Auburn and Oregon Display Innovation To Get to the BCS Championship Game

The future is now.  

Auburn defeated Oregon 22-19 to win the BCS national championship last night.  The game was not the high scoring track meet many predicted.  However, it did provide many exciting moments and a view of what college football and professional football will be like in the future.  This season each team became known for innovation and had designed two of the most cutting-edge offenses in college football.  This innovation led to their epic meeting in Glendale, Arizona for the title.  

Auburn's Offensive Coordinator Guz Malzahn, who was also innovative when he was at Arkansas, was responsible for making the now famous "wildcat" formation into something that even NFL teams were willing to emulate. At Auburn, Malzahn's offense scheme has fluorished and led to a record-breaking season.  This offense also made the most of Cam Newton's skills and help him to win the Heisman Trophy as the most outstanding college football player of the year.   

Due to his innovative mentality, Auburn head coach Chizik was hired after he compiled a losing 5-19 record in two seasons at Iowa State.  Chizik made the most of his second chance, with the help of Malzahn's innovative offensive schemes, and is now a championship coach.

Oregon's head coach Chip Kelly designed a fast-paced offense perfected by equally fact-paced practice sessions.  NBA teams have studied Kelly's offense because it is so cutting edge. Using blown-up pictures pasted on poster boards that are used for game-time signals in his highly risk-taking and  innovative play calling, Kelly has developed a program that has risen to the top of the college football world.    

Now is his second season at Oregon, Kelly was given a chance by then Oregon Head Coach Mike Bellotti, and he made the most of it with his cutting-edge offensive formations, schemes, and game plans.

These successful college football programs are models for innovation and creativity.  

How is your organization or business using innovation, creativity and risk-taking to rise to the occasion?  

Do you foster an environment of innovation?  Do you hire others that have an innovative approach?  Will you rise to the top of your industry like Oregon and Auburn through cutting-edge thinking and execution?

Will you be able to unleash your teams' talent for a championship-worthy performance?  

  

Cam Newton Displays Mental Toughness

"Cameron Newton is physically and mentally as tough as I've ever seen," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. "Period."

Despite allegations surrounding his eligibility and an NCAA investigation related to alleged irregularity in his recruitment, Auburn

 quarterback Cam Newton led the Tigers to a victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday.  

The Crimson Tide already had a 21-0 lead by the time the Tigers got their initial first down in the game.  Ultimately, coming from 24 points down to end Alabama's 20-game win streak in Tuscaloosa,

the #2 national ranked team beat the defending national champions.  

Pressure is nothing new to the Tigers.  Trailing in eight games this season, coming back is no problem for Cam Newton and the 12-0 Tigers.

Also, Newton retained his lead in the USA Today Heisman Trophy poll for the fifth straight week.  He earned 48 points and eight out of a possible 10 first-place votes from those who participated in USA Today’s survey.

Newton finally got Auburn on the board with a 36-yard touchdown pass to Emory Blake, cutting the deficit to 24-7. On the second play of the second half, Newton lofted a 70-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Zachery.  He later scored from the 1-yard line to cut Alabama's lead to 24-21.

After Alabama kicked its second field goal, Newton drove the Tigers for the winning score. He completed a crucial fourth-down pass to Darvin Adams along the sideline to keep the possession alive. Finally, he rolled to his right and threw back across the field to a wide-open Philip Lutzenkirchen for a 7-yard TD with 11:55 remaining in the game.

Newton finished the game 13-of-20 passing for 216 yards and three TDs; 22 rushes for 39 yards and one TD in 28-27 win over Alabama.  

No player has meant more to his team's success than Newton, who has kept the Tigers unbeaten throwing for 2,254 with only 6 interceptions and rushing for another 1,336 yards while accounting for an incredible 40 touchdowns. He’s the leading rusher in the SEC and has the second-best quarterback rating in the country next to Kellen Moore of Boise State., 

In four games vs. Top 25 teams, Newton has been responsible for nearly 70 percent of the Tigers' total yards and has thrown for five TDs and run for nine more. This week he gets a second crack at South Carolina in the SEC Championship Game against whom he amassed 334 yards and five TDs on Sept. 25.

The 250-pound Newton was at his best when the Tigers defeated South Carolina, 35-27, as three-point home favorites. Newton rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns, while also passing for two more additional touchdowns.   In a recent game against the University of Georgia, Newton scored four total touchdowns – two passing and two rushing – in a 49-31 victory.. 

