Remember The Titans Situational Leadership

Rebecca Jamison

Cinematic Case Study

Remember the Titans

In 1971, U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that ended segregation in public schools. This was the same year the T.C. Williams High located in Alexander, Virginia merged, making the school a racially integrated. the movie Remember the Titans, starring Denzel Washington who portrays Herman Boone the head coach of the Titans.

Herman Boone is brought in as an assistant coach to join the all-white coaching staff. When Herman Boone is appointed head coach over a winning white coach he is reluctant to accept because the same things had happened to him when a white coach had been appointed over him in South Carolina. He finally accepts the head coach position when he sees that the black residents

see him as a symbol of pride and respect that is lacking in their community.
The movie starts with a riot after a white storeowner kills a black teenager. This incident underscores the racial tensions that exist because of the desegregation of the high school. Before Coach Boone could think about winning he had to overcome prevailing prejudice attitudes. Strong Leadership was needed by the Coach Boone must overcome the racism within the team, the coaching staff, and the community to build a winning racially mixed football team.
According to Hersey’s Situational Leadership model which explains why leadership effectiveness varies across task behaviors and relationship behaviors.

Having certain combinations of task and relationship behaviors may be more effective in some situations than others (Hughes, 586) There are 4 quadrants in which the SLT are used. Delegating, Participating, Selling, and Telling. Hershey and Blanchard model, the type of leadership that is appropriate for any given situation is driven by follower readiness or development. Readiness is based on two factors: ability, meaning the follower has the necessary knowledge, skill, and experience and willingness, or confidence, commitment, and motivation (Hughes, 587). Telling and Selling are geared more towards the task that needs to be completed and Delegating and Participating are about the Team and their personal

developments.
The model by Hershey and Blanchard matches up each follower readiness level with an appropriate leadership style. R1 means that the followers are low on confidence and low on ability. This calls for leadership style S1, which is comparable to a dictator, and involves the coach providing specific instructions and closely supervising performance. S1 falls on the spectrum that is high on task behavior but low on relationship behavior. R2 is follower level where the followers are still low in ability, but they are high in willingness. S2 is the leadership style to go along with R2 and is high on task and high on relationships. The leader, in this case, explains decisions and provides opportunity for clarification. R3 (high on ability, low on willingness) matches up with S3 (low task, and high relationship) which is a supportive leadership style. The leader shares ideas and facilitates in decision making process. The final level is R4 (high ability, high willingness) and the final leadership style is S4. In S4, the leader turns over responsibility for decisions and implementation (Hughes,587.)
In the movie we have four primary leaders:
· Herman Boone, the black head coach
· Bill Yoast, the white assistant coach
· Gerry Bertier, the white unofficial leader of the White athletes
· Julius Campbell, the black unofficial leader of the black athletes
Coach Boone during the movie had moved through the Situational Leadership Model from the very beginning of the movie. As he faced the challenges of desegregation he made it clear to the community and the team in which he was coaching who was in charge. He used the statement, “this is a dictatorship, not a democracy.” He clearly establishes himself and sets the tone for what he expects from his team members (Remember the Titans, 11:15). Coach Yoast then walks in with the white athletes and the whole team meets for the very first time (Remember the Titans, 13:25). Coach Boone is in the S1 stage here as he puts two players in their place in front of the rest of team and their families when he was approached about how to run the team.
Coach Yoast on the other hand is in the S2 stage, I believe this to be true because he has an established relationship with players and their families in their community, he used his already established leadership to his advantage when explaining what is going on without being a complete Authoritarian.
As the team leaves for training camp, they’re in the storming phase.

There are multiple instances of hostility and tension between the black and white players. Arguments over who gets which bed and what posters to hang on walls eventually gives way to a fist fight between Gary (the white captain) and Julius (the black team leader) who were assigned to room together (Remember the Titans, 19:10). As practice gets underway, there is constant conflict between teammates and coaches alike. Yoast makes it obvious that he doesn’t always agree with what Boone is doing by his facial expressions and his tone of voice. At one point, Yoast talks to Boone about letting the boys have some fun and Boone is not willing to hear any new ideas (Remember the Titans,

23:20).
During the storming stage Coach Boone assigns the task to the players of getting to know each other and reporting back what they have learned, this helped bring the team to the R2 stage. (Remember the Titans, 26:00)
Coach Yoast is phasing to S3 and S2when as he is encouraging to the team in practice but at this point Coach Boone is still in S1 phase. He makes it clear to the team that he is in charge and leaves no room for change or suggestions. (Remember the Titans, 27:50.)
Coach Boone wakes the team up early one morning to take them on a grueling run to the Battlefield of Gettysburg. During the run team members are seen encouraging and supporting one another to keep moving and by the time they’re finished with the run, they’re too tired to fight with one another. (Remember the Titans, 31:00.) Julius and Gerry, come together at the end of an intense practice when Gerry calls out a white teammate for not blocking for a black quarter-back (Remember the Titans, 35:00.) This shows more evidence of the team phasing into the norming stage.

More evidence of norming is clear when Gary calls out a white teammate for not blocking for a black quarterback (Remember the Titans, 34:45). Julius and Gary, the two leaders who were constantly at odds with each other, come together at the end of a grueling practice to show team spirit and camaraderie. At this point, roles are clear, and the team is sorting out what it stands for. The players start to come together and there is a comfort level that never existed. The team is seen cheering, encouraging, and pumping each other up (Remember the Titans, 36:00), they joke around and sing with each other in the locker room (Remember the Titans, 38:05), and they sit at mixed tables in the dining hall. When they leave camp after two weeks, they are feeling good and have clearly come a long way since they left. The team progresses into R3, they were demonstrating togetherness as they got along and played together, but once they leave camp their confidence is shaken by the racial tension they encounter in their school. Coach Boone also progresses in his leadership style to S2. The relationships with his players and coaches start to develop (Remember the Titans, 58:30) and he becomes more of a coach than a dictator. Coach Yoast is at S3 at this point. His relationship behavior is high, as evidenced when he convinces a player to play defense for him after Boone had reprimanded him (Remember the Titans, 51:00). The team shows reflection of the two coaches being on the same level.
The team moves into the R4 stage as they continue to win football games. They developed an interesting and unique warm up style that sets them apart from other teams and The Titans win the state Championship. Gerry kicks of a teammate for not doing his job on the field (Remember the Titans, 1:12:25.)
+Coach Boone never really leaves the R2 stage, but he is needed right there. Coach Yoast and Coach Boone collaborating on and off the field to better the community and the team has shown tremendous impact, as it did when Gerry and Julius came together. The odds were against all of them when they started out but with a little change, leadership styles, and determination, the team, coaches and community were able to come out on top.

References:

Bruckheimer, J. & Yakin, B. (2000). Remember the Titans. United States: Disney.

Hughes, Richard L., et al. Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2009.