Headway, Sternway, and the Dreaded Doldrums

[alathIN]

There was a point in the Mason era when after a very unfortunate beginning he registered a couple-few 5 and 6 win seasons in a row.
I remember thinking he needs to break through the 6 win ceiling to demonstrate the program is on an upward trajectory.

Everyone is familiar with the sailing term 'headway' - forward motion. Less well known is 'sternway' - going backwards. And 'doldrums' was the dreaded zone around the equator where the winds were weak or nonexistent, coming from all different directions. Ships could get caught in the doldrums for literally weeks or months at a time; just kind of wallowing aimlessly.

I felt like Mason was staying in the doldrums too long. "Come to Vanderbilt, where you can play on a consistently mediocre football team that isn't terrible!" is not a good recruiting pitch. Sooner or later recruiting will drop off and the doldrums will turn into sternway.

This year's freshmen are the best VU recruiting class since xCJF days, and Lea & Co seem to be putting together another solid class. But realistically we are probably at least one, more likely two, really good classes away from being a truly competitive SEC program.

My main hope for this year was that whatever the win-loss record, there would be a clear sense of headway in the program. So that the coaches can go on the recruiting trail and say the program is getting better and better and be believable. So the fans stay interested and the donors get excited and all the other good things.
I still don't think we'll do better than 3 or 4 wins this year, but Saturday's game made me think we've got a good chance of finishing the season with headway.

[Captcook]

agree on each point... well said

[buffy]

A game like Saturday helps the narrative. How we played (i.e. total effort) was very significant to me. You must throttle the teams you should beat. Last season, we showed, for the most part, that we were better as the season wore on. 3 or 4 wins this year will be fine confirmation of progress. An SEC win would be important. I think we surprise someone.

[Georgiadore]

One thing former coach JF's teams did was defeat the lesser teams they should have defeated - so last Saturday's win was a positive indicator for us, I believe.

[buffy]

One thing former coach JF's teams did was defeat the lesser teams they should have defeated - so last Saturday's win was a positive indicator for us, I believe.

I was about to say the same thing, but after looking at CDMs record, I thought twice. If you take his first season out of the equation, CDM did a good job of throttling those teams also. In hindsight, he was a decent guy and coach. The job just demands someone with laser focus on what they're creating, not simply a decent coach and motivator. CJF and, hopefully, CCL get this. Since I started following in the Fall of '93, no other coaches have understood this.

[AuricGoldfinger]

One thing former coach JF's teams did was defeat the lesser teams they should have defeated - so last Saturday's win was a positive indicator for us, I believe.

IIRC, Vanderbilt during the CJF era only lost twice as a favorite--at UT in 2011 and in the Liberty Bowl the same year.

CDM did okay after his first season in this regard, until 2019 when VU struggled versus NIU and lost to UNLV, both at home. Of course, CDM lost his headway after 2018 without adequate replacements for both Kyle Shurmur and Andy Ludwig.

[VU1970]

I thought Sternway was what Floyd Cramer played.

[alathIN]

One thing former coach JF's teams did was defeat the lesser teams they should have defeated - so last Saturday's win was a positive indicator for us, I believe.

I was about to say the same thing, but after looking at CDMs record, I thought twice. If you take his first season out of the equation, CDM did a good job of throttling those teams also. In hindsight, he was a decent guy and coach. The job just demands someone with laser focus on what they're creating, not simply a decent coach and motivator. CJF and, hopefully, CCL get this. Since I started following in the Fall of '93, no other coaches have understood this.

Re laser focus: One of Mason's strengths was his intense emotional leadership. There were games where he was very fired up and that translated to the team. However I think there is also a point where that can get out of hand and cause loss of focus.
Last year Lea got criticized for not being upset enough with bad plays or bad games.
But I think staying cool is a big asset in some situations. When Wright went for the 83 yard TD, you did not see Lea jumping up and down and cheering. His attitude was "There goes Mike, nice play. Moving on, here's what we do next." He didn't come off the field saying "I am made for this job!" His attitude was "Yes, we achieved some of the things we wanted to achieve, so that's nice. Moving on, we still have a lot of work to do."

Focus is exactly the right word. I'm impressed that Lea has a high degree of focus on details, but also remains very focused on the big picture of where the program is going and what the long term goals are.

[indysog03]

"Headway, Sternway, and the Dreaded Doldrums" is the name of my Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young cover group.