How deep is your ocean?

I grew up on Ohio State Football. My dad was a “water boy” for the team before he graduated and went on active duty in WWII. I grew up listening to his stories and listening to Ohio State games on the radio. My mom and sister left home because talking was not an option during those ten Saturdays in the fall.

I stayed home and listened to every down, and learned every grid iron hero from Rex Kern to Archie Griffen.

I also learned the Woody Hayes mantra: we’re going to run, you have to stop us. For those of you outside of Ohio, football was simple for Woody. He scores more points than the competition, write them down on the ground.

Fast forward three decades. Still a soccer fan, he was listening to sports radio on a recent Sunday morning. One pundit lamented the glory days of 3-yards and a cloud of dust: Coaches are overcomplicating the game, he said.

So I started thinking about the game. Years ago, Dick Vermeil left the game when his 20-hour days became the norm for him. Jimmy Johnston came and went, Bill Parcells hyperventilating under a raincoat he was too superstitious to take off. As a Cleveland Brown fan, I remember Bill Belichick and his lack of humor before Patriot-gate. When did a game become a routine?

The coaches watch the game tape and strategize ad nauseam. How much game tape can a coach watch? Former NBA coach Lenny Wilkens said he only watched a game tape twice. More times than that and he said he would hate his players!

How many game day strategies can you create to move a ball down the same size field? Hour after hour after hour talking about moving that ball three yards and a cloud of dust.

Ohio State has often been #1 in college rankings. His strategy is quite simple: do a few things right. Find out how to stop us.

Now apply these two different strategies to your business. Do you keep it simple? Do you do some things well?

Or do you spend too much time strategizing and figuratively watching the game tape, replaying the losses and disappointments until you hate the players on your team and maybe yourself?

Teams that win, in any arena, do some things very, very well. They delve into some areas.

I spoke to the president of Kent State University when he was in his first few months on the job. Dr. Lester Lefton was in listening mode. He had been listening to students, professors, alumni, his hairdresser, and anyone else who had an opinion. He then he says, they will come, the difficult decisions. He says you can’t succeed in the 21st century if you’re an inch thick and a mile wide.

In other words, in my words, they will have to dig deeper.

The academy and football can look very different from the outside. Each has something in common with your business. You have to go deep in some areas to stand out. Sure you have to do everything right. But what areas can you delve into?

A freshman quarterback made a fatal mistake. He spent the few precious moments he had before he fumbled the ball, watching his own receivers and where they ran. He should have known where they would be. He needed to look at players from other teams and where they were going to be when he pointed to the field.

Do you take your eye off the ball?

What can we learn from autumn Saturdays or Sundays?