FanPost

Why Tech Football Is Like Apple


Apple is known for innovation and execution. That is how they became a market leader. It started off with two innovative college drop outs (one who can be viewed as a demanding nut job) who just saw the world differently. They developed the original Apple computer way back when and it became quite a hit.

Apple was the first company to sell $1 billion of computers to the public (dare I call them PC's) and were the darlings of the tech world until the Board of Directors decided to oust Steve Jobs (the quirky innovative, nut job one) for a more polished marketing guy who had spent time at a little old Fortune 500 company called Pepsi.

Well, that was all she wrote. Apple lost its way and for the next dozen years hired and fired three CEO's until the Board of Directors rehired Jobs on an interim basis.

Soon Apple found its mojo once again introducing the iMac, iPod, revamped laptops and desktops, iPhone, and iPad and now is the most valuable company in the world.

So the question is why couldn't these three well-respected, competent CEO's keep Apple as an innovative market leader? Because they weren't innovators. They knew have to sell stuff, make stuff, and account for it all, but they couldn't innovate. They were the wrong people for the culture of Apple and as much as they tried to change its identity, they couldn't.

I believe that same is true for Tech. Tech is known as an innovator. They fired a quirky, innovative coach and brought in there polished "sales" guy. As Apple thought that they were going to the next level with the marketing whiz from a great company, Tech hired a marketing guy with from a superior conference to do the same.

Regrettably, history is repeating itself because the new guy has no clue how to be innovative. He is a horrible culture fit. This is not to say that he is a bad coach. In fact, I think he would be an excellent coach for a traditional school.

Some place like Nebraska. Remember when Callahan tried to remake the Nebraska offense into a West Coast one? Thankfully for Nebraska Osborne came back in on a white horse as AD and reestablished Nebraska football's identity.

Auburn became a market leader by doing things the traditional way, not they innovative way. Then when he tried to change the identity of Auburn to become innovative, he got bounced out of town. Now he trying to change the identity of a innovator to become more traditional. To be fair, he uses the word "balanced", not traditional.

He will suffer the same fate as the three CEO's of Apple and Tech will suffer through several years of wading through the wilderness until another innovator is hired. (And no, as much as I love Leach ... I know he won't be back.)

Question is: Who will be our Tom Osborne?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Viva The Matadors' writers or editors.

In This FanPost

Teams

Trending Discussions