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No Fear of Failure

jflores

Offensive Coordinator
Feb 3, 2004
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I've seen several folks complain about this slogan, and more or less complain that its a bunch of soy boy horse pucky that has no place in the Halls of Huskerdom.

At the same time, many folks on this board have been excited about the type of influence young men like former Navy SEAL Damian Jackson would have on the team, and we've seen things where CFB teams have done little 1 day mini bootcamps with the SEALs and stuff like that.

Folks, if you want the team to absorb a key aspect of special operations culture, the whole "no fear of failure" thing is it. The reality is, the yelling and the challenging a man's pride gets alot of street cred on the TV shows, but its only a portion of the actual building of an individual.

Sure, any current or former veteran will tell you that a central tenet of the military experience is breaking a man down and building him back up, but when I started working with special operators 15 years ago one of the surprising things about the culture in that community is how welcoming it is, and how much of the "building the man back up" process isn't about shaming a man into high performance. In special operations, most men are alpha in some regard, and the main trick is to teach him to overcome his fears and push the boundaries that he never knew existed and reach his full capability.

There'll be a time and a place for folks like Damian to yell at our guys to suck it up and challenge their pride a bit (and we saw alot of comments when he joined the team from this board in that regard), but by and large I was excited by Damian's presence to show these young men how to help each other bring out the best in the team rather than start measuring certain body parts in certain feats of strength.

Scott Frost may or may not succeed as a coach here, that's TBD, but whether he does or not will not be due to the "No Fear of Failure" thing.

Don't take it from me, take it from Delta
 
A lot of hardasses get peered out in selection. Great post with a lot of insight most might not usually get.
 
Agreed, great post. Cultures are so unique, should be interesting to watch grow over the next couple years...
 
A lot of hardasses get peered out in selection. Great post with a lot of insight most might not usually get.

Yah just like this board has a bunch of former high school All-Americans who were a bad shoulder away from D1 football, I can't tell you how many dudes I've met who were a "broken ankle" away from Special Operations.
 
Yah just like this board has a bunch of former high school All-Americans who were a bad shoulder away from D1 football, I can't tell you how many dudes I've met who were a "broken ankle" away from Special Operations.

Not just that, there's a lot of hardass in your face types that make it through but get peered out and aren't selected.
 
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Not just that, there's a lot of hardass in your face types that make it through but get peered out and aren't selected.

For sure. I've only really come across one guy who was honest about why Delta dropped him. He made it through but was chucked by the wayside anyway. Lot of respect for that guy, personally.
 
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Yah just like this board has a bunch of former high school All-Americans who were a bad shoulder away from D1 football, I can't tell you how many dudes I've met who were a "broken ankle" away from Special Operations.
You touched on one of the phrases every Marine can't stand hearing. "I almost joined the Marines but....". Me personally, I am a Marine and was dumb and tough enough to become Marine 0311 infantryman as a 135 pound kid out of high school. I was too stupid to know that was really tough. We would do PT and play "combat soccer" which was basically rugby. I was like a gnat who annoyed the crap out of dudes much bigger and tougher than me and they would try and murder me for it. I in turn was dirtier than Christian Peter every dreamed of. Maybe this team needs to be a lot more stupid to start fulfilling their true potential. Quit worrying about highlights and go look to ruin some dudes day on the field.
 
I don't have a problem with No Fear of Failure if the coaches actually practiced what they preached. This coaching staff coaches like they're scared all the time. On 3rd and long we don't even attempt to get a first down. Our backup field goal kicker misses one kick and immediately he's pulled and we're panicking trying to find another guy. Against Ohio State we called fair catches on kickoffs because we were too afraid to run the ball out. There are a lot of examples of this staff not following their own philosophy of No Fear of Failure.
 
