Freeze – A Simple Myth
It was five days before college football had started. Coaches usually only go to see their teams practice in the weeks leading up to the game. I had no idea that this week was going to be different. I went to the workout for the morning practices and they had already graduated.
There were a few players signed up who had just decided to join as well. Their parents were at the workout and the excitement was just about to hit them.
There was a big crowd at the football practice and when the coach walked up to them they all began clapping to see who this new turnover guy was. Good outclass, JT. (He has a host name. I’ll call himassian). There was a big crowd all waiting to show him and out of the corner of my eye I saw the coach shake his head and decline after the first practice of the year.
He didn’t think he was good enough. I hope that situation never happens to that guy. One of the main things you see after an injury or other situation is that people rush to identify the problem. The bane of many coach’s across the country is dealing with that pain and those parents who rush to realize there is something wrong. All hope was not enough for this coach.
The other team practiced with the one hour extra time we had before the game. When I went into the football meeting the coach addressed the team and gave everyone a little advice about the gameplan for that day.
The one thing he told them was that they would have to beat themselves up a little bit after the season in order to not improve their performance next year.
He told them that they were going to have to come out of the season with the will and desire to make a run at the conference next season. That’s a lot of lifting and a lot of self-exiting.
Some people need the extra practice time to work on things, but I understand where coaches are coming from.
Next year they might be a better team and they might have more talent. I think since they did not get the extra time next year, they may think they have to work even harder in order to get to college and get their pro deal.
So, maybe next year they will be a better team. But don’t look at next year as a barometer of what’s going to be the outcome of the coming year. Look at it as a building blocks for what will be going on in the next year.
But they have to be a better team in the next year than they were in this year. I don’t think anyone knows what is coming around the corner.
I will say this, next year’s team needs to have a different look about them. They need to be more disciplined, more disciplined, more organized and more focused on playing the game.
Without all of that, they are going to have the same old looking players on the field.
The team needs to be a work oriented team. They can do that without taking any shortcuts. Looking at the big picture, they are going to benefit from the extra practice time. They won’t be overwhelmed trying to finish a 30 carry game and have to do some teamwork stuff the same way they were operating from 20 carries a game last year.
Practice makes up about seventy per cent of what they learn. They need to figure out how they are going to fit in the new system, such as the spread offense or the no huddle. As the season goes he’ll be a lot better at adjusting and be a better player. The more he practices, the better he’ll do.
Well, it all goes back to the old saying. Two good offenses are worth ten good defenses.
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