"Toughest Schedule in America"

[AUght2win 6,832]

I hope Allen Greene forbids this phrase from ever being uttered again.

Gus says it after every game. Now even players are too. I can't stand hearing it. Not because it isn't true, but because it is detrimental to the team to focus on it.

I am a firm believer that psychology is huge in sports involving young men. Lou Holtz put it best by saying "in college football, you get a different team every week". That's why we see huge upsets and performances that fluctuate wildly. Continually focusing on the difficulty of a task makes it slowly seem impossible. The more you talk about the steepness of a mountain, the more unclimable it becomes. The more you focus on how heavy a weight is, the more likely you are to collapse under it. You begin to tell yourself it's excusable to fail, after all, who could be expected to pull off something so difficult?

The fact of the matter is we do have a schedule riddled with top programs. But a task is only as challenging as you are unprepared for it. Twenty six miles is a long way to go on foot, but not for a marathon runner. We can't do anything about the schedule, so stop focusing on how hard it is. Accept it. Acclimate to it. And put a team on the field that can win all 12.

Lamar Jackson had a shirt on in his press conference this week that sums up my feelings on this matter:

"Nobody Cares. Work Harder."

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

I actually perform/performed at a higher rate when people focused on the difficulty. Used it at as a positive. It is different for different people.

Take a guy like Shivers. Probably heard tons of you're not big enough you can't play at this level, or you can't take on that guy etc. Then he takes it the king of the hill in one of the biggest games on the biggest stage.

[Mims44 1,867]

1 hour ago, AUght2win said:

I hope Allen Greene forbids this phrase from ever being uttered again.

Gus says it after every game. Now even players are too. I can't stand hearing it. Not because it isn't true, but because it is detrimental to the team to focus on it.

I am a firm believer that psychology is huge in sports involving young men. Lou Holtz put it best by saying "in college football, you get a different team every week". That's why we see huge upsets and performances that fluctuate wildly. Continually focusing on the difficulty of a task makes it slowly seem impossible. The more you talk about the steepness of a mountain, the more unclimable it becomes. The more you focus on how heavy a weight is, the more likely you are to collapse under it. You begin to tell yourself it's excusable to fail, after all, who could be expected to pull off something so difficult?

The fact of the matter is we do have a schedule riddled with top programs. But a task is only as challenging as you are unprepared for it. Twenty six miles is a long way to go on foot, but not for a marathon runner. We can't do anything about the schedule, so stop focusing on how hard it is. Accept it. Acclimate to it. And put a team on the field that can win all 12.

Lamar Jackson had a shirt on in his press conference this week that sums up my feelings on this matter:

"Nobody Cares. Work Harder."

That's because you are choosing to think of it in a negative way.

 

7 minutes ago, Texan4Auburn said:

I actually perform/performed at a higher rate when people focused on the difficulty. Used it at as a positive. It is different for different people.

Take a guy like Shivers. Probably heard tons of you're not big enough you can't play at this level, or you can't take on that guy etc. Then he takes it the king of the hill in one of the biggest games on the biggest stage.

^this guy gets it.

[ToraGirl 5,498]

2 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I hope Allen Greene forbids this phrase from ever being uttered again.

Gus says it after every game. Now even players are too. I can't stand hearing it. Not because it isn't true, but because it is detrimental to the team to focus on it.

I am a firm believer that psychology is huge in sports involving young men. Lou Holtz put it best by saying "in college football, you get a different team every week". That's why we see huge upsets and performances that fluctuate wildly. Continually focusing on the difficulty of a task makes it slowly seem impossible. The more you talk about the steepness of a mountain, the more unclimable it becomes. The more you focus on how heavy a weight is, the more likely you are to collapse under it. You begin to tell yourself it's excusable to fail, after all, who could be expected to pull off something so difficult?

The fact of the matter is we do have a schedule riddled with top programs. But a task is only as challenging as you are unprepared for it. Twenty six miles is a long way to go on foot, but not for a marathon runner. We can't do anything about the schedule, so stop focusing on how hard it is. Accept it. Acclimate to it. And put a team on the field that can win all 12.

