Program Mentality

One of the key stepping stones to turning a program around is to make the players believe that they can win. After long bowl season droughts for many programs, it is easy for players to get used to constantly losing. This is most likely what Indiana has had for numerous years but now they are on the verge of turning the program around. We have more skilled players in place and have brought together a group of players who want to be in Bloomington and believe that they can turn this program around. The bowl season did many great things for the football program but the last two years have then been disappointing seasons. Next season becomes a critical year as to whether the hoosier program continues to improve and get back on the rise, or whether they stumble and continue to fall back to what so many hoosier fans are used to. Although IU only got one more win this year as opposed to the year before, they made a vast amount of improvement. They stayed in almost every game (except OSU and Virginia) and easily could have won a handful more (Michigan, Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin etc.). This upcoming year will be a true test for the coaching staff and players who are knocking on the door of becoming a bowl eligible team again.

I was reading an interesting article the other day about the SMU program and how important it is to get your players to believe that they can win. (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/topstories/stories/122409dnspotaylor.3a8b02b.

html)

It had been 25 years since SMU played in a bowl game, the 4th largest drought in college football. The last 2 seasons they finished 1-11 and managed to turn things around this year finishing 7-5 and a Aloha bowl bid against Nevada.

This just shows that what can happen when a team buys into what the head coach is saying and believes that week in and week out they can win. Once that mentality takes over, players start to believe that each week they will find a way to win the gain instead of finding a way to lose. This is why I think next year is such a critical year for the hoosier program. The players of the 2007 team believed they could win and starting to turn the program around. We have taken a few steps back the last two seasons but made a lot of improvements this past season. However, another losing season next year could put the program right back where it has been for many years. A winning season and a bowl birth can get the program headed back into the right direction. With better players in place that have the right mentality we have more tools to get us back to a bowl game next season than we have in years past.