Talent and Coaching

My Washington Huskies fell to 6-5 on the year last night after losing to the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder. On paper, this is a game that we had no business of losing but has unfortunately been the trend this year with brutal losses to Cal, Stanford, and Colorado.

We are undoubtedly much more talented than Colorado with a quarterback that will be drafted in the first round as well as NFL talent surrounding him. It’s hard to see more than a couple Colorado players ending up in the NFL in the next few years.

This year has been the worst year for a Christ Petersen led team by far. We’ve wasted a lot of talent that will play at the next level and the blame solely falls on the coaches. Yes, execution is a large part of it and maybe the players this year are missing the “it” factor, but a team this talented losing 5 games including 3 to much inferior opponents falls squarely on the coaching and recruiting misses.

Just like in football as in business, all the talent in the world without the teamwork and leadership does not often lead to success. Superior talent can masks large holes and deficiencies, but eventually will be exposed.

It’s a harsh lesson and reality that I want to always remind myself as I help build out Secfi. In many cases, training, culture, and leadership will outweigh pure talent and intelligence.

Just like last night when a team full of 4* and 5* recruits couldn’t beat a team full of 2* and 3* recruits, a team of the smartest people in the world with poor guidance cannot beat a high performing team with tremendous leadership.