FanPost

Are the Terps Buying In?

I was talking to a friend who brought up a good point that has been mentioned only superficially in these posts.

Be it Edsall or Turgeon, the coach is the coach. He is the one who sets the course for the team, and he's the one who establishes the rules of conduct. The blame for poor performance and poor behavior - assuming those rules have been effectively communicated - lies with the player.

The player chooses to adhere to those rules or not. The player chooses to buy-in to the plan established by the coach. The choice belongs to the player. It may mean sacrificing some playing time for the good of the team. It may mean working to understand a new system. It may mean working to expand your skillset to enhance your opportunities to play.

It may, too, be an unacceptable situation for some players; and while that's sad, it's the nature of the beast. We wonder why some of the football players have been suspended or benched. Have those players bought in to the coach's vision, or are they grappling with whether or not this is an acceptable situation?

The same applies to the basketball team, although it's probably easier for a coach to "sell" his vision to 15 players than for a football coach to sell 75. That would be one plausible explanation for the relatively high number of disciplinary issues for the football team this season.

FanPosts are content created by and for fans. They do not necessarily represent the views of Testudo Times or its staff, and anything deemed inappropriate will be removed by site administrators.