When Stubborn Is Good

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“It’s something you learn in life with relationships more than anything: It’s about how the other person perceives it. Because we all spend so much time worrying about what we’re doing, what we’re saying and what it means. But the true meaning is how they digest it. And that’s something I’ve asked of everybody I’ve ever worked with, something I always ask of myself: Be the same person every day.

“I’ve been kind of chuckling under my breath as everybody’s been talking about how ‘positive’ he’s been since the losing happened. But the honest reality — I can’t control how they perceive it — but my reality is that I never changed. So, I think by not changing, their expectation was for me to be negative. That’s what happened. And that’s the truth.”

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How did he make them feel good about themselves without it seeming like he was merely blowing sunshine up their jerseys?

The answer: Because he wasn’t.

“I think B.S is a short-term answer, man,” McCarthy said. “When you go down that road, to me, when you’re being something you’re not, it’s really a form of lying — if you ask me. And once you go down that road, in my experience of dealing with individuals that operate that way, the list gets so long, they forget the lie, they forget who they lied to.

“If your process and your approach are the same — you know what it’s supposed to look like, you know what the roles and the job descriptions of everybody involved are — and if you stay focused on that, that’s the beauty of this game. That’s what’s so awesome and that’s what I’m intrigued by. That’s coaching.”

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As far as a coach who is capable of managing men efficiently, Stubby is very capable. I may have questions regarding some of his on-the-fly decision making during games, but the day-to-day operation of the football team is in good hands with McCarthy. He's a guy who lets the players know where they stand and treats them like men. He certainly seems fair and balanced in his approach. We could do a lot worse in that regard.