Monday Mornings with Sean: Strong Belief
Charlie Strong. (Will Gallagher/IT)
It’s why I love sports. It’s probably why you do as well.
The best and most critical and calculated experts in the country live by the credo, “You know when you know.” That is how you pick winners and losers.
But to steal from ESPN’s Chris Berman, “That’s why you play the game.”
One of the most valuable things a parent can give to their children is a belief system in themselves. They have to earn it, develop it, work for it, and celebrate it.
Ironically, the quote that I have told my children since they could understand me talk came from former Notre Dame and South Carolina head coach Lou Holtz. The same Holtz that Charlie said referenced in the post game when he said, “I speak with Coach Holtz all the time.”
Holtz said, “Victory belongs to those who believe in it the most and believe in it the longest. We’re going to believe.”
Strong burst into the post-game high-fiving media members along the front row teasing, “You didn’t think we would win…”.
What a day for Strong and Texas. It cannot be stressed enough the importance of the Red River Rivalry. There has been debate as to whether a win over #22 West Virginia in 2014 was a signature win. There is no debate as to whether this win over Oklahoma is Strong’s signature win.
Texas believed.
It doesn’t matter that nobody else did. Quite frankly, it is not the role of the media or analyst to believe in the program at any given time. Their role, if they take it seriously, is to analyze, comment, and editorialize about what has transpired juxtaposed against what the analyst believes is possible.
Offensive lineman Sedrick Flowers, “We heard the media and their opinions of our coach and our team.”
After the game when the team doused Strong in Gatorade they lifted him into the air and celebrated their coach. When they lifted their coach up, it was more than fun. They were lifting him up as their embattled coach that they have ultimate belief in and they wanted to show their love and support of him.
Jake Raulerson. (Will Gallagher/IT)
Someone reached out to me and said that it was a whole lot of celebration for a 2-4 team. I responded by saying, “You’re right. It was a lot of celebration and that is exactly the way it should be.”
I don’t know if it can be fully calculated the value for this program that was gained on Saturday’s win over Oklahoma. For a team that was blown out twice and lost two regrettable games, a win over their rival was just what the doctor ordered.
Where does it go from? That’s not really my concern. It is incumbent on this Texas team to grow, keep working and build on what took place on Saturday. It is premature to project anything onto this team by way of wins for the rest of the season.
It does, however, allow the presence of hope and possibility and in some ways, that is enough.
Texas has enough talent to truly believe.
Strong, said in the post game, “This today is the University of Texas football program. I told the team that they did it and now this is what we expect.”
What you saw on Saturday was the culmination of a lot of hard work and the validation of a belief system that maybe only the people in that locker room possessed.
As it turned out, they were the only ones that needed it.
