So I got the pleasure of listening to over 100,000 University of Texas longhorn fans attempt to out cheer a smattering of Louisiana State University Tiger fans last night. The Texas fans won their battle, the Texas football team lost theirs. No need for me to walk through the game play, that analysis has been done ad nausea on various sporting news outlets. I tended to watch the sidelines and analyze the coaching staff and look for what they were trying to do to lead the team though the game. The LSU team was definitely stronger in many ways, the Texas offensive line struggled, and the Texas defense good not seem to make any worthwhile adjustments to stop LSU. However, Texas hung in the game, living by heart alone it seems. At the end of the day, I believe the difference in the two teams was coaching. I will talk about that in a second, but first, I have to talk about the MOC, the Minister of Culture.
The new athletic director for the University of Texas has been busy. The scene on campus on game day was a mad house, a carnival atmosphere. There are games, food, fun for everyone and you will get along great with anyone as long as you are wearing burnt orange. You quickly learn won of the various change, slogans and symbols of the culture. There are some complicated ones, something about OU sucks and make them eat cow manure, but I got into the spirit of things quickly as I learned the rallying cry. Someone from the crowd yells, Texas and you respond, Fight! You repeat that 10 times and learn to stick your hand in the air with your index and pinky fingers extended and you are now part of the fan base. This all culminated when the bus with the team arrived, the band played the burnt orange flags start to wave and then Matthew McConaughey shows up in a burnt orange old school Lincoln Continental with giant long horns on the front, wearing his black hat and white shirt. ESPN game day has to pause in their broadcast, everything goes nuts. Yes, the Minister of Culture has arrived.
That was impressive enough, until the Long Horn steer named Bevo showed up on the scene. Giant LongHorn steer with roman numerals after his name. They name each successor, and put a plaque up showing each one over the years. Yes, they eventually parade this steer onto the football field. Welcome to Texas. Yes, our favorite hollywood, pot smoking pretty boy is officially called the MOC and he stands on the sidelines and whenever the crowd subsides, the camera focuses on him and he gives the signal and the fans begin to cheer. You are immersed in a culture of Texas pride, wrapped in a nice burnt orange blanket of 100 degree weather at 70% humidity. Then, just when you think you are going to sing the national anthem, the Texas flag, the lone star is presented. The flag is raised at an even level with he federal flag and you sing the Texas Anthem, you salute the Texas flag and the Texas National Guard flies their planes overhead.
The culture war, the home field advantage was very real and you could see, feel and witness a power and atmosphere that would have even got me excited to run out on a field under blazing lights, with a bunch of pads on and charge at an LSU lineman 100+ pounds bigger than me. The difference was definitely coaching, which got me to thinking about why coaches are so important. The coach sees what is going on from a higher level and can react accordingly. Each individual player cannot see above the fray of their assigned task and understand the full magnitude of what is going on in the overall scheme. Perspective, it seems, is really important. LSU just did things right in this regard. They quickly moved plays to prevent substitutions by Texas. They adjusted their play calling to take advantage of a spread defense, and learned to pass the sidelines. They slowed the game when it needed to be, sped it up otherwise. The score was close on paper, but in reality the LSU tigers were bigger, faster and their coaching team just seems to have their fingers on the pulse of the game. The MOC had a stadium of energized fans yelling as loud as you can possibly imagine, but even at the end, the LSU offense rapidly called a series of plays and scored a touch down before the Texas coaching staff could even think about calling a time out.
As we left the stadium, dodging a few drunken brawls, and listening to the post-mortem chants we walked through the trophy room. The recruiters dream setup. If you have not seen this, it is definitely something to behold. An entire wing of the stadium dedicated to the athletic awards, honors, people that make up the culture that is the University of Texas. The MOC maybe the latest mascot to raise the hooks, but the reality here is that there is a tradition that will keep this institution strong for many more years to come.
This entire experience got me really thinking about culture and coaching. That was what I witnessed last night. The power of culture, and the absolute necessity of good coaching. Looking for application in my life, I can definitely see how coaching and culture can help the organizations that I am part of, however, what does it mean in my personal life?
Am I the MOC for my family? Do I need a coach? I would not even know the first thing about getting a coach to help me, sounds expensive. However, maybe I do need to consider it. The best longhorn player on the field could not possibly see the entire view of what is going on around him. Same with me, I need someone with perspective to guide my path. As for culture, that is something to think about. I was about ready to move my family to Austin last night, start teaching at the University of Texas and die my underwear burnt orange.
Back to reality this morning, the shroud of sweltering humid heat has dissipated and now I am back on a plane to the mild San Diego climate. Back to freeways and hybrid cars and fair weather fans. However, I think I will always remember the MOC, in his cowboy hat, leading the Texas fight song. The euphoria may have worn off, but the witness of a culture magnified will remain.
Guy Reams