You touched on one of the phrases every Marine can't stand hearing. "I almost joined the Marines but....". Me personally, I am a Marine and was dumb and tough enough to become Marine 0311 infantryman as a 135 pound kid out of high school. I was too stupid to know that was really tough. We would do PT and play "combat soccer" which was basically rugby. I was like a gnat who annoyed the crap out of dudes much bigger and tougher than me and they would try and murder me for it. I in turn was dirtier than Christian Peter every dreamed of. Maybe this team needs to be a lot more stupid to start fulfilling their true potential. Quit worrying about highlights and look to ruin some dudes day on the field.

LOL. I was one of those guys. I almost did join the Marines. My dad was Army who had more in common with Tim Taylor than Capt America. My uncle was a Marine who was Capt America, but my parents didn't want me joining the service. I had "options". So I went to college. Good decision overall for me, but yah, that's my "I was almost a Marine" story.
 
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I don't have a problem with No Fear of Failure if the coaches actually practiced what they preached. This coaching staff coaches like they're scared all the time. On 3rd and long we don't even attempt to get a first down. Our backup field goal kicker misses one kick and immediately he's pulled and we're panicking trying to find another guy. Against Ohio State we called fair catches on kickoffs because we were too afraid to run the ball out. There are a lot of examples of this staff not following their own philosophy of No Fear of Failure.

I mean, fear of failure also doesn't mean throw caution to the wind. I mean sure, the SEALs and others in uniform have to do so in time of war to achieve some local objective and they may give their life for it, but in a football game, Scott doesn't have give up the free 25 yards when OSU is clearly dominating his players. Lots of those decisions can be nitpicked to death as to whether its too risky or not, and its fun, but its not the central point of what I just stated.

The fear of failure thing has some relevance for fans too. Love the Husker fanbase, but ultimately don't like the tendency towards the warm blanket of an I-formation or more generally "what TO would do" everytime something doesn't go our way. TO was unique as a recruiter, playcaller, motivator, leader. Had alot of success doing what he did.

Bringing some guy in, even Scott Frost, to imitate more or less exactly what he did, is not likely to replicate the same results. Its pretty clear that while Frost has had several good moments in playcalling in 4 years of being a HC, he's probably not the master tactician TO was. Its very clear his leadership style is different than TO's and he probably won't replicate TO's recruiting until NU wins a little more than we have been in say 10 years or so.

Like dinglefritz pointed out, I like listening to the takes of former players alot generally because they get what it takes to build something and they have generally realistic timelines as to when certain things should be evaluated. I feel like alot of the fan's comments tend towards "he has a good attitude, he loves the N, he brought back the walk-on's, are we All-B1G caliber across the 2-deep yet, let's go dominate!". And then when we don't, its all "its not what TO did".

We need to find the confidence to give our chosen leaders time to bring their decisions to fruition. If your problem is OL (and that's one of our key ones), that's not an instant situation where Bob Stoops rolls in and wins the Natty in year 2. Most of the guys who the staff is recruiting to save our bacon on the OL are 2-3 years from being starters.
 
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You touched on one of the phrases every Marine can't stand hearing. "I almost joined the Marines but....". Me personally, I am a Marine and was dumb and tough enough to become Marine 0311 infantryman as a 135 pound kid out of high school. I was too stupid to know that was really tough. We would do PT and play "combat soccer" which was basically rugby. I was like a gnat who annoyed the crap out of dudes much bigger and tougher than me and they would try and murder me for it. I in turn was dirtier than Christian Peter every dreamed of. Maybe this team needs to be a lot more stupid to start fulfilling their true potential. Quit worrying about highlights and go look to ruin some dudes day on the field.

The last two guys who played like that was Prince Amukamara, and I forget the name of the other DB who played across from him...just absolutely plain mind farting. The two probably true undersized ruin people's day type of players were Rigoni and Cortney Grixby.
 
