I believe in all of that. I cant stop remembering that I read (maybe some of you all remember) that Sean would act as an instigator with some players. Saying such things like, "ive heard (insert opponent name) say hes going to dominate you this weekend" And other similar taunts. Then the thought of him constantly reminding the Broncos 70 point blow out. Seans thoughts after that was probably, "now i have all the ammo i need to get this team right". Its also why he took a shot at their ex coach (hackett) at the beginning of the season. When i first heard of him doing these tactics, i thought, wow, hes pretty caddy. But that would be wrong, Sean was creating a competitive environment. (Pitting his team against the opponent subconsciously) I truly think the great coaches know how to push the buttons of their players to get them to perform at their best. For ex: Lutz is terrified of Sean, and the results show it. And this is why im not too high on DA: I think if i were to ask DA, if any of these tactics hold water in his opinion, id think, he'd say nah thats all foolishness, and hed say, these guys are paid to play and they are all professional. And this would be far from the truth. Guys while they are competing are not thinking of a check being mailed to them. They are fighting for their teammates next to them, like war. It would be easy to inherit a probowl roster in all 3 phases and coach them. But how do you coach a mediocre team to be great? I thought Sean was crazy for taking the Denver job, but HE didnt. In his mind, all he needed was leverage, and that 70 point blow out is enough leverage for 10 years. So to comment on your questions about positivity. Positivity from a coach is bad, theres no leverage there. Positivity from the players is also bad, it means they arent being pushed. Positivity from a mediocre team is the worst. But you cant be super negative either as a coach, becasue youre not trying to convince them that they suck, you want to straddle the line to push them. Fan positivity will happen on its own. But overwhelming fan negativity can be counteracting to the messege the coach is trying to send.