The East Valley Tribune reports today that a sports psychologist worked with some team members, including Carpenter, during the bye week.
Among those to take their stab at figuring out Carpenter in the last two weeks was a sports psychologist. The man, who went unidentified, worked with several Sun Devils over the bye week.Though coach Dirk Koetter declined to comment on the man’s presence last week, he shed some light on his purpose this week.
“You’re always looking for the right thing,” he said. “It’s different for every guy, because every guy is motivated differently. We’ve done several things with Rudy. . . .
“Rudy has gone through a rough stretch, but the things are all fixable. Some of it is mental, and I’m not an expert on that. We’ve brought in someone who is an expert on that, and hopefully, he can help Rudy and some other people on our team.”
It’s reassuring to hear that Koetter’s taking proactive steps in this direction. While I don’t fault him for not being a “rah-rah-type” coach—hey, not everyone is, and there are plenty of successful coaches who aren’t—I do want to know that he’s concerned about his team’s psychological and emotional status and taking steps to get it fixed.
Let’s hope tht the bye week off, this sports psychologist’s work, and a trip back home to get re-energized about the game of football will help Rudy get back to the form he ended last season in—and quickly.
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