Lamar Jackson had a shirt on in his press conference this week that sums up my feelings on this matter:

"Nobody Cares. Work Harder."

It is no coincidence that you posted that... nor that I photographed this AT SCHOOL today. Nelson would know, make no mistake about it. 

When and if used as an excuse, that's all it is. When and if used as a motivator, ahite. But I guarantee it has been most often used as an excuse in this forum this season, regardless of how Coach Malzahn intended it.

Kids do emulate their teachers, for better or for worse. Enormous daily responsibility for those in these trenches...❤🦋  

[gr82be 14,423]

2 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I hope Allen Greene forbids this phrase from ever being uttered again.

Gus says it after every game. Now even players are too. I can't stand hearing it. Not because it isn't true, but because it is detrimental to the team to focus on it.

I am a firm believer that psychology is huge in sports involving young men. Lou Holtz put it best by saying "in college football, you get a different team every week". That's why we see huge upsets and performances that fluctuate wildly. Continually focusing on the difficulty of a task makes it slowly seem impossible. The more you talk about the steepness of a mountain, the more unclimable it becomes. The more you focus on how heavy a weight is, the more likely you are to collapse under it. You begin to tell yourself it's excusable to fail, after all, who could be expected to pull off something so difficult?

The fact of the matter is we do have a schedule riddled with top programs. But a task is only as challenging as you are unprepared for it. Twenty six miles is a long way to go on foot, but not for a marathon runner. We can't do anything about the schedule, so stop focusing on how hard it is. Accept it. Acclimate to it. And put a team on the field that can win all 12.

Lamar Jackson had a shirt on in his press conference this week that sums up my feelings on this matter:

"Nobody Cares. Work Harder."

It sounds good when it comes from the talking heads and the polls show it's a factor with us being ranked ahead of some 2 loss teams.

I don't really want Gus making it a point though because it sounds like an excuse. 

[sevenlee36 1,654]

Gus is a good coach. He just failed to recruit an offensive line for 6 years, but that’s a big problem.

[ChltteTiger 649]

In '83 Dye and others used the 'toughest schedule in the nation' mantra to try and sell AU as being mythical national champ. It did not work unfortunately. Regardless it was true in '83 maybe not true this year as A&M and SC might actually have had the tougher schedule.

[DAG 33,976]

So this is the thing: we will play UGA, Bama, LSU every year. It’s not going away. Guess what? They look to be playoff contenders for the foreseeable future . How about we join that bunch instead of looking up to them like an impossible hill to climb. The fans , not the players. I believe competitors want to have the highest competition possible, which is why the SEC highlights in recruiting rankings .

[AFTiger 282]

But it's true. Bammer top 10 having lost to it's only two ranked opponents.  Auburn split its four.

[eibua12 81]

57 minutes ago, ChltteTiger said:

In '83 Dye and others used the 'toughest schedule in the nation' mantra to try and sell AU as being mythical national champ. It did not work unfortunately. Regardless it was true in '83 maybe not true this year as A&M and SC might actually have had the tougher schedule.

Oh come on TAMu only played 5 top 10 teams, sadly Sagarin has their schedule as 18th hardest (OOC: is horrible besides Clemson) and USCe as 1st (OOC: App State, UNC, Clemson)!

[AUght2win 6,832]

4 hours ago, Texan4Auburn said:

I actually perform/performed at a higher rate when people focused on the difficulty. Used it at as a positive. It is different for different people.

Take a guy like Shivers. Probably heard tons of you're not big enough you can't play at this level, or you can't take on that guy etc. Then he takes it the king of the hill in one of the biggest games on the biggest stage.

Okay, but would you reference the difficulty in the wake of failure? That is what Gus has done repeatedly. 

[AUght2win 6,832]

2 hours ago, AFTiger said:

But it's true. Bammer top 10 having lost to it's only two ranked opponents.  Auburn split its four.

I just don't want to hear it as an excuse 10 minutes after a loss. It shows that Gus isn't thinking as a true competitor. He should be saying "doesn't matter who or what environment, we just didn't get it done today." 

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

2 hours ago, AUght2win said:

Okay, but would you reference the difficulty in the wake of failure? That is what Gus has done repeatedly. 

