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A Culture of Excellence

It is hard to avoid the energy that is building towards the Patriots next attempt at a Super Bowl on Sunday around here. As of Wednesday this week, I was swimming in a full on assault to see if Mr. Schneider might call another Sunday night Super Bowl snow day with a pending storm on the way during his final year. And while it is hard to deny that the media coverage is a bit much at the moment (how much more can we hear about mysterious “tensions” in the locker room), watching this epic run by the Patriots reminds me of a few things about football I feel compelled to mention.

I actually have thought extensively about speaking too much about the role football has played in my life, as I worry I might suddenly be labeled as an anti-intellectual jock…or people will say that I place too much emphasis on sports. But I must say that this particular sport shaped and formed me in some fundamental ways. The first shaping was undoubtedly in my role as a player. It was there that I learned that consistent hard work and attention to detail could lead to success. In my case, I was not blessed with amazing athletic ability, and yet I worked my way into a successful Division III college career through many wind sprints and workouts when no one was checking up on me. My parents wouldn’t let me pick up a football until I got to Middle School with a program run by real teachers. Actually, I never really picked up a football again once I was moved from Tight End to Tackle in ninth grade. Even with a late start compared to my peer hockey and soccer players, I became something. And I truly learned that my team would only be as good as our weakest link…as evidenced by being captain to a team that suffered its first losing season in over twenty years – humbling stuff. The whole “do your job” cliche is really not a joke – without everyone taking care of his unglamorous part in the equation, the team simply went nowhere.

I still maintain that coaching football at college level was among the most intellectually stimulating experiences of my lifetime. Seems counterintuitive when one thinks about the stereotypes, but perhaps a little less so when you observe the brainpower on the Patriots coaching staff. It just so happens that soon to be Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia was on my college coaching staff way back then. Watching the attention to detail and work ethic – even then – was eye opening. Particularly in coaching high school later on, I loved learning that a great coach with a disciplined team of smart kids could actually beat some teams that were far more talented. I reveled in my David vs. Goliath coaching experiences in this regard, searching for a weakness to exploit or creating a new play sequence that would be indefensible. I would also tell you that my training as a lowly graduate assistant football coach at Amherst College taught me much that matters as a Head of School: attention to detail, routine, preparation, and creating the conditions in which your players could thrive – I use all of this in my current role on a daily basis.

I do appreciate how much the world despises the Patriots, but it needs to be said that their organizational turnaround is also astounding simply from a leadership/CEO perspective. I still remember with great pain the days of Tony Eason, Mosi Tatupu, and Tony Frankin. And Steve Grogan. They were mostly challenging days…and a very challenging stadium. Today’s Patriots are an example of how the culture of an organization can change in enduring ways with strong and consistent leadership over a long period of time. I am not here to say that all of the people or all of the decisions have always been perfect along the way. But it is extraordinary to see a culture move from one of expected disappointment to such consistently high performance over time.

I hope all of you Eagles fans were able to suffer through that one with me. As for me, I am dusting off my electric blue Bruce Armstrong Patriots shirt for our dress down Friday. Once a lineman, always a lineman.

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