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"Life is not tried, it's just merely survived when you're standing outside the fire."

I had said that the Garth Brook's song "Standing Outside the Fire" was on my mind last week. Well, we definitely found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a fire this past Friday night. First impressions were the fact that we did not appear to play very well defensively, but in terms of the concerns we had last week with the play of our defensive line, especially the ends, those kids played very well. A lot of uneducated fans would think that ends are responsible for contain, but in our scheme they are responsible for off-tackle and "squeezing" the inside run down. Our ends did a great job of that Friday. Our linebackers were responsible for QB to pitch which would appear to not have been done well. They were in position in a lot of situations and missed some open field tackles. I would say after having the advantage of watching the film the biggest thing that we need to improve on this week is our tackling. Offensively we had some critical turnovers. So, fundamentally we need to really work on ball security. Offensively, my two biggest concerns were answered and I must admit it was a very resounding answer. Our sophomore center after some early jitters did a great job. He will probably not play against a bigger, or stronger nose tackle all season. Galesburg's kid was a three year starter and went about 250 lbs. Our kid got his world rocked pretty good a couple of times but delivered every shotgun snap with accuracy and good zip that is so critical to the timing of our offense. The second concern would be the play and confidence of our QB. He far surpassed expectations. His first varsity TD pass was a great check off of the primary receiver to a kid who was not accounted for by the defense. It was a truly great read! I would say that this should help his confidence and hopefully carry him into our conference opener with a very good Morton team this week. The biggest thing that I am most pleased with about this win though is the way that our entire team competed. Not one man ever quit all night. We truly got every ounce of effort from all of our players and anybody that was called on gave it every bit. It was a great team win. Sure there were the typical opening game mistakes of silly procedure penalties, fumbles, communication breakdowns, etc., but because of the way the kids competed we pulled out a W. Even when Galesburg tied us late and even went ahead in the OT our kids had a business-like attitude on the sideline. That attitude helped to deliver a win! Personally, I was disappointed in myself in the way I handled the end of the half and the end of regulation. We should have gotten some type of points at the end of the first half. I probably should not have gone to throwing quite so soon down there with 2 TO's. Just got us in a little better FG position. The end of regulation we should have run the clock down to 3 seconds before attempting the FG at the end. Especially the way the Galesburg QB was running wild all night. Sure enough they ran an option with him trying to get him into the open field. Our kids came through and got us to OT. I am sure that a lot of "bleacher jockeys" were wondering why we called the TO before we attempted the game winning PAT. Number 1 we had two FG's blocked previously in the game, so we wanted to assure that we were squared away with our protection. Secondly, in the excitement of scoring the tying TD we had kids running all over the place. A kid who should have been in on the PAT team was standing right next to me. So, I knew that was not good. I truly was not concerned that calling the TO would "ice" our sophomore kicker. I feel the exact opposite with high school kids. Sometimes they need a second to compose and get their thoughts together. We protected well and our snapper, holder and kicker delivered. The icing thing is what people learn from watching ESPN and the NFL and at that level it might work. So, it's what you and your kids believe. This group I truly believe, more so than a lot of kids that we have had in the past, believes and we are off to a positive start. Tomorrow though the cycle starts anew with the start of our preparations for Morton.

Labor Day Weekend

There is nothing like a three day weekend at the start of our season. It is great with the start of the college football season. I was able to go and watch my son play baseball Saturday afternoon after reviewing films and "shaking" the kids out. I even got to cook on the grill Saturday night!
This afternoon though I have to do some film work and practice planning to get ready for the Potters. Side note; Trevor Lehnen, Morton's new coach was a wide receiver for us when I coached at MacMurray College back in the "80's. Man, am I getting old!!! This Morton game always makes me old. Every year this game comes down to the last tick of the clock. So, I am sure this will be no different than the Galesburg game. That's why I tell a lot of people, I honestly do not enjoy the games. They drive me up a wall!!! I love the challenge of preparation, but the games absolutely "kill" me! The coaches will meet tomorrow morning before 9:00am practice so that they can spend Sunday evening with their families. I think I will even take my wife to the movies and have a date Sunday night.
Another thing that I am looking forward to tomorrow is going up to our JFL field and having a pork chop for lunch and watching some of their annual Jamboree. It's always a big deal for the kids and I enjoy seeing all the kids and their coaches and parents. It sure is a lot more fun to see them when you are 1-0!

Game Week

It's hard to believe, but even at 50 years old this week brings a certain amount of excitement for me. The biggest thing is I am anxious, as always to find out how this team will perform. Galesburg is a very tough test for us. They have been down over the last few years, but they always have very fast and physical teams. Coach Olson does a tremendous job. They run the triple option which puts an incredible amount of pressure on our defensive front. After watching our scrimmage from Friday, we are extremely concerned with the play of our defensive ends. There was too much undisciplined play in terms of gap responsibility and over pursuit. This problem can be corrected, but they will really have to be drilled this week and "coached" up, or it could be a rough night. I thought overall that the scrimmage went well. It had it's usual silly penalties, but that is why we do that kind of stuff to get it out of our systems, hopefully. Hopefully the concerns that we are worried about will be solved and we will have a great night. It always seems like the first game is when the August weather returns and the forcast that I saw earlier in the weekend showed 90 degrees on Friday so that seems to be coming to fruition. As always the huge factor in a first game of the season will be the elimination of mistakes. The team that has the least penalties, critical turnovers, etc. will come out on top. I can't wait to find out who that might be.

