There is no overestimating the value of team ownership.
Any coach in any sport will say that, and this as well: The less he must poke, prod and push his players, the better those players’ chances of success.
To understand this, think of those Bulls teams that won a half-dozen titles. The team may have been owned by Jerry Reinsdorf and coached by Phil Jackson, but it belonged to Michael Jordan, who was not only its most resplendent talent but also its conscience, catalyst and most demanding taskmaster.
A team’s ownership must come from within if that team hopes to soar to great heights. That is an adage as old as games themselves and now recognized by those players competing for Northwestern.
“That’s definitely one thing we really, truly focused on this off-season … ,” said Adam Kadela, a fifth-year senior linebacker.
“It’s important because when players have ownership, they truly believe. You can take yourselves to a whole new level when you have everybody buying in. It’s our team. We’re playing for each other. It’s not the coaches telling us what to do and we’re robots out there doing it because that’s what they want to see.
“It’s like anything you do in life. If you don’t have a passion for it and you don’t buy in and you don’t trust it, you’re not going to be nearly as successful as you can be. It’s basically a way to reach your fullest potential as opposed to just going through the motions.”
Last August, in the wake of coach Randy Walker’s sudden death, it was an accomplishment for the Wildcats merely to master the motions. Their world was a swirl, awash in the emotions that accompany a great loss, and in its wake NU stumbled through a 4-8 season.
The Wildcats refuse to use that loss as an excuse for their poor record. Yet a heartbeat later, many acknowledge going into their off-season with a chip on their collective shoulder.
That pushed them, as they idled through December, to stay in shape, and so all were well-conditioned and prepared to compete when they regrouped in January and began again to work out together.
“Character is who you are when no one’s watching,” said coach Pat Fitzgerald, who saw their conditioning as a sign that his players were starting to make their team their own.
Other signs would come as well, come far removed from the spotlight in those long months that separated them from another season.
Quarterback C.J. Bacher took the lead in organizing seven-on-seven drills, which pitted the first offense against the first defense. Running back Tyrell Sutton demonstrated a new maturity and competed to win every drill. Nearly 80 percent of the returning veterans and the majority of incoming freshmen were on hand for summer workouts, which saw the resurrection of a lost tradition called the Viking Feast.
It was, significantly, the players who demanded its resurrection, which began at 6 p.m. one day in early July. Over the next six hours, for an hour each, they did a variety of drills and then at midnight they slogged into their meeting room, where they watched TV and got to know each other while feasting on ribs, burgers and all things manly.
“It’s kind of a bonding thing but you’re also working out,” junior defensive end John Gill said. “It’s the first time we’ve done that since I’ve been here, and we had great attendance.”
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Kadela said: “It’s the best thing for a football team when coaches can just sit back and organize and the players are the ones getting guys competing, taking someone to a level [he] never thought was possible. Being around each other is very important.”
That importance is not lost on Fitzgerald, who takes his team to its summer home in Kenosha Friday after five days of practice in Evanston. After the first of those practices he raved about his players’ conditioning, and then he was asked about the chip so many had talked about carrying.
“What I see is our players taking ownership. If you have that, it gives you the opportunity as a coach to put them in positions to lead and take the team where we need to go,” Fitzgerald said.
“When I heard those guys talk about a chip on their shoulders, that’s what they identified this summer. That came from within, and to me that’s encouraging. We’re not on the field. The players have to lead from the field when the shooting starts and everyone starts competing.
“So I’m excited about it happening. But talk is cheap. You need to go out and walk the walk. That’s going to be key.”
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