[81alum]

Shaw put it, just as Bill Walsh did years before:  I am not the man in charge of enthusiasm around here.

Passionate coaches have no more effect on player's motivation than quiet ones.  If anything, a player wants to see the stoic coach crack a tiny smile or give him a little pat.  It screams "I am very proud of you."

Ask any former player.  This "coach needs to amp it up a little more" theme does not resonate with a player--at all. 

But you will find plenty of players you can name coaches they wanted to muzzle, coaches for whom they played well in spite of the rageaholic on the sideline. 

And those guys--Brian Kelly comes to mind--screw stuff up away from the cameras, too.  It's not enthusiasm in many cases; it's a pathology.

During Walsh I it was said that Walsh treated the college kids like professionals--and so I can easily see him making the comment you just outlined.  But I also seem to remember that Walsh at one point hired a sports psychologist to work with his players.  That might have been at the pro level--someone here will probably know.  Applying the latest research in behavioral psychology to his players also seems like a Walsh-like thing to do.  And so, indirectly, he did try to manage the frame-of-mind of his players.

[81alum]

Shaw put it, just as Bill Walsh did years before:  I am not the man in charge of enthusiasm around here.

Passionate coaches have no more effect on player's motivation than quiet ones.  If anything, a player wants to see the stoic coach crack a tiny smile or give him a little pat.  It screams "I am very proud of you."

Ask any former player.  This "coach needs to amp it up a little more" theme does not resonate with a player--at all. 

But you will find plenty of players you can name coaches they wanted to muzzle, coaches for whom they played well in spite of the rageaholic on the sideline. 

And those guys--Brian Kelly comes to mind--screw stuff up away from the cameras, too.  It's not enthusiasm in many cases; it's a pathology.

During Walsh I it was said that Walsh treated the college kids like professionals--and so I can easily see him making the comment you just outlined.  But I also seem to remember that Walsh at one point hired a sports psychologist to work with his players.  That might have been at the pro level--someone here will probably know.  Applying the latest research in behavioral psychology to his players also seems like a Walsh-like thing to do.  And so, indirectly, he did try to manage the frame-of-mind of his players.