How this all got started

This blog started out as a project for one of my technology classes this summer. I had no idea that it could be found. I did not release it to search engines until it appeared in both local Peoria newspapers. I just thought that it might be a neat way to log the year and go back and review things after it was all over. I had no idea that somebody could even find it. So, I will continue to write, but only certain people are invited to post and reply. If I opened it to all those genius critics out there we would have a mess. They have plenty of other places to impress people with their knowledge.

Things I am worried about

A couple of things beside the obvious performance of our football team. I hope that I will get to see one of my son's baseball games this week. He is a "ham and egger" to put it best. I will never be one to brag about his Baseball ability. The poor kid don't have a chance with the genes that his dad gave him! I just hope he loves the game, respects his team mates and coaches, and loves them for the place that they occupy in his life. I miss my family this time of the year. I'm home right now, but I have been working in the basement. The coaches left about an hour ago. I will get up and out of the house tomorrow morning around 5:30am, so I don't get much opportunity to spend time with them. A great time I had this week happened on Friday right after school. The buses had left, and because of the scrimmage being at 7:00, I did not have practice I got to sit with my daughter in front of the middle school while she waited for her mom to whisk her off to gymnastics practice. Even though it was 10 minutes it is time I cherish. I truly neglected the attention that I should have given them when they were so young and I realize that I can't get that back. I truly do enjoy those little moments that I can spend with them now. Holy smokes, I'll be sitting out in front of her dorm in just over four years.

Song on my mind this week: Garth Brooks "Standing Outside the Fire"

Let's play ball!!!

School Days

Tomorrow morning will be a whole new experience for me. Approximately 370 students will show up at Dunlap Middle School ready, well maybe, to go. The first day of school is always kind of emotional. You see kids that you are truly excited to see again and you really enjoy working with. Then, of course, there are a few that you may not be so excited to welcome back. Regardless, you need to take the approach that everyone of them is there to learn and it is truly a humbling experience to realize how many young people that you have an influence on. I really think that our culture now forgets that we have to teach more values, kindness, respect, etc. It seems to me that those kind of things have been lost in a "me-me" world. If simple things were taught, not just by schools, not just by parents, it would be a much better place. We as adults need to take the time to realize that we have that kind of power over young people. Thus, it really does take a village to raise kids and I am not a Hillary Clinton supporter!!! I am sure that I will help with hundreds of combination locks and directions for young people finding their way through a huge new building. I will certainly need to remember that many of the kids that I encounter tomorrow I may have a huge impact on, and it may come from a first impression. I may find myself getting teared up when I encounter a 6th grader struggling with their locker. Those kind of things get to a big old football coach today because some 40 years ago that was me!!! I just hope that I can enlighten a younger one on their path to adulthood.

Tomorrow our middle school baseball and softball teams both have games at 4:00. This will be my first experience as AD and being across the parking lot at practice with our team and still worrying about little things like if the umpires show up. So, that will add to my stress level. We just have single practices now. The kids don't mind this but it is a concern of mine that 4 days were not enough. I think it helps that we accomplished alot over the summer, but I can be nervous about something can't I? This Friday marks our Maroon & Gold game. It is a decent chance for our kids to have a "dress rehearsal" before our opener on the 29th. It started as a simple scrimmage but has blown into a big community event. All fall sports teams play, or are introduced. The band plays. I guess if all this helps increase the attendance I am all for it!!! Really I do feel that our kids deserve the attention. Speaking of attention it was a really neat deal yesterday when our parents were tucked away around the corner of the building near our practice field and greeted the kids with a nice round of applause as they came off the field. The coaches and I kind of snuck through the middle school and avoided the "hoopla". It was not that it was not appreciated but this is truly the kids deal and we are just kind of getting them organized. I hope!!! We also will exchange game film with Galesburg tomorrow evening after practice and start preparation for them. It is truly time and I love it.

Great Weather

It's always amazing to me every year how the weather seems to magically break for football practice. It truly does not get better than 80 degree weather in August! The problem with the nice weather is that usually by the time the first games roll around the weather is well back into the 90's and everyone struggles. We had 104 hit the field yesterday and that is significantly more than the last few years. Great numbers in the underclass teams. (40 sophs and 30 frosh!) The first two days went well. Day 2 was more of a struggle. It was a pretty typical day 2 in the fact that the kids were feeling pretty sorry for themselves and struggled through the afternoon practice. They need to realize that every football player in America is doing the same thing and they are just as tired and sore as our kids are. Tomorrow teachers start school. It has been interesting to say the least in juggling my new middle school responsibilities with the coaching. I have a great boss. Jon Hill and old football coach, well Jon is 16 years younger than I am but he used to coach that makes him an "old" coach. He has certainly picked up the slack around school in my absence to do what I love to do. As I type this I am getting ready to meet Jon up at school and get the building ready for teachers tomorrow. My family is coming to help. How great is that? That's why I don't think people understand how special coaches families are and the various ways that they manage to spend time together as a family. In addition to all this I had to have a tooth pulled this afternoon. Can't wait for the Novocaine to wear off on that!!!! Looking forward to what tomorrow brings and Saturday we pad up!!!!

Tomorrow We Crank it Up!!!

Tomorrow things get going. This will be the 29th year that I have started a camp whether it be in high school, or college coaching. Every year one always wonders at this time if everything is taken care of, or not. I think we are ready. Yesterday we had 72 Soph-Seniors pick up gear. We will have freshman this evening and anticipate having at least 30 kids at that level. That is good because we should hit the magic 100 mark. It has been over 5 years since we have had those strong of numbers. The forecast is calling for rain tomorrow and that can always wreak havoc with the practice schedule. As long as the lightening and excessive heat stays away we should be alright. Hope always springs eternal on this first day, but like I have said all summer long I think this could be an extremely fun year.