Mark WiedmerOn-the-job training.
Those four words perfectly sum up what Matt McCall is experiencing these days in his second season as men's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Suddenly, sadly - at least for Mocs Maniacs everywhere - this highly anticipated UTC season is no longer about only wins and losses, a part of the job McCall proved he was pretty good at last season, when he guided the program to 29 victories and its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2009.
Instead, it has become about what did or didn't happen in the UTC locker room during and after Saturday's loss to Mercer in the home finale. It's about tweets and rumors and egos and the pressure a senior class may be feeling regarding its final season of college hoops coming to an end. It's about what's really behind those four straight losses the Mocs have suffered heading into this week's Southern Conference tournament in Asheville, N.C.
"I've learned more this year than last year," McCall said Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the fourth-seeded Mocs (19-11) were to board a bus to Asheville, N.C., to begin preparation for Saturday's tournament quarterfinal against fifth-seeded Wofford (15-16).
"I've probably talked to Billy about 19 times over the past two weeks."
Billy, of course, is Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan - McCall's mentor from their time together at the University of Florida, where McCall wore all matter of hats for Billy D from 2011 to 2015. Donovan guided the Gators to back-to-back national championships (2006 and 2007) plus two other Final Fours (2000 and 2014) before jumping to the NBA before the 2015-16 season.
While McCall may not do everything Donovan did or advises him to do now, one thing he learned will never change as he runs his own program.
"You lose your locker room when you don't fight for your culture," McCall said. "We're still trying to establish that culture here, but we're fighting for it every day."
That culture is all about teamwork, togetherness, unselfishness, character and how you present yourself to the public.
When a frustrated and angry Tre' McLean stormed from the bench to the locker room during Saturday's loss to Mercer, reportedly pulling off his jersey at one point before returning to the bench later in the second half, the image for that culture took a hit. McCall hit back by suspending McLean indefinitely.
When or if the senior will be allowed to return depends on whether or not he meets McCall's terms for reinstatement, which won't be found on social media. In fact, in the wake of this incident and others, McCall has instituted a strict social media policy for the team, including himself, assistants, trainers and managers.
"Did we have a policy about what you could tweet? No," McCall said in response to a reporter's question. "Will there be one going forward? No question. Going forward, there is a social media policy that will be in place."
Sounding like every coach, experienced or otherwise, McCall said what bothers him most is "when things transpire in the locker room that leave the locker room." Exactly what happened in that locker room in recent days and weeks is unclear to the public and should probably remain that way, other than one fact McCall made clear.
"There was no fight," he said.
Exactly what McLean must do to return to the program's good graces should also remain a private matter. Just because social media allows for the invasion of privacy like never before doesn't mean that's a good thing. But McCall coming to grips with at least some of what ails this team is a very good thing for the coach, these Mocs and those who will follow them in the years to come.
"When Casey (Jones) went down last year (with an ankle injury), we had zero expectations," McCall said of the stupendous 2015-16 season. "We had no adversity last year."
But this season was different from the start. The Mocs were prohibitive favorites to repeat as SoCon champs. Then senior Chuck Ester was lost for the season before it began, done in by a knee injury. For those close to the program, Ester was that silent assassin who quietly did hugely important work on both ends of the court.
As McCall noted Wednesday, "Greg Pryor was the MVP of (last year's) Southern Conference tournament, but we don't win it without Chuck Ester."
And even though this season began with a stunning victory at Tennessee, McCall felt almost from the beginning that something wasn't right.
"It's something I was kind of concerned about all year," he said. "I spend three times as much time with these players as I do my own daughters. Winning covers it up. But (if something's wrong), it always ends up popping back up."
Much of what "it" is may be something that seems to be happening to many people in this country, in all walks of life - a sense of entitlement. Having proven to the world a year ago they were better than anyone gave them credit for, the Mocs returned this season without that same edge.
"What made this team good is the chip we've had on our shoulder," McCall said. "Where's that chip now? In order to win, we've got to have that chip. Players, coaches, everybody."
Maybe they will. Maybe they won't.
But offering a phrase of hope that's universal this time of year for college basketball fans, players and coaches alike - and one that's been around a lot longer than social media - McCall noted the one certainty of conference tournament basketball: "Anything can happen in three games over three days."
And one of those things could have all of the Mocs - coaches, players and staff - tweeting one six-letter word: repeat.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.