Week one…Pressure is a privilege
I read the play perfectly right from the start. The quarterback rolled left and, from my safety position, my eyes immediately locked in on the tight end drag. Hazel Park rolled the dice on fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line late in the game. The ball was thrown a bit high, but I was in position to make the play. I stepped in front of the tight end and jumped – hoping to make the game-saving interception. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the ball bounced off of my hands and bounded upwards – only to land perfectly in the Hazel Park receiver’s outstretched paws.
That touchdown led to a Week One victory for the Hazel Park Vikings in my senior year at Warren Fitzgerald High School. Needless to say, I was devastated even though I played well in every other facet of the game.
As I write this, Week One of the high school football season is on the doorsteps for teams in Michigan. For many athletes, this may be the first time they are experiencing mountainous pressure leading up to the kickoff. For coaches, no other game during the season has as much preparation time as Week One. With an entire offseason, summer camps, and the first couple weeks of practice devoted to one team, this game’s pressure is intense.
Every school wants to start the season, and the school year, with a victory. It validates every drop of sweat, every pound lifted, and every conditioning session leading up to the game. A victory puts your emotional well-being into an adrenaline-laced bliss like no other. A win catapults your program into a whole new energy level, and the smiles on each face leak well into the next week. A loss, on the other hand, challenges leadership on both the coaching staff and on the team.
After a loss, many athletes will deal with ‘armchair quarterbacks’ within their social circle. The blame-game gets thrown around like a Nerf football at a family picnic. It’s rare that family members or friends take on a philosophical angle and ask, “What can be learned?”
In reality, whether it is a joyous victory or a heart wrenching loss, that is the only question that should be asked – “What can be learned?” Veteran coaches and experienced players understand that a process must occur every time you are blessed to compete.
The two-step process is simple. 1) Watch film and evaluate your play. The best competitors are their own harshest critic. They look closely at each first step, at hand placement, at pursuit angles, and intuitively understand where changes need to occur. 2) Devise a plan to make changes and improve. It could be as simple as five minutes before and after practice to work on first steps out of your stance. A lack of a plan equates to a lack of improvement, and mistakes are likely to reoccur.
Coaches must understand that small changes allow for big improvement. The changes could be personnel or changes in a player’s position. I have witnessed coaching staffs change the entire offensive or defensive scheme after Week One, and it was rarely beneficial. The biggest improvement in a teams’ play, always occurs after Week One. This is no time to reinvent the wheel and make whole-scale changes. Coaches must preach the process, and players must take on a mature mindset and block the noise coming from the uneducated.
I describe in my book, “A Run to the River” how a Week One loss in 2007 paved the way for Marine City High School’s first State Championship. As far as my own high school senior year – that opening loss led to four straight victories before my season ended with a broken ankle. In game three, I was fortunate to collect three interceptions in the game, with a learned ‘thumbs back’ technique to prevent deflections.
‘Pressure is a privilege,’ is a phrase that superbly fits this week. No duress occurs if there is no build up of energy. The fact that you are feeling pressurization indicates that you have, in fact, invested the needed work. You have high expectations and now the rally-point of reality is in your view.
Step back and smell the fresh-cut grass or feel the bubbling heat rising from the turf. Understand how unique this opportunity is and how lucky you are to be part of the greatest team sport in America. No other team sport allows for the diversity of a 5’6” bulldog fullback and a 6’4 offensive tackle to compete at the same time, on the same team.
Look your fellow teammate or fellow coach in the eye and smile. This is your time and you must attack the game with no regrets. Continue to lead in a positive nature no matter what happens during the game. Every action on that field becomes contagious, so don’t be a negative force. If the outcome of the game doesn’t go your way, transition quickly to, “What can be learned?” Make your Week One a great memory. A memory that you and your teammates can talk about for the rest of your life.
What a privilege!