“That type of focus will go a long way in convincing NFL scouts that he ... has the mental toughness to thrive under the microscope.” 

--CBS Sports’ Rob Rang praising Newton’s ability to overcome the off-field scrutiny that has surrounded him in recent weeks, following Newton’s performance against Georgia.

A win by the Tigers against South Carolina would surely put them in the national championship game, possibly against the University of Oregon (who have one more game against Oregon State).

Excerpts from www.thecelebritycafe.com (November 17, 2010), www.nbcsports.com (November 27, 2010), www.sportsillustrated.cnn.com (November 29, 2010), www.donbest.com (November 29, 2010).

For more on performance psychology and the Peak Performance System, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance and, the smartphone app, Mindfuel.

Alabama Crimson Tide Rolls to 2009 BCS Championship with Mental Conditioning Program

With great interest and anticipation, I drove Sunday, January 24, 2010 to Birmingham, Alabama to attend a celebratory program to award Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach Nick Saban with the 2009 Leadership Innovation Award. The program and award highlighted the accomplishments of the Alabama football team.

During the acceptance speech, Coach Saban directly attributed his championship team’s chemistry and success to a mental conditioning program he employed. The mental conditioning program provided a "success mindset" that resulted in a BCS Championship win against the Texas Longhorns in the Rose Bowl.

Saban openly discussed his desire to change the culture of the team, after a 2006 losing season that, more importantly, included off-the-field misconduct and poor decision making by several members of the team during the off-season. With the help of the Pacific Institute of Seattle, the Alabama team learned about mental conditioning approaches to help them to achieve peak performance.

Opposing coaches could see the difference in the players right away.

“Alabama played with an attitude and viciousness that we did not,” Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said in 2008.

“I just saw a team that had a mentality,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt, “They were going to be physical, they were going to play physical and they did.”

“I think it’s the identity that we’ve always tried to create,” Saban said. “Be aggressive, physical, play with a lot of toughness. Strike them, knock them back. Be aggressive and relentless in your style of how you play and how you compete.

Though these types of mental conditioning programs are perceived as new and cutting edge, the fact is that mental conditioning involves the application and teaching of cognitive and positive psychology. This approach is based on scientific research and principles that have been around for close to a half-century. It is one of the most widely used and validated mechanisms for behavior change. Many organizational and sports psychologists have been using this approach in their practices for years with considerable success. This area of applied psychology looks closely at an individual's beliefs and self-talk and the effect it has on behavior and performance. It is highly results-oriented.

“I don’t think the message is that different,” Saban said. “I think the things that it takes to be successful are the same regardless, whether it’s passion, commitment, hard work, investing your time in the right things, perseverance, pride in performance, how you think in a positive and negative way, the discipline you have personally -- you have to make choices in your decisions.”

Saban emphasizes that you must “develop champions before you can create championship results.” He also emphasizes the importance of creating the right processes to get the right outcomes.

The players who spent the summer on campus were enrolled in a dozen mental conditioning classes, designed to improve, in Saban's words, the "self-actualization, self-confidence [and] self-esteem" of his players. Twelve times each summer, the Alabama football team sits through 30- to 45-minute classes devoted to mental conditioning and character development. The Pacific Institute of Seattle was hired to design a program and lead the players through a series of awareness exercises and affirmations, such as:

"We are a team that's committed to excellence. It's represented in everything we do."

"Our defense is aggressive. We fly to the ball seeking always to cause big plays on every down. We intimidate our opponents."

"Our offense is consistently on top of their game."

"Our team is a family. We will look out for each other. We love one another. Anything that attempts to tear us apart only makes us stronger."

These affirmations reinforced the vision and outcome that the Alabama coaching staff was looking for and provided a language to communicate expectations and establish behavioral habits related to mental focus, teamwork, determination and priorities.

Saban also made the point that the program never once talked about winning, they only talked about their commitment to success, pride in performance and being the best you can be.

“That’s exactly how it was. To me, I thought it helped us out as a team. It made us realize that we have to focus night and day.”

--Marquis Johnson, cornerback.

Nevertheless, the program’s emphasis is on personal choices and accountability. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

“Honestly, you have to look inside yourself. The coach can only tell you and say so much. To play as a man, you have to look inside yourself.”

-- running back Glen Coffee.

Excerpts from Chattanooga Free Press, July 28, 2008; Tuscaloosa News, August 10, 2008 and September 8, 2008; Forbes, September 1, 2008; and Sports Illustrated, September 8, 2008.

