It鈥檚 important to moisturize. Even for football players.
Dry skin was becoming an issue for the 蜜柚直播 Wildcats because they had hand soap in their shower stalls. So the team鈥檚 leadership council 鈥 comprised of players from various position groups as selected by their peers 鈥 approached first-year coach Kevin Sumlin about getting that changed.
The Wildcats now have body wash.
It might seem like a trivial matter, but the soap situation is symbolic of the culture Sumlin has tried to create since arriving in 蜜柚直播 in January. The first time he spoke to the media here, Sumlin preached about relationships, communication and trust.
Almost a year later, those remain core tenets of his program.
Did relationships, communication and trust help 蜜柚直播 defeat Oregon and Colorado to get this season back on course? Maybe. It鈥檚 impossible to quantify. But those values clearly are important to Sumlin, who put them into practice by establishing the leadership council.
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Sumlin meets once a week with the players to talk about issues inside and outside the program.
鈥淭hings that they think are important,鈥 said Sumlin, whose team visits Washington State on Saturday after having this weekend off. 鈥淚 think it helps communication amongst the team, just different things that come up 鈥 things that are on our players鈥 minds. It gives me an insight into what鈥檚 going on in their lives, but also the communication from me, what the message is.鈥
The leadership council consists of 11 players representing multiple positions and classes. All have served as game captains for the Wildcats this season: quarterback Khalil Tate; tailback J.J. Taylor; receivers Shun Brown and Shawn Poindexter; offensive lineman Layth Friekh; defensive lineman Justin Belknap; linebackers Anthony Pandy and Colin Schooler; defensive backs Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and Jace Whittaker; and long-snapper Nick Reinhardt.
The players explained how it works.
Sumlin 鈥渨ill tell us what鈥檚 on his mind. Then at the end, 鈥楢ll right, what鈥檚 on you guys鈥 minds? What鈥檚 going on with the team? What should we do?鈥欌夆 Friekh said. 鈥淲e talk about it, and we address it.鈥
Brown said: 鈥淲e have more freedom to speak our minds at those kinds of meetings and create a different view of what we want and what he wants.鈥
It鈥檚 all part of the trust-building process. Brown said he now feels comfortable enough to go up to Sumlin and ask: 鈥淵ou got a second?鈥
鈥淗e鈥檒l find time to talk to you,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just more player-coach communication.鈥
蜜柚直播鈥檚 Shun Brown, right, says the give-and-take between coach and leadership council is all part of a trust-building process. 鈥淲e have more freedom to speak our minds,鈥 he said.
Success matters
Players say they bought into Sumlin and his staff from the beginning. But that鈥檚 something players say about every new coaching staff. Sumlin has been in the business long enough to know that a vision is a lot easier to sell when you have success.
蜜柚直播 started 0-2, including an uncompetitive loss at Houston. The Wildcats got back to .500 with wins over Southern Utah and Oregon State before losing three of their next four.
The last of those losses might have been a turning point. Playing without Tate, Friekh and both starting cornerbacks, 蜜柚直播 lost by one point at UCLA.
The following week, the Wildcats put together their best all-around performance of the season in a 44-15 victory over then-No. 19 Oregon. They followed that up with a 42-34 win over Colorado.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to have a message 鈥 but if people don鈥檛 believe in it, it doesn鈥檛 really matter,鈥 Sumlin said. 鈥淪ometimes people have to make mistakes, people have to maybe do it their way and fail. Or maybe have success but understand that when you鈥檙e in a team situation, it鈥檚 not just about you. There鈥檚 different ways to do that.鈥
Example: After the win over Oregon, Sumlin cited the value of preparation over the course of the week. He intimated that the Wildcats finally understood that and implored them to remember what it felt like.
Offensive lineman Layth Friekh says Sumlin will ask: 鈥溾夆榃hat鈥檚 on you guys鈥 minds? What鈥檚 going on with the team? What should we do?鈥 We talk about it, and we address it.鈥
Trust begets growth
Sumlin also has been around long enough to know that you can鈥檛 treat every player the same; that the way you were raised might not be the same as how someone else was.
Sumlin recently was asked how he dealt with sophomore safety Scottie Young Jr., who was suspended for most of the offseason because of an off-field incident. Sumlin didn鈥檛 reveal any specifics of his interactions with Young, who was reinstated during training camp and has become an important contributor.
But Sumlin鈥檚 response showed how he approaches the coach-player relationship and how much he values every interaction.
鈥淓very situation鈥檚 different,鈥 Sumlin said. 鈥淵ou come into a program, and you try to assess what鈥檚 going on, where people are in life.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e heard me say this before: The big deal is communication. With communication comes trust. It鈥檚 hard for me to know anything about your situation if you can鈥檛 talk to me. I can talk to you, or I can talk at you.
鈥淲hat we try to do is just create some dialogue about life. The sooner trust happens, I believe, growth happens.鈥
