Jeff Duncan: Inside the Saints Culture Issues

NatureBoy said

I agree with the vast majority of this. I do think it’s possible for players to fracture off. No matter the business, people will check out when leadership changes. Sometimes it’s because it’s the wrong leader, sometimes it’s just because it’s a different leader. It’s just time to make sweeping changes, regardless of who the coach is or will be. Sean is gone. If some guys want Sean, send them to him or let them find their way to him. Rebuild.

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I’ve worked for an organization that was consistently successful as well as one that was consistently unsuccessful.

The second one would try every type of culture building tool they could find to build up morale but it never had any real effect. They hired “leaders” that had built a culture at other successful places, and those leaders would give their speeches to rally the troops, but their efforts fell flat as the losses continued to mount. Sure, those leaders were able to build a culture on top of success elsewhere, but couldn’t build one on top of failure.

Sometimes, the only thing that can fix the culture issues that come from losing is winning. You aren’t going to find many NFL franchises with strong cultures and/or identities that are also struggling to put together wins.