Mel Tucker

Woelk: Tucker's Confidence In Process Won't Waver

October 19, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk

PULLMAN, Wash. — Mel Tucker knows there are no shortcuts when it comes to fixing what ails his Colorado Buffaloes.

All Tucker and his coaching staff can do is get back to work, evaluate film and do their best to correct the problems that have sent the Buffs into a three-game tailspin.

Granted, it's a long list.

For the second week in a row, the Buffs looked outmatched on both sides of the ball in Saturday's 41-10 loss at Washington State. Offensively, they again committed costly turnovers (two first-half interceptions) and failed to take full advantage of red zone opportunities (one touchdown and one field goal in three trips).  Defensively, they put themselves in an early hole that simply proved to be too deep to completely overcome.

It all added up to another long plane trip home — and this time, with a short week ahead. Directly on the horizon is a Friday night matchup with a talented USC squad that is coming off a Saturday night dismantling of Arizona, the same Arizona team that started CU's current three-game losing streak.

"I told the guys, there's not going to be anything easy about it," Tucker said after Saturday's loss. "It's going to be a tough week for us. We're going to grind it out. As a coaching staff, we're going to figure out a way to get our guys better and we're going to challenge guys."

And that process, he hinted, may result in a few lineup changes.

"We'll look for guys that want to compete, guys that are going to be all in and going to do what we need them to do," Tucker said. "Those guys will play. The other guys won't play."

But one thing Tucker won't do is panic. There will be no signs of desperation, no distress bubbling to the surface that will send the wrong message to his players. That's not in his DNA. Players feed off of their coaches' reactions, and Tucker will make sure his team sees and feels a steady hand at the helm.

"As coaches, you can't get frustrated," Tucker said. "Frustration doesn't help. Frustration doesn't provide solutions. You can be upset, you can be angry. But at some point, that's got to pass and you really have to home in on grading the tape, looking at the personnel, evaluating whether it's scheme or whatever it is, and try to find ways to put guys in better position to make plays. You have to find ways to get guys to improve, to change their behavior, whatever it is, to get better performance."

Tucker knows his Buffs can play better. He saw his team go on the road just a month ago and collect a win over a good Arizona State team by playing well on both sides of the ball at crucial junctures. That same ASU team, by the way, just last week beat the Washington State squad that throttled the Buffs on Saturday.

But Tucker also knows his team has to play almost error-free football to be competitive, and right now, the Buffs aren't anywhere close to hitting that mark. Instead, the offense seems to have taken a step back and the defense — while actually showing improvement as the game progressed Saturday — still made some critical errors early that helped WSU jump out to a big lead.

"It's tough," Tucker admitted. "We're being tested. I told them in the locker room, we're going to test you as a coaching staff. You're going to be tested.  If it doesn't hurt you, if it doesn't rip your guts out, there's something wrong. There's no way to sugarcoat it. We're going to try to take some positives off of the tape, but we're in a tough stretch right now."

Tucker knew his first year in Boulder would not be an easy one. College football programs don't fire head coaches and hire a new one if there aren't some deep-seated problems. Tucker took over a program that finished 2018 with seven straight losses and a culture that needed to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Now, he faces the biggest challenge yet of his young college head coaching career — how to keep a tailspin from becoming an extended nosedive.

It will take some solid locker room psychology.

For starters, Tucker has to convince his players to tune out the outside noise and concentrate on the task at hand. Last year doesn't matter.

But maybe most importantly, Tucker has to make sure his players know he has not lost confidence in them.

That part won't be difficult. Tucker has confidence in his players because he has confidence in his process. Everywhere he has gone in his college coaching career, he has helped produce winners. He knows what it takes — and his players believe in that process.

Tucker is well aware that he took over a program that has seen far more disappointment than success over the last 14 years. He is Colorado's fourth head coach in that span, a clear sign that solutions have been in short supply in Boulder.

He knew there was work to be done.

Thus, when Tucker and his staff get together Sunday to continue reviewing film of their latest game, they will consider a number of options. Personnel changes, scheme changes, game plan adjustments — everything will be on the table.

But the one thing that won't change is Tucker's confidence in his fundamental approach to the game. He knows how to win.

A rough stretch certainly won't make that knowledge disappear.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu


 
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