The last two guys who played like that was Prince Amukamara, and I forget the name of the other DB who played across from him...just absolutely plain mind farting. The two probably true undersized ruin people's day type of players were Rigoni and Cortney Grixby.
Alfonzo Dennard was opposite Prince. That was a crazy good lockdown duo. I agree with your two players that had no regard for their undersized body. We need a lot more Terrell Farleys who by most of his teammates account was pretty slow. It would be nice to have some dudes that just accidentally are always in the right spot like they are Forrest Gump. I am not ripping on Farley. I went to school with one of his teammates and his stories about Farley are hilarious. Dude was like those Buster Keaton movies where he was about to step off a building and stepped onto a moving I-beam or the wall falls and he was standing where the window was. He played with no fear of failure. He just always found the play.
 
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Wonderful. Some of these cats need their a$$holes ripped though. The player still had to do something positive to say something positive as a coach.

Obviously very few of these cats have the nutsack to handle special forces.
 
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I am wondering if the "no fear of failure" could be in sime way a little counterproductive though.

Look how sloppy our play is w penalties, turnovers, bad angles, missing fits, bad eye discipline etc.. could no fear of failure be helping w sloppy play? I mean u dint fear making mistakes as long as u give effort...so doesnt that tend to lead to playing "hero" ball and freelancing from time to time?
It would help explain some things we are doing wrong or lacking in...
 
"No fear of failure" works when the correct or unique/improvised correct things are being done....not when absolutely missed or sloppy is the case.
 
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Scott Frost put the slogan NO FEAR OF FAILURE in so players would play fast and not worry about mistakes. I understand the thought of it but you still have assignments to carry out which coincides with the phrase. If everyone is running around 100 mph and there is only a few doing both it results in break downs. In sports it results in bad play or losing a game. In combat it is worse it results in injury or worse death. The point is both the phrase and doing what you are trained / taught to do go hand in hand.
 
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Desire to excel with no fear of failure “as long as” guys are going 100%...
I’m much more concerned about the guys that don’t seem to be giving 100% (which seems to be the bigger problem to me) and not showing the desire to excel than I am about them taking no fear of failure the wrong way.

The team is too used to losing and doesn’t have enough guys going all out.

It was interesting for him to say they were “close” on offense. I’m not seeing it at all, but I hope he’s right.
 
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I am wondering if the "no fear of failure" could be in sime way a little counterproductive though.

Look how sloppy our play is w penalties, turnovers, bad angles, missing fits, bad eye discipline etc.. could no fear of failure be helping w sloppy play? I mean u dint fear making mistakes as long as u give effort...so doesnt that tend to lead to playing "hero" ball and freelancing from time to time?
It would help explain some things we are doing wrong or lacking in...

Actions and attitudes are somewhat independent of one another. "No fear of failure" is sort of the bulletin board material to strive to, whether you are a walk-on or an All-American in terms of actual playing ability. You can't turn it on and off by day, or by skill level if its a culture you want to instill.

Ok boys, we suck, so we're going to be afraid to fail until further notice. Oh hey, look we shut out Minny, you can not fear failure now. Or Wandale can play fearlessly but Jurgens, oh boy, better be afraid for awhile. Doesn't work that way.

It'd be like shucking Christianity for Islam because you weren't the most salt of the earth that day. And then coming back when you thought you were ready to handle it. Those kinds of culture changes don't make any sense. Its either the culture you want to strive to or its not.
 
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Desire to excel with no fear of failure “as long as” guys are going 100%...
I’m much more concerned about the guys that don’t seem to be giving 100% (which seems to be the bigger problem to me) and not showing the desire to excel than I am about them taking no fear of failure the wrong way.

The team is too used to losing and doesn’t have enough guys going all out.

It was interesting for him to say they were “close” on offense. I’m not seeing it at all, but I hope he’s right.
Good point. No sarcasm in this question, so take it exactly as written. Does anyone here know the Xs and Os well enough to tell if we are close or not? I don’t. Even watching it in replay, I have to rewind a lot to check blocking, routes, QB eyes, gap discipline, etc. I would imagine Frost and team look at it 7 ways from Sunday. Anyone have a good read on actual progress?
 
