This is the sign that has been hanging on the bulletin board above my
desk in the football office since the day I arrived here at Lee. For the longest time, I had no idea what the
bell represented that I was working so hard to “bring back home”. Turns out, it’s the trophy for winning the
district championship. We compete in
what is known as “the Little Southwest Conference”, which got its name because
of the ferocity of the competition and the intensity of the rivalries. Abilene High vs Abilene Cooper, Permian vs
Lee, and Lee vs Midland High are just a few examples of the battles that take place
every year in the Little Southwest Conference.
Every team in the district is competitive and there is never an easy win
on anyone’s district schedule.
So what have
we been doing to “bring the bell back home?”
Our offseason began the moment the 2014 season ended – the Lee Rebel
coaches and players alike immediately turned their attention to getting back on
track and making sure that the 2015 season would not be a repeat of 2014. Its important to remember that
here in Texas, football meets every day during the school year for the entire year. This means that when third period begins at
10:30, our kids are in the turf room (indoor practice facility), on the field,
or in the weight room lifting, conditioning, competing, doing agility and speed
work, or practicing football skills. We
lifted four times a week in phases 1 and 2, but now that we are in phase 3, we
lift 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and practice football
skills on Tuesday and Thursday. The
beauty of this for me is that as the running backs coach I get nearly 45
minutes two times a week to work on the individual skills of playing the
position – ball security, running, pass protection, run blocking, and
receiving. It is a wonderful luxury and
something I could have only dreamed of having back in Vermont. It also doesn’t hurt that we can get on the
field all year round and not have to worry about the weather.
Our work
doesn’t stop during the period however.
All of our kids are expected to workout twice a day. This means that they will do a winter, and
spring sport, or they will workout again “voluntarily” after school. The kids who play basketball and baseball
will remain in the football class and workout with the team during school,
then they will go to their practices after school. Same for anyone who is doing soccer, track,
or powerlifting. The difference is that
the basketball and baseball teams have coaches that are dedicated head coaches –
meaning that basketball and baseball are the only sports they coach. Soccer, track, and powerlifting are all
coached by football coaches doing a second sport (I’m the powerlifting head
coach). So our kids have pretty full
schedules. Here is an example:
8:00am – arrive at the football office for mandatory team breakfast
10:30am – football workout
4:15pm – workout #2 / second sport practice
6:30pm – head home
As for the
coaches, we have been working pretty hard as well. Every Monday morning we have a general staff
meeting at 6:45am, and we normally have a personnel meeting at lunch later in
the week. In addition, offensive and
defensive staff meetings at 6am began in January. Here is my schedule from this past week –
which has pretty much been the norm for the last couple of months.
|
MONDAY
|
TUESDAY
|
WEDNESDAY
|
THURSDAY
|
FRIDAY
|
|
6:45 am – staff meeting
8:30am – class
10:30am – workout
12:30pm – class
3:00pm – powerlifting
4:15pm – workout
|
6:00am – offensive staff
8:30am – class
10:30am – football practice
12:30pm – class
3:00pm – powerlifting
4:15pm - workout
|
6:00am – offensive staff
8:30am – class
10:30am – workout
12:30pm – class
3:00pm – powerlifting
4:15pm - workout
|
6:00am – offensive staff
8:30am – class
10:30am – football practice
12:30pm – class
3:00pm – powerlifting
4:15pm – Junior high track meet timer
|
8:30am – class
10:30am – football practice
11:30am – staff meeting
12:30pm – class
3:00pm – powerlifting
|
 |
| It does snow in Texas. |
