it took me six d1 seasons to get my first d1 NT game win (making the 2nd round), so even for elite coaches, things take time. i didn't make it past the s16 anywhere for over a year and a few months, playing multiple teams. you've got to walk before you run! i remember my first really good team, we got the 2nd 1 seed in my 5th season, and we lost in the 2nd round to a -5 slowdown. i was crushed, but it was good - gave me motivation to keep pushing to be better. i think if i got lucky and won my first title quickly, i wouldnt have been motivated to work so fricken hard at understanding the sim engine, so i could win more. to this day, i think the best thing for my coaching career was that my first couple good teams got bad luck in the NT, which made me want it that much more. so it definitely can cut both ways, its not only a bad thing to get a slower start than you'd hope.
ill also mention that one of the most fun teams i had in 3 years, i coached for a little under a year, playing sets i didnt know, and we sucked most of the time. in my last season, id finally figured it out, and got to the elite 8. we might have made rd2 before than but maybe it was nothing. i loved that team. i had a team win a title around the same time but i didnt give two ***** about that team. there is a lot more to this game than winning championships! a lot of great coaches forgo titles to take on a challenge of rebuilding a mid major conference, or to try something they dont know - maybe if you are a killer motion/man coach, you pick up a fb/zone team. the total # of titles coaches have won is really not a very consistent reflection of how good of coaches they are. there are coaches who never played more than 1 team, who have 0, 1, or 2 titles - but they really are better coaches than some guys who played 3- 4 teams for a longer period and maybe have 3-5 titles. there are coaches who get in tough situations and do everything they can do try to win there, even though they could EASILY go somewhere with fewer challenges, and probably would win a title or two instead of 0 in that really tough spot. context is everything, some titles come 10 times easier than others. those guys playing in the ball buster d3 wooden titles could win a hell of a lot easier going somewhere else, but they don't. girt could have more titles by now, but instead he went on a mission to rebuild CUSA in rupp, leading a great group of coaching on the effort, every one of which would have a HELL of a lot better chance of winning a title elsewhere (many of whom are winning titles elsewhere, that is a killer bunch). but they don't go, and hopefully, those guys are having more fun this way.
so, some coaches will focus on winning titles, others on just having fun - my guess is the latter group is the one who has more fun. i focused only on winning titles for my first couple years, and it basically ruined the game for me, i only stuck around because i enjoyed the HD community so much, but i grew to hate playing the game. so, i would highly recommend to anyone, have fun with it, and dont worry about what some guy on the forums, who never played with you, thinks of your coaching abilities. just have fun with it, keep trying new things and keeping things fresh. if you get too focused on winning, you can lose a lot of the fun of the game. i am not saying not to care about winning, everyone cares, and it always stings when a good team underachieves. but if that is all you care about, losing early in the NT can ruin the whole experience, and its bad to let it get that far. take pride in the small steps along the way, and just enjoy each player you fall in love with, enjoy the teams and conferences you fall in love with, thats the way to do it.
1/3/2013 3:13 PM (edited)