is just another person in your life. With people of integrity, you know what you are going to get because that person is the same way all the time; situations don’t change them.
Excellence: (Faith)
I talk about excellence a lot because, I think, from a Christian perspective, that can get lost. We talk so much about how it’s “just God’s will” and that we want to serve Him, but He wants us to be excellent in what we do. I love Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians that in a race we all run to receive a prize, but he says to run to win. We can’t forget that part.
Serving: (Core Values)
Ever since I’ve been in a leadership position, my focus has been the model of Christ as the servant-leader. There are different ways to lead, but I’ve always felt that it’s better if other people follow me because they want to follow, not because I’ve been put up there as the leader and they have to follow. To do that, you have to earn people’s trust and their respect; and the way to do that is to show them you are there to help them. As coaches, that is our job—not necessarily to win a championship, but to help all the players, everyone in the organization, do their jobs as well as they can.
Tony Dungy took a Buccaneers team that hadn’t had a winning season the previous 14 years and immediately put his stamp on the Franchise. He gave them an identity and made them relevant. He did that with a specific vision and he took great care to cultivate confidence and leadership in the men that played the game under him. He never yelled, he didn’t grab face masks, he never publicly embarassed anyone or called anyone out, and he was always even keeled. Sound familiar?
Steve Spagnuolo did the very same thing immediately upon his hiring. If it’s “stupid” to have pillars of character and camaraderie as the foundation of the Franchise and the criteria for developing a roster, then I don’t wanna be smart. I’d rather wallow in my stupidity and abject homerism until the day I die. It’s this specific vision that has a fair amount of people torn about letting Coach Spagnuolo go. It’s uncertain as to what the next “vision” will be. Of course that’s not the only reason. Many others believe that the Rams were on the cusp of being contenders before the first domino fell after Steven Jackson’s 47 yard romp against the Eagles on the Rams’ first play of their opening drive.
But that’s another story entirely.
