Role Modeling …

In my real career, I had the good fortune to work for 5 excellent and inspiring people and by observing how they dealt with people and situations it gave me behavior models that I could emulate when I faced professional challenges.  I thought then – – and continue to think – – that those opportunities to observe others were valuable happenings.  Such must not be the case when it comes to the ownership group that runs the Pittsburgh Steelers football organization.

The Rooney family runs the show there and the model for the franchise is stability and measured responses to situations.  Consider:

• The Steelers have had 3 head coaches since 1969.
• The Steelers have won 6 Super Bowls and have been AFC Champs 8 times.
• The Steelers’ last losing season was in 2003.

The way the Steelers’ organization has dealt with challenges and competitors over the years has clearly worked; so, you might expect that those on the inside who had the chance to observe how a successful franchise goes about its business would emulate the model if given the opportunity.  But we have two counter examples to that supposition:

1. Jimmy Haslam was a minority owner of the Steelers from 2008 to 2012.  At the end of his time with the Steelers organization, he bought the Cleveland Browns.  Between 2012 and today, the Browns have had 8 head coaches – – counting interim head coaches – – and have made the playoffs only one time.  There was a two-year stretch where the Browns record was 1-31-0.  There were reports that Haslam demanded that the Browns use a late first-round draft pick to take Johnny Manziel over the “advice and counsel” of the “football people”.  That behavior does not emulate the “Rooney Regimen”.
2. David Tepper was a minority owner of the Steelers from 2009 to 2018.  At the end of his time with the Steelers organization, he bought the Carolina Panthers.  Between 2018 and today, the Panthers have already had 7 head coaches – – counting interim head coaches – – and the team has not had a single winning season let alone a playoff appearance in that time.  Various reports by Peter King and reporters at The Athletic have described the Panthers environment as similar to the “Hunger Games” and King said explicitly, “That franchise is a mess.”  Once again, that behavior does not emulate the “Rooney Regimen”.

Since I obviously know none of the folks that I just described above, it would be unfair and presumptuous for me to pretend that I know why such a situation obtains.  But the difference in management/organizational styles – – and results too – – is stark enough to make me wish that someone who studies management and organizational psychology would dig in and offer some explanation.

Switching gears …  The “reader in Houston” sent me a message suggesting that I check out the Grinnell College men’s basketball team and its schedule.  The campus is located in Grinnell, IA and plays Division III level basketball in the Midwest Conference.  As of this morning, Grinnell’s record is 8-2 but it is the scoring of the Grinnell games that is most interesting:

• In both of Grinnell’s losses this year, they have scored 102 points or more.
• In three of Grinnell’s wins this year, they have scored between 148 and 151 points.
• In their ten games this season, Grinnell averages 114.7 points per game.

This is the Division III version of the old Loyola Marymount team with Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble leading the scoring with Paul Westhead as their coach…

And speaking of minor college basketball, let me clue you in on another game where the margin of victory was 94 points.  North Dakota St. won this game by a score of 108-14 over Oak Hills Christian.  North Dakota State is a Division I school, and Oak Hills Christian is a small Division II school in Minnesota.  The score was 60-5 at halftime.

Clearly this game suffered from the lack of a “Mercy Rule” but before piling on the North Dakota St. coaches for running it up, consider this:

• Everyone on the North Dakota St. roster played in the game – – AND – –
• Every player who got in the game scored for North Dakota St.

Clearly, Oak Hills Christian is a team with problems.  Their record so far this year is 2-9 and if this 94-point loss were the only rout on the record, you could chalk it up to the fact that they were over-reaching with that schedule entry.  Not the case:

• Oak Hills Christian lost to Rockford University by 53 points.
• Oak Hills Christian lost to Bemidji St. by 81 points.
• Oak Hills Christian lost to Valley City State by 63 points and again by 82 points.
• Oak Hills Christian lost to Dickinson St. by 72 points.

So, you might conclude that Oak Hills Christian is “the bottom of the barrel” but if you look closely, you will find that both of it wins have come at the expense of the same school – – Sisseton Wahpeton College.

• Dec 2^nd:  Oak Hills Christian 75  Sisseton Wahpeton College 74
• Dec 6^th:  Oak Hills Christian 90  Sisseton Wahpeton College 88

Finally, I’ll close here with some words of encouragement for the players at Oak Hills Christian and Sisseton Wahpeton College from former UCLA coach, John wooden:

“What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………