Hiding In Plain Sight

"He'll win a national championship. It's a matter of when, not if. It'll be a different team. He'll have them hitting like they've never hit before. He's the quiet storm. He'll create an intensity, a desire, a fever. Because he'll make everyone ante up. But he'll win a million battles more important than a national championship along the way. He'll change lives. He'll save lives."

The new coach told his players, at that first meeting, that he still wants his office to be their living room, still wants to help them sort out their lives. But could a head coach at this level, with all the demands on his time, have players lounging in the control room? Could he create a tunnel that large and see everything outside of it that a CEO needed to see? If he changed lives and went 8--4, would that be enough?

On the other side of Randy Shannon 's tunnel, the culture waited. The one that wanted to have its coconut cake and eat it too.