By Kathy Orton, Washington Post Staff Writer
Bailey Stresses Details As He Tries to Reverse Howard's Fortunes
Howard center Travis Harmon sat with his teammates waiting to meet Coach Carey Bailey for the first time. They were nervous and scared, wondering what their new coach would be like. Bailey walked into the room, took one look around and began to speak.
"His first words were, 'Sit up before you all make me angry,' " Harmon said. "He had our attention from then on."
Ask any Howard player to pick one word to describe Bailey, and they all will pick the same one: disciplined. Since arriving on campus in February, the 38-year-old native of Morgantown, W.Va., has brought organization and structure to the Bison. These days at Howard, you aren't on time unless you are early, and if it isn't done right the first time, it's going to be done again until it's done right.
"I consider myself a micromanager of discipline," Bailey said. "I'm just a steadfast believer that if you're a disciplined football team, then you will not allow the game to beat you, but you can beat the game."
Bailey, whose 14 years as an assistant coach have taken him to West Virginia, VMI, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee State, Oklahoma State and most recently Minnesota, is the kind of guy who eats his chicken first, then his rice, then his peas. He's not going to go back and forth between the chicken and the rice. He craves order and stability, and he's working to impart those qualities on his new team. He doesn't want to see players slouching in their chairs with their feet up. He wants them focused and attentive.
"We're going to focus on the little things," linebacker Endor Cooper said. "The little things are what separated us from being 8-3 to being what we were, 5-6."
When Bailey replaced Ray Petty, whose contract was not renewed after he went 25-30 in five seasons, he reviewed the film from Howard's games last season. What stood out most to him was how close the Bison were to being a successful team.
Take the homecoming game against Morgan State, which Howard lost 18-12. The Bison had first and goal inside the Bears 1-yard line in the second overtime. Push the ball across the goal line, and their six-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference losing streak would be over. Instead, they fumbled away the ball, which was scooped up by Morgan State and returned for a touchdown. Howard went from a confidence-boosting win to a devastating loss within moments.
"It just seemed to me that there's good players, good talent, guys were coached up well, but in terms of the little itty-bitty things, other teams were not beating them, the game was beating them," Bailey said. "You're in a drive. Things are going well. It's first and 10, and somebody jumps offside. Now it's first and 15. So rather than being second and medium or short, now you're still second and long. Defensively, a guy makes a great play, sacks the quarterback, but he has a hand on a face mask. That's a five-yard penalty. Now it's first and five. Things like that, from a self-discipline standpoint, can cost you the game."
Bailey wants to eliminate the mental lapses that prevented Howard from being among the top teams in the MEAC, but he also wants to build team cohesiveness. To that end, he encouraged the players to spend more time with one another this past summer.
"It's been a smooth transition from the coaching standpoint, but it's been a really big transition in the team," defensive back Thomas Claiborn said. "You can definitely see the difference in team chemistry. Our mind-set is different."
Bailey calls it "yarn-ball camaraderie." A single skein turns into a greater force when wound into a tight sphere.
"I tell these guys this: 'You don't play for me.' " he said. "They don't play for me. They don't play for Howard. They don't play for the [athletic director], the president or the alumni. They play for each other . . . for the guys [they] eat, sleep, live, hang out with, play Xbox with, go home for Thanksgiving with. I'm doing this for you. You're doing this for me. Together we do it for everybody. That's the mind-set you have to have to be successful."
Bailey Stresses Details As He Tries to Reverse Howard's Fortunes
Howard center Travis Harmon sat with his teammates waiting to meet Coach Carey Bailey for the first time. They were nervous and scared, wondering what their new coach would be like. Bailey walked into the room, took one look around and began to speak.
"His first words were, 'Sit up before you all make me angry,' " Harmon said. "He had our attention from then on."
Ask any Howard player to pick one word to describe Bailey, and they all will pick the same one: disciplined. Since arriving on campus in February, the 38-year-old native of Morgantown, W.Va., has brought organization and structure to the Bison. These days at Howard, you aren't on time unless you are early, and if it isn't done right the first time, it's going to be done again until it's done right.
"I consider myself a micromanager of discipline," Bailey said. "I'm just a steadfast believer that if you're a disciplined football team, then you will not allow the game to beat you, but you can beat the game."
Bailey, whose 14 years as an assistant coach have taken him to West Virginia, VMI, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee State, Oklahoma State and most recently Minnesota, is the kind of guy who eats his chicken first, then his rice, then his peas. He's not going to go back and forth between the chicken and the rice. He craves order and stability, and he's working to impart those qualities on his new team. He doesn't want to see players slouching in their chairs with their feet up. He wants them focused and attentive.
"We're going to focus on the little things," linebacker Endor Cooper said. "The little things are what separated us from being 8-3 to being what we were, 5-6."
When Bailey replaced Ray Petty, whose contract was not renewed after he went 25-30 in five seasons, he reviewed the film from Howard's games last season. What stood out most to him was how close the Bison were to being a successful team.
Take the homecoming game against Morgan State, which Howard lost 18-12. The Bison had first and goal inside the Bears 1-yard line in the second overtime. Push the ball across the goal line, and their six-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference losing streak would be over. Instead, they fumbled away the ball, which was scooped up by Morgan State and returned for a touchdown. Howard went from a confidence-boosting win to a devastating loss within moments.
"It just seemed to me that there's good players, good talent, guys were coached up well, but in terms of the little itty-bitty things, other teams were not beating them, the game was beating them," Bailey said. "You're in a drive. Things are going well. It's first and 10, and somebody jumps offside. Now it's first and 15. So rather than being second and medium or short, now you're still second and long. Defensively, a guy makes a great play, sacks the quarterback, but he has a hand on a face mask. That's a five-yard penalty. Now it's first and five. Things like that, from a self-discipline standpoint, can cost you the game."
Bailey wants to eliminate the mental lapses that prevented Howard from being among the top teams in the MEAC, but he also wants to build team cohesiveness. To that end, he encouraged the players to spend more time with one another this past summer.
"It's been a smooth transition from the coaching standpoint, but it's been a really big transition in the team," defensive back Thomas Claiborn said. "You can definitely see the difference in team chemistry. Our mind-set is different."
Bailey calls it "yarn-ball camaraderie." A single skein turns into a greater force when wound into a tight sphere.
"I tell these guys this: 'You don't play for me.' " he said. "They don't play for me. They don't play for Howard. They don't play for the [athletic director], the president or the alumni. They play for each other . . . for the guys [they] eat, sleep, live, hang out with, play Xbox with, go home for Thanksgiving with. I'm doing this for you. You're doing this for me. Together we do it for everybody. That's the mind-set you have to have to be successful."
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