Colorado State University Athletics
Addazio's Message Starting to Sink in for Players
3/7/2020 1:46:00 PM | RamWire
Workouts put coach's words into practice
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Before they can comprehend, the players first have to listen.
Every coach has a message to deliver, a philosophy they've developed through trial and error, with hints of influence from stops along the coaching lines. They keep what they like, alter aspects here and there and discard what they don't believe in themselves.
Call it culture, family or chemistry, the intent is to develop a team which will band together to achieve success.
Colorado State's football roster is already picking up on some of first-year coach Steve Addazio's buzzwords. They know toughness and physical. They know love and compete. Listening is the first step, but having a full understanding and making it part of the program's fabric takes time, just as it would with learning an offensive or defensive scheme.
"Transition is always kind of tough," offensive lineman Barry Wesley said. "It's what, day four of practice? I think we're getting better at it, and some guys are better than others, and those who are are trying to help the others. It's a process, it's going to take some time.
"I do like the message. It's a little bit different from the old staff. It's a new way to look on life, honestly. It can definitely be applied to so many different areas in your life, so I do think it's a good little twist and something new."
Coaches are not repetitive due to a limited vocabulary, it's because they're pushing a point across. The concepts of physicality and toughness will never leave the stream of consciousness at any practice, but as he said, it can't be something which is put on a T-shirt or a wristband to accomplish, it has to be lived.
So his practices will be physical and tough. Hear the words, enforce the action.
"It's a philosophy of building our personality and our culture," Addazio said after Saturday's workout. "That's' what we're about right now. I've got to create that sense of toughness and urgency, and everybody's got to push and realize that the coaches are fighters, and the players are fighters. I don't mean fighters with their fists, I mean competitiveness. That's what this is about every day right now."
The team scrimmaged during parts of the morning session, with roughly 50 graded plays of winners and losers. It's how the standings are created during seasons, and it's how practices are being run by the Rams these days.
As defensive back Marshaun Cameron explained, the method delivers immediate results. The players and the units know where they constantly stand, and he feels the level of competitiveness has been upgraded under the scrutiny. He also understands the philosophy is being taught to extend beyond the football field.
"The message is basically there's only a winner or a loser, there is no in between, so you have to come ready to compete every day," he said. "Every day, every practice, we have a winner or a loser. That's the only way to go about it.
"It's just being a winner every day. Trying to win every day, every rep. Even if you don't win the last rep, come the next rep and win. Anytime you make a mistake outside of football, you're still a loser. You have to do things outside the field that are right so it can translate out onto the field."
The pace of practice is teaching the team conditioning will be key, the competitiveness is creating an environment which will occasionally raise internal temperatures. Addazio didn't just casually mention fighting sans fists, he did so as a reminder that to do so in a game results in an ejection, thus, a losing play.
And whatever happens on the field is not to be transferred to the locker rooms. Bad days are going to happen, but they are not to be extended once practice has ended, because it just compounds issues There, in the setting which belongs solely to the players, reconstruction should take place.
Wesley likes the yin and yang. Battle to the end at practice, but be smart about it, because the person across from you is your brother. If somebody in your family needs help, you offer it up, you encourage. Wesley sees the transition taking place, a melding of the minds. He's a fan of the message, and also the teachings.
The building blocks, Addazio explained, are love and trust. You build trust through love, and the players need to go beyond understanding to a place where it is employed. Love is multiple; it can include tough love. The game is hard, and to win championships, they'll need to know how to do battle. And they need each other to do so.
"Talking about inside the white lines – there's no smiley-face stickers in there, man. It's dirty, it's hard, it's nasty," Addazio said. "Then when we get outside the white lines, we have to love each other, we have to pick each other up, we've got to encourage each other. But inside the white lines, we have to push each other."
Every coach has a message to deliver, a philosophy they've developed through trial and error, with hints of influence from stops along the coaching lines. They keep what they like, alter aspects here and there and discard what they don't believe in themselves.
Call it culture, family or chemistry, the intent is to develop a team which will band together to achieve success.
Colorado State's football roster is already picking up on some of first-year coach Steve Addazio's buzzwords. They know toughness and physical. They know love and compete. Listening is the first step, but having a full understanding and making it part of the program's fabric takes time, just as it would with learning an offensive or defensive scheme.
"Transition is always kind of tough," offensive lineman Barry Wesley said. "It's what, day four of practice? I think we're getting better at it, and some guys are better than others, and those who are are trying to help the others. It's a process, it's going to take some time.
"I do like the message. It's a little bit different from the old staff. It's a new way to look on life, honestly. It can definitely be applied to so many different areas in your life, so I do think it's a good little twist and something new."
Coaches are not repetitive due to a limited vocabulary, it's because they're pushing a point across. The concepts of physicality and toughness will never leave the stream of consciousness at any practice, but as he said, it can't be something which is put on a T-shirt or a wristband to accomplish, it has to be lived.
So his practices will be physical and tough. Hear the words, enforce the action.
"It's a philosophy of building our personality and our culture," Addazio said after Saturday's workout. "That's' what we're about right now. I've got to create that sense of toughness and urgency, and everybody's got to push and realize that the coaches are fighters, and the players are fighters. I don't mean fighters with their fists, I mean competitiveness. That's what this is about every day right now."
The team scrimmaged during parts of the morning session, with roughly 50 graded plays of winners and losers. It's how the standings are created during seasons, and it's how practices are being run by the Rams these days.
As defensive back Marshaun Cameron explained, the method delivers immediate results. The players and the units know where they constantly stand, and he feels the level of competitiveness has been upgraded under the scrutiny. He also understands the philosophy is being taught to extend beyond the football field.
"The message is basically there's only a winner or a loser, there is no in between, so you have to come ready to compete every day," he said. "Every day, every practice, we have a winner or a loser. That's the only way to go about it.
"It's just being a winner every day. Trying to win every day, every rep. Even if you don't win the last rep, come the next rep and win. Anytime you make a mistake outside of football, you're still a loser. You have to do things outside the field that are right so it can translate out onto the field."
The pace of practice is teaching the team conditioning will be key, the competitiveness is creating an environment which will occasionally raise internal temperatures. Addazio didn't just casually mention fighting sans fists, he did so as a reminder that to do so in a game results in an ejection, thus, a losing play.
And whatever happens on the field is not to be transferred to the locker rooms. Bad days are going to happen, but they are not to be extended once practice has ended, because it just compounds issues There, in the setting which belongs solely to the players, reconstruction should take place.
Wesley likes the yin and yang. Battle to the end at practice, but be smart about it, because the person across from you is your brother. If somebody in your family needs help, you offer it up, you encourage. Wesley sees the transition taking place, a melding of the minds. He's a fan of the message, and also the teachings.
The building blocks, Addazio explained, are love and trust. You build trust through love, and the players need to go beyond understanding to a place where it is employed. Love is multiple; it can include tough love. The game is hard, and to win championships, they'll need to know how to do battle. And they need each other to do so.
"Talking about inside the white lines – there's no smiley-face stickers in there, man. It's dirty, it's hard, it's nasty," Addazio said. "Then when we get outside the white lines, we have to love each other, we have to pick each other up, we've got to encourage each other. But inside the white lines, we have to push each other."
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