Coaches cautious of the enemy within

quote:

---

Alabama's Nick Saban labels them little groups of naysayers.

If crippling cliques aren't identified and addressed before it's too late, the team's chemistry, and ultimately its performance, becomes compromised.

"We've had some teams through the years where you have these little groups of naysayers," Saban told ESPN.com. "They always want to evaluate, and I call it judge, everything and try to make it an issue, whether it was how long you practice, why are we doing conditioning today, why do we have to do this or that. They're not really fully committed and it affects other people.

"When you have those circumstances, it's really hard to have the kind of team chemistry you need to really get the best out of everybody."

---

quote:

---

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema acted boldly in the summer of 2009 while coaching at Wisconsin. The Badgers' win total had slipped from 12 in 2006 to nine in 2007 and to seven in 2008.

Bielema identified a group of seniors "who felt they were bigger than the program," showing up late to meetings and "setting bad examples" for younger teammates with their conduct. Weeks before the 2009 season, Bielema indefinitely suspended senior safeties Aubrey Pleasant and Shane Carter, who had 34 combined starts. Both players soon were kicked off the team.

Bielema didn't inform his assistants of his decision, instead calling a team meeting to relay the news.

"Everybody's looking around, they couldn’t believe it," Bielema recalled. "I remember to this day our coaches say, 'You just kicked off two of our best players on the same side of the ball at the same position.' But I never looked back and our team didn’t, either."

Wisconsin went on to win 10 games that fall before claiming three consecutive Big Ten championships. Bielema calls the dismissals "one of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made as a coach."

---

quote:

---

There are less extreme measures to handling problematic roster pockets. LSU coach Les Miles fills the walls of the Tigers' team room with reminders about chemistry and leadership.

"Our room," Miles said, "is a descriptive place that speaks to a team relationship."

LSU never goes longer than six weeks without an established unity council. Saban relies on Alabama's peer intervention leadership group, which he meets with twice per month. Saban saw how Alabama's leaders reacted to a series of off-field issues this spring, including the dismissal of Jonathan Taylor.

"They’re really pissed that some of the things have happened, so it creates a heightened awareness that people want to do things to affect it," Saban said. "Where sometimes, when everything’s going good, everybody just assumes it's going to stay that way."

---

quote:

---

Three times during preseason camp, Bielema pairs up players and asks each to research his partner. They ask a series of questions -- What's the significance of your name? What's the most important thing your ever bought with your own money? What was your most memorable high school date? -- before presenting to the team. He'll intentionally pair older players with younger players, players from different places, and, at the end, players with similar backgrounds.

When Arkansas has bowling night during camp, four-man teams cannot include players from the same state or position group.

"I make guys from different walks of life, complete opposites, sit down and share," Bielema said. "We always say, 'Break bread with somebody new ...

---

quote:

---

.... because breaking bread, it's about the food." Bielema reminds us. "Food makes the world go round. Food cures all. Food is the best thing in life. Food is a cure-all. If this team is having chemistry problems ... we eat. That's what I want to instill while I'm here. The ability to chow down when things get tough."

---

quote:

---

Saban thinks coaches can identify good chemistry and negativity on their teams before a season begins. But the real reveal usually comes in the fall.

---

quote:

---

"I think we have enough talent," Strong told FoxSports.com this spring. "It's all about when guys start believing and trusting one another. I've been on teams that were ungodly talented but we didn't go win.

"It's all about chemistry."

---