Absolutely. We are 9-3 in with the toughest schedule in the nation. Did Michigan play that schedule...no. Did Utah play that schedule....no. Did Iowa play that schedule... no. What did we do right that allowed us to put up that record that comparable teams did against lesser competition. Identify and make it a strength. Now what did we do that cost us those 3 games? Identify it and fix it. Combine those and elevate your level of play because of who you play and respect it.

Every player will look back and go what did I do against the best, what did I not do against the best. Don't overthink and defeat myself because it was against the best, and kept reality in check of where you and your competition is at. Helps keep your edge, keeps you from beating yourself up. Then focus on what you need to do to beat the best. Then go beat them and tell the detractors to go get bent.

It's really close to just being a SWOT analysis.

Played high level club soccer. Several tournaments we walked out of groups in the number 2 spot. Hey, that group was a bitch (hence the name group of death). My coach would say most teams don't get out of that group (and there was always 2 that didn't). Thus not winning the group wasn't looked as a failure. Then his next statement would be be ready, we are sending them home tomorrow. Loved eliminating those teams that took the group cause they were expected to beat us again. We didn't have time to slip or slum around. Had to keep edge cause we had elimination games in less than 10 hours and needed 3 wins in a day to take home hardware.

It's really close to just being a SWOT analysis.

It is really simple to shrug your shoulders and just say we didn't get it done and should have. For example, Saban teams have missed 107 FG's since 2007. The most in college football. What does he say after every game in regards to his kicking game, we just didn't get it done. 12 years later his kicking game is still an issue.

Again what works for some doesn't work for others. But given that the team never quit (either side of the ball) made runs that could of won the games we lost, and finished last night with a win.... I think they take it more as a challenge vs an excuse.

So for me it was defeating to just go well I didn't get it done, I benefited from going damn their good, I can't wait to best them tomorrow. It elevated my play.

I do see your point though with the it is ok, we were just over our head and then that becomes a mentality that prevents a team from elevating.

[abw0004 10,110]

8 hours ago, AUght2win said:

Okay, but would you reference the difficulty in the wake of failure? That is what Gus has done repeatedly. 

In fairness, Gus along with everyone else has been saying it before the season even started.  He didn't start saying it only when we started to lose.  I see it as a point of pride.  Many of these national championship teams have sidenotes on their wins because they had cupcake schedules.  I like the boasting of our schedule though.  I like the chip on our shoulders.  Our players are proud of our schedule and how they had to fight for every single game.  Nothing was given to them.

[AUloggerhead 2,227]

To be fair, when Gus speaks about “the toughest schedule” at a press conference, he’s addressing media type people so, dumbing it down is kinda required.  😁  

The schedule is what it is every year — a challenge to the team to overcome.  AU has always played difficult schedules.  

[bigbird 60,493]

So what makes this schedule harder than next year's?

The schedule will always be a gauntlet. Period. It's not the excuse many need it to be

[Barnacle 9,064]

It needs to be talked about and acknowledged, just not from within our program. I think it's important for perspective for fans and voters, but shouldn't be worn as a badge of honor by our head coach. 

[aubaseball 2,592]

With the way the season played out (missed opportunities and untimely mistakes), it’s easy to look back on the season and say, that was a tough schedule.   Of course it was, it’s tough every year.   Especially with the current situation with several of AU’s opponents unprecedented run of success.   Given this facts with a few breaks, AU could possibly be undefeated and still playing.   My point is that AU should never look across the field and think the other team is better.  

[fasttimes 356]

46 minutes ago, bigbird said:

So what makes this schedule harder than next year's?

The schedule will always be a gauntlet. Period. It's not the excuse many need it to be

agree. let others talk about how difficult our schedule is. i don't really care. i watch the games and i see us lose winnable games against these "tough" teams. would it be worse if they were less "tough"

 

losing to uf this year was much more of a sting than losing to tenn last year. change my mind.

[AU64 10,122]

14 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

It needs to be talked about and acknowledged, just not from within our program. I think it's important for perspective for fans and voters, but shouldn't be worn as a badge of honor by our head coach. 