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Desire to excel with no fear of failure “as long as” guys are going 100%...
I’m much more concerned about the guys that don’t seem to be giving 100% (which seems to be the bigger problem to me) and not showing the desire to excel than I am about them taking no fear of failure the wrong way.

The team is too used to losing and doesn’t have enough guys going all out.

It was interesting for him to say they were “close” on offense. I’m not seeing it at all, but I hope he’s right.
Each game is a chance for our offense to get over the hump. Some people seem to have given up already on this season and are ready to quit on this team. Personally I'm sad. Sad that this season is already over half over. Damn it. I want to see every game and can't wait for the next opportunity for this team to do something good. I'll feel that way til the last whistle blows.
 
Desire to excel with no fear of failure “as long as” guys are going 100%...
I’m much more concerned about the guys that don’t seem to be giving 100% (which seems to be the bigger problem to me) and not showing the desire to excel than I am about them taking no fear of failure the wrong way.

The team is too used to losing and doesn’t have enough guys going all out.

It was interesting for him to say they were “close” on offense. I’m not seeing it at all, but I hope he’s right.

The too used to losing thing needs to stop. These players have won 8 of their last 13 games. That is the equivalent to an 8-4 season with a bowl loss.

This isn’t a losing mentality it is a not playing good football mentality. There seems to be more of a realization that they aren’t as good as they thought they were mentality. Which is different than the we are too used to losing. It is more of a maturity issue than a self defeating issue.

Over the last 13 games, there have been blow out wins, blow out losses, close wins and close losses. If they weren’t winning any close games or weren’t blowing anyone out, then I could agree with the used to losing aspect. But this team has won close games and found ways to win.
 
The too used to losing thing needs to stop. These players have won 8 of their last 13 games. That is the equivalent to an 8-4 season with a bowl loss.

This isn’t a losing mentality it is a not playing good football mentality. There seems to be more of a realization that they aren’t as good as they thought they were mentality. Which is different than the we are too used to losing. It is more of a maturity issue than a self defeating issue.

Over the last 13 games, there have been blow out wins, blow out losses, close wins and close losses. If they weren’t winning any close games or weren’t blowing anyone out, then I could agree with the used to losing aspect. But this team has won close games and found ways to win.
So far, this season reminds me so much of Callahan's year where we came in ranked and with all kinds of unrealistic expectations. Then USC happened. Reality hit the team and fans like a medicine ball in the gut and the team (defense primarily) AND FANS gave up. The question for me is, does this team make the most of what they have left or do they quit? They can still end the year strong and attain some realistic goals.
 
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So far, this season reminds me so much of Callahan's year where we came in ranked and with all kinds of unrealistic expectations. Then USC happened. Reality hit the team and fans like a medicine ball in the gut and the team (defense primarily) AND FANS gave up. The question for me is, does this team make the most of what they have left or do they quit? They can still end the year strong and attain some realistic goals.

That's a damn good question. Of course I don't know. But I gotta believe HCSF is a winner and will somehow keep things going the right way. I'm pretty sure it won't be easy.....we'll see.
 
The too used to losing thing needs to stop. These players have won 8 of their last 13 games. That is the equivalent to an 8-4 season with a bowl loss.

This isn’t a losing mentality it is a not playing good football mentality. There seems to be more of a realization that they aren’t as good as they thought they were mentality. Which is different than the we are too used to losing. It is more of a maturity issue than a self defeating issue.

Over the last 13 games, there have been blow out wins, blow out losses, close wins and close losses. If they weren’t winning any close games or weren’t blowing anyone out, then I could agree with the used to losing aspect. But this team has won close games and found ways to win.

Fair point. Looking at the past 13 games shows a different trend than looking at a longer period of time showing more losing.
It’s a question of how relevant the losing history is. I think it’s becoming less so, but games like Minnesota show us otherwise. Even wins have not been clean games.
That was a mental collapse, and the team hasn’t developed consistency of any sort, a key trait of winning programs.
It’s still early for Frost and he’s working with the pieces he’s got.
At this point all we can do is stay patient.
 
