The Commanders have started OTAs and a handful of veterans spoke Wednesday, and BMitch said he’s enjoying the nice, quiet process – which comes from a new era in the building.
“One player states that he feels like he's in a new building, and all that means is the whole mindset and the demeanor and everything has changed,” BMitch said. “And that got me thinking: is your mind changing? Do things seem different to you? Because I can be totally honest with you, I've been around here for a long time, and it seems totally different to me.”
No one knows how things will end, but there is a plan in plac, it seems, so Brian is optimistic.
“I think things are gonna work in a different way. I've seen too many times where we would preach something, but everything was happening exactly how it did in a previous regime,” he said. “Now, they're not preaching stuff that they're not doing. They've gone with a different approach, they got different mindsets, and even players that were already here notice it.”
This time, B says, it seems like things are being done the right way.
“We’ve had a lot of talk about leadership, and we've had leadership in the past that claims this guy's a leader, but nothing was changing,” Brian said. “The thing I wanna know is will any of these guys now, since things are changing and they'll have some guys who are damn real leaders that are on this football team now, will they sit there and begin to pick up on that and make this thing different?”
One thing that will make a huge difference? Leadership by example.
“One thing I always talk about is taking ownership in what you have, and when you do that that means that the coach is not always just walking out dictating. Now, you listen to the coach, but this is our team, and a coach that doesn't listen to his players is damn near a fool to me, straight up,” B said. “The players who see things not working, and keep doing it and don't ever say anything opposite of what the coach is preaching, then he's a fool. I don't care what level of business you're in, if your manager or your boss comes in and says do, do, do and you do it and then it's wrong, guess what? They don't blame themselves because they told you what to do, they blame you for not figuring it out or seeing that it wasn't working and adjusting. So have to also make them learn, and they have to understand, too, when you are a professional football player, you are at the highest of your craft.”
Yes, you have coaches to guide, but as BMitch said, do you think Michael Phelps’ coach is a better swimmer? No, but they’re there to help get the best out of their athletes, and it’s up to the athletes to perform – or suggest change if that performance is sluggish.
Take a listen to Brian’s entire soliloquy on the subject above!