I don't see it as being about the coach......more of a recognition by the coach for what the team has accomplished against the "toughest...uh, well....you know....   And of course, a shot at bama perhaps,    who lost to their only tough opponents.  

And as an aside, I don't recall Gus making anything success of the team as being about him as a personal accomplishment …..and as compared to the guy across the state,  he accepts the heat personally rather than lay it on his assistants or whoever.   

[AUApostle 7,651]

The difficulty of our SEC schedule means we shouldn't bother scheduling elite power 5 teams.  If we're going to play UGA and another SEC East power like UF, then maybe don't schedule Oregon...maybe schedule Duke instead. 

[AURealist 2,185]

4 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

The difficulty of our SEC schedule means we shouldn't bother scheduling elite power 5 teams.  If we're going to play UGA and another SEC East power like UF, then maybe don't schedule Oregon...maybe schedule Duke instead. 

Absolutely not.  Playing teams like Oregon give us a wider audience and more credibility as a top-level team.   Watering down the schedule may result in more wins, but who cares about beating Duke?    I say we work on games vs ND, Michigan, USC, OSU..., or any team that will make for a fun game to to watch and an opportunity spread the Auburn gospel into new markets.  As it is, we already play plenty of nothing games against nobodies.  Two Mississippi schools, Arkansas and Samford?  Who watches those outside of the immediate area and who cares?  

[Barnacle 9,064]

40 minutes ago, AU64 said:

I don't see it as being about the coach......more of a recognition by the coach for what the team has accomplished against the "toughest...uh, well....you know....   And of course, a shot at bama perhaps,    who lost to their only tough opponents.  

And as an aside, I don't recall Gus making anything success of the team as being about him as a personal accomplishment …..and as compared to the guy across the state,  he accepts the heat personally rather than lay it on his assistants or whoever.   

No, Gus doesn't make things about him and I greatly appreciate that about him. 

[Tiger 8,818]

27 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

The difficulty of our SEC schedule means we shouldn't bother scheduling elite power 5 teams.  If we're going to play UGA and another SEC East power like UF, then maybe don't schedule Oregon...maybe schedule Duke instead. 

 

12 minutes ago, AURealist said:

Absolutely not.  Playing teams like Oregon give us a wider audience and more credibility as a top-level team.   Watering down the schedule may result in more wins, but who cares about beating Duke?    I say we work on games vs ND, Michigan, USC, OSU..., or any team that will make for a fun game to to watch and an opportunity spread the Auburn gospel into new markets.  As it is, we already play plenty of nothing games against nobodies.  Two Mississippi schools, Arkansas and Samford?  Who watches those outside of the immediate area and who cares?  

I gotta agree with Devil here. Our conference schedule has many marquee and elite teams baked into it as it is -- those games are enough to show the world and the CFP committee that we are either worthy or unworthy of being a national title contender. Win those and we are in the playoffs. We could've lost to Oregon, won our toughest conference tests and been in the CFP. An Oregon caliber team doesn't need to be in there.

We are doing it right next season -- playing UNC. That is the type of p5 opponent we should be facing IMO. It's still at a neutral site and one of those kickoff classic games so we get the national attention against a team we should beat.

We are one of the only programs that don't need to bolster our SOS with OOC games. We could be a 1 loss SEC champ and get into the playoffs without having the a tough OOC IMO.

[AURealist 2,185]

3 minutes ago, Tiger said:

 

I gotta agree with Devil here. Our conference schedule has many marquee and elite teams baked into it as it is -- those games are enough to show the world and the CFP committee that we are either worthy or unworthy of being a national title contender. Win those and we are in the playoffs. We could've lost to Oregon, won our toughest conference tests and been in the CFP. An Oregon caliber team doesn't need to be in there.

We are doing it right next season -- playing UNC. That is the type of p5 opponent we should be facing IMO. It's still at a neutral site and one of those kickoff classic games so we get the national attention against a team we should beat.

We are one of the only programs that don't need to bolster our SOS with OOC games. We could be a 1 loss SEC champ and get into the playoffs without having the a tough OOC IMO.

If we're SEC Champ, we're going to the show.  If we don't win the SEC West, we're not going.  Period.  No OOC game affects that.