The too used to losing thing needs to stop. These players have won 8 of their last 13 games. That is the equivalent to an 8-4 season with a bowl loss.

This isn’t a losing mentality it is a not playing good football mentality. There seems to be more of a realization that they aren’t as good as they thought they were mentality. Which is different than the we are too used to losing. It is more of a maturity issue than a self defeating issue.

Over the last 13 games, there have been blow out wins, blow out losses, close wins and close losses. If they weren’t winning any close games or weren’t blowing anyone out, then I could agree with the used to losing aspect. But this team has won close games and found ways to win.

furthermore under Riley the team won a bowl game in year 1 - won 9 games the second year then things went to crap the 3rd year.

It should not take multiple years to overcome this fictional "losing culture" that now has become the fashionable excuse.

Losing cultures exist in programs where they go years upon years without winning
 
furthermore under Riley the team won a bowl game in year 1 - won 9 games the second year then things went to crap the 3rd year.

It should not take multiple years to overcome this fictional "losing culture" that now has become fashionable excuse.

Losing cultures exist in programs where they go years upon years without winning
what has NU won since 1999?

losers like you think 9 wins and bowl games mean anything
 
LOL. I was one of those guys. I almost did join the Marines. My dad was Army who had more in common with Tim Taylor than Capt America. My uncle was a Marine who was Capt America, but my parents didn't want me joining the service. I had "options". So I went to college. Good decision overall for me, but yah, that's my "I was almost a Marine" story.

Was your pops MI?
 
what has NU won since 1999?

losers like you think 9 wins and bowl games mean anything

Please ... if Frost ever wins 9 games and a bowl game here there will be wild celebrations. I will expect you to remind us all he is still a loser
 
Please ... if Frost ever wins 9 games and a bowl game here there will be wild celebrations. I will expect you to remind us all he is still a loser
So you think Frost is a loser? Or just at this point? Do you think the university should cut ties and go in another direction?
 
Please ... if Frost ever wins 9 games and a bowl game here there will be wild celebrations. I will expect you to remind us all he is still a loser
want to start hanging banners for bowl wins like buttass Iowa?

I don't.

just like I don't need to try and prove my horseshit points with hypotheticals.

we are and have been a losing program for 20 years. anything else is denial of the highest order.
 
furthermore under Riley the team won a bowl game in year 1 - won 9 games the second year then things went to crap the 3rd year.

It should not take multiple years to overcome this fictional "losing culture" that now has become the fashionable excuse.

Losing cultures exist in programs where they go years upon years without winning
What would you say are the major cultural challenges Frost is dealing with at the moment?
 
Scott Frost put the slogan NO FEAR OF FAILURE in so players would play fast and not worry about mistakes. I understand the thought of it but you still have assignments to carry out which coincides with the phrase. If everyone is running around 100 mph and there is only a few doing both it results in break downs. In sports it results in bad play or losing a game. In combat it is worse it results in injury or worse death. The point is both the phrase and doing what you are trained / taught to do go hand in hand.
I think that phrase had more to do with the Defense, playing aggressively.

Some coaches will say practice hard and pay attention to the details during the week, then forget everything on game day, and just go have fun.

Some guys are indeed playing waaaay too tight.

Some guys are not lined up right, and don't know what they are doing.

Leadership issues on the offensive side of the ball at a minimum and you might be able to say there are leadership issues on the coaching staff too.

To me, it just isn't a cohesive team yet. It's like factions of guys doing their own thing, which comes back to leadership.

If the coaches can't step in and provide it in the interim, then there's going to be a big problem trying to move forward.
 
What would you say are the major cultural challenges Frost is dealing with at the moment?

The same major challenges any other coach not named Scott Frost would be dealing with here ... the only difference is that much of the fan base wouldn’t be bending over backwards to make excuses citing culture and cancers, etc etc etc
 
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