Changing the Culture Matters

[*psychdoctor*]

(02-02-2022, 03:43 PM)Au165 Wrote: I have thought a lot about this since Sunday. I usually comment more or make threads that are more X and O centric as that is what I think about when it comes to winning. For the last few years we have had people here who took every chance they could get to discredit the cultural changes that were occurring. I in some of these cases was one of those skeptics on how it would help the team actually win. No single change was a magic bullet but the sum of the pieces have definitely contributed to turning the organizational culture around.

Ownership: In hindsight we made the right pick with Zach, but how did we get there? We had a group beyond just Mike Brown that relied on Katie Blackburn, but also Duke Tobin and others who were open to finding the next big thing rather than a retread or easy choice. We went after a guy who may have been a year or two off from being ready but we weren't in a position to get the top guy when he is the top guy so they gambled on getting the top guy before he was fully baked. A lot of organizations play it safe and take the retread, we took a risk and it worked.

Coaching: Zac came in and wanted a very specific staff. Did he make some mistakes? Sure, Pollack getting away in favor of turner was a bump in the road but he learned and moved forward. His coordinator positions were often questioned but he had faith in these guys who many other didn't, and it would have been easy to sacrifice them after the first two years like most organizations but we stayed the course. Now both look to be on the road to getting HC shots in the future.

Roster Construction: This was a huge undertaking no matter what anyone wants to say. The roster when Taylor got here was not good as it was filled with aging vets and guys who frankly were to engrained in their ways to buy in to a new approach. We had to move on from many long time staples, and sometimes that was ugly, but it was the right move for the culture. The organization set out to spend in FA, but spend on players who fit both schematically and culturally. While someone like Waynes didn't pan out many of those free agents did, and even some of the bets they made in letting our good players leave to bring in replacements who on paper were arguably downgrades was a huge change. For years our motto was keep our own, but we knew our own weren't going to get it done.

Draft: It's easy to look at Burrow and end this point here because culturally speaking he is the kind of person you want on your team, but it actually goes further than that. Early on when Taylor was here there was an emphasis on drafting guys of high character, guys who were captains. Did we kill every pick? No, but what we did was built a roster of guys who you can trust to handle adversity and bounce back which we have done this year well.

Game Experience: People laughed at things like Elizabeth Blackburn coming in and improving our game day experience or our social media experience. People would quip that it wouldn't lead to wins on the field, but good engagement helps create better fans and better fans create a better home field experience as well as helps keep players in the organization. The uniforms were similar, anyone who has coached knows that players feel good when they think they look good and letting this group experience a little bit of an overhaul definitely helped energize them this year.

Ring of honor: What do names on a stadium have to do with winning? Pride in who you are and where you come from means a lot. Recognizing the past helps create a pride for the team and makes it a more desirable place to be.

People will probably come here and say most of these things have nothing to do with winning, but I'll disagree. Players are humans, and even though it's their job it doesn't mean they are going to bring the energy to perform it well everyday just because they get a check. We had that for years, even when we had success, and it didn't evolve into a true culture people wanted to be a part of long term. You hear a lot from our players, especially the free agents that have gotten here in the last two years, the culture is different and it makes this place a place people want to be. It's a team first place and a place I think we will see free agents flock to over the next couple years. Sure, Joe Burrow will be a big selling point but there is going to be a lot more to it I think when those players start talking.

Awesome post Au165.  Wanted to add, many on here did not believe Lou and Taylor were the right options to turn things around because of past performance.  But Burrow has always stated that Taylor was the right person for the Job.  Always.  

Also, I think Elizabeth changed more than just the social media and game experience, and even uniforms.  Elizabeth changed the ease to become a fan of the Bengals.  There are more Bengal fans world wide than I can remember at any other time.  Some of it is the uniforms, social media, and of course winning.  But Also, I think it brought us together as a group and family.