One of the downfalls of the Eagles late in the Reid era was too much self-worshipping. “We’re a great team.” Or maybe “We’re a great (offense or defense).”
“Our goal and expectation is to win the Super Bowl.”
“Dream team.”
And so on.
One of Chip Kelly’s biggest victories so far is keeping the players focused on here and now. Sheil Kapadia offers up more info.
And finally, Kelly explained the Win The Day mantra that became so popular at Oregon and now has made its way into the Eagles’ locker room.
“Just about embracing the process and that’s what it’s all about,” Kelly said. “I think too many people see too far down the road. You can talk about championships all you want, but if you don’t take care of what you’re supposed to be taking care of today, it doesn’t matter what your long-term goal is.
“Just really making sure that you’re focused no matter what your long-term goals are, to be on the short-term and what can I get accomplished today? Maybe we just weren’t smart enough to look long-term. We can control what we can control today and if we do it, go to bed, get up tomorrow and do it again. It’s about being consistent with your behavior and I think too many times, everybody talks about the big picture. But they neglect to look at what the small picture is. It’s an accumulation of things on a daily basis that gets you to where you are a year from now. It’s not try to jump to a year from now. It’s take care of what you can today and what you can control is just today.”
I love it. Focus on today and quit dreaming about the future. Take care of your business right now and the big picture will play out better than if you ignore today and just stare down the road.
I’m really glad Kelly is addressing this issue. In recent years, nothing pissed me off more than when the Eagles lost a game and then various players said stuff like “We’re still a great team.” or “We know we’re better than this.” or my personal favorite “We beat ourselves out there.” It’s an odd delusion where players are trying to take responsibility while maintaining confidence, but they’re actually just perpetuating the denial about how much they suck.
First off, players need to realize that in most cases, it’s the OTHER TEAM that beat them…..the idea that, yes, someone is better than you and just pounded you into the turf. Second, if they lose, they need to understand that they are not “better than this.” They are exactly as good as their performance showed, warts and all.
If Kelly can drill this mentality into their heads and make them hungrier then everyone else, then they can succeed.
Amen! It is time to stop the mutual admiration society and get to work. Don’t let the cancerous attitude of the past including Iverson “Practice” quote. They show show the documentary on Jerry Rice and his work ethic. Hard work never killed anyone just made them sore. Now that Marty Morningwheg(sp?)is gone we can have a great attacking scheme and hope the execution is there without FUMBLING it away Mr. Brown, They should tape the ball to him arm all week;-). Just maybe he’ll get the idea that is h is responsibility and not someones great hit that made him fumble.
DUH! I’m done.
Dennis Dixon told me that Kelly’s motivational phase begins about now, after cuts. Expect all the “Tao of Chip Kelly” stuff, updated, to come in. It’s a shame Dixon won’t be there to experience it.