I just watched his Monday PC. What jumped out at me (should say continues to), is how positive he is about his players. He has something good to say about each one. The defensive line got pushed around all night. Sam said they played better than we first thought. Where improvements are needed, he says things like we got to do better at whatever while looking at the good, such and such player did this. That is perfect when dealing with young men. He does not throw them under the bus, he steps in front of the bus himself.
I think this alone accounts for a lot of the effort we are seeing from this team. They are giving their all for him.