For more on mental conditioning and peak performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance, and for the latest mental conditioning tools, click on: Peak Performance eCoach and request access.

Alabama Achieves a Vision in Defeating Florida in the SEC Championship

Alabama Establishes a Clear Vision

“Everybody bought into it.”

--Mark Ingram, Alabama running back and Heisman Trophy candidate. Ingram, making a strong bid to claim the school's first Heisman Trophy, rushed for 113 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Florida in the SEC championship game. He passed Bobby Humphrey for the school rushing record in a season (1,542 yards) and augmented his performance with a 69-yard reception on a screen pass.

“Coach Saban’s got a philosophy of hard work and discipline,” Ingram said. “And you can’t have self-indulgent behavior. It’s about doing everything you can, every chance you have, to make the team better.”

"Everything we did all year long was to beat them, to be better than them," Ingram said about their goal of being better than Florida, who beat Alabama in the SEC title game last year.

“We had a meeting [last offseason and told the players] everything you do, every time you go to work, every time we lift weights, it’s not to be as good as the guy you’re playing against, it’s to be as good as the guy you have to beat to be the champion,”

--Nick Saban, head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team.

Drive and Desire

"Everyone had to buy into not to be denied in this game." Saban said. "To be a champion, that's what you had to do. I've never been prouder of a group of players."

"Our standard was to be as good as Florida," Alabama linebacker Cory Reamer said. "Today, we were better than them.”

"They seemed like they wanted it a whole lot," Florida cornerback Joe Haden said.

Preparation and Work

Greg McElroy, Alabama quarterback and MVP of the SEC championship game said the victory was a tribute to all the work that the Tide had put in since the loss to Florida in last year’s SEC title game.

"I think it all came full circle in the sense that all the things we’ve done,” he said. “All the 110s we’ve run and blood, sweat, conditioning, all the reps in the weight room, that’s what it’s all for, taking a knee against Florida to win the SEC championship.”

--Greg McElroy, who threw for 239 yards and a touchdown to claim the SEC Championship Game MVP award.

Mental Mindset

“You’ve got to be responsible and accountable and be able to do your job,” Saban said. “There’s a way you have to do it in terms of the effort, the toughness and the dependability and the discipline. … And when you have a critical mass of players on your team that think like that, they really don’t want the other guys that don’t think that way to be out there with them.”

"If you want to be a champion, you have to have a team of champions," McElroy said. "This team came out and proved itself a champion."

Alabama will now face Texas in the BCS Championship Game in January.


Excerpts from the New York Times, Yahoo.com and ESPN.com (December 5-6, 2009).

For more on mental conditioning and peak performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

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Florida Gators: BCS National Champions

"There's no feeling like being a champion. I love it. There's nothing like it."

--Percy Harvin, University of Florida wide receiver, who missed the SEC championship game against Alabama, because of an ankle injury.

In his return, Harvin had 171 total yards and a touchdown to help top-ranked Florida beat No. 2 Oklahoma 24-14 in the national championship game Thursday night. He ran nine times for 122 yards and a touchdown, caught five passes for 49 yards.

"Unbelievable performance. The brighter the lights, the bigger he plays. He's a big-time game performer."

--Urban Meyer, University of Florida head coach.

However, the turning point of the season and the key to the Gators' championship may have occurred following the Gators' upset loss to Mississippi, 31-30, Sept. 27. This is what their leader and 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Tim Tebow said:

“To the fans, the Gator Nation, I’m sorry. Extremely sorry. But I promise you one thing: a lot of good will come from this. You will never see a player, in the entire country, play as hard as I will play the rest of the season. You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season. And you will never see a team play harder than we will play the rest of the season. God bless.”

Florida did not lose again.

Excerpts from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 9, 2009.

Striving for a National Championship in BCS Game

"I picture things in my mind before I try to go accomplish it."

--Chris Brown, Oklahoma Sooner running back.

Brown, who has started only one game this season, will be starting in Thursday night's championship game against the University of Florida. The starting running back, DeMarco Murray has a hamstring injury.

Despite his backup status, Brown leads Oklahoma in rushing yards (1,110) and touchdowns (20). Brown was an honorable mention selection on the 2008 All-Big 12 team.

Watch a Chris Brown touchdown run on YouTube below.

Excerpts from the New York Times, 1/7/2008.