The Turnaround – Final Week of Camp

gamestrat high school football sideline instant replay

by Jason Strunk
Lubbock High School Head Football Coach
Follow @WestTXCoach

It has come fast and it has gone by just as fast. The final week of camp is upon us! Time to get crazy!

The message to the team today, Monday, August 18th was this: You had a good scrimmage; you cannot be satisfied with good. You need to be great this week. Never let up! After the practice we had today, the message was fully received!

Wow! What a great day at Chapman! It was a crisp practice, full of energy, improvement and the desire to be great! This team continues to answer the bell every day. We have had one mediocre practice in three weeks. Not bad. They have been consistent and that is a huge step in the right direction.

I need to throw this out there: My coaching staff has done an outstanding job! We haven’t played a game yet but these guys are doing a fantastic jobs. The kids have bought in. They can tell if coaches are all in or all out. Don’t think for one second kids can’t spot a phony. They can see it. Luckily, they see our staff as all in and ready to go. Such a great atmosphere right now. The staff is a major reason for that.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS PART TWO
Once a gain the community has rallied behind the Westerners. A big thank you to Jordan Perry for making the team muffins. They love them. You need to get the community involved anyway you can. We are finding ways and our kids can see it. It’s a big bonus for us.

THE BIG GUYS. WITH HANDS?
My two minute period, which I call the sudden chance period, was used for a little fun. I had the whole team circle up around six blocking bags. I laid them flat on the ground, side by side. I called the OL/DL out and had them line up behind the bags. Once I blew the whistle, I threw a ball out in front of them and they had to make a diving catch. For every drop the rest of the team had to do an up down.

This was a lot of fun. We did it right in the middle of the practice. It was a good change up. Big Tony Garcia, our 330lb and 600lb squatter, had the team going! He got them pumped up. Be flashed some great hands. I ended the drill with RB coach Adam Rosales laying our for a catch. He caught and spared the whole team twenty up downs.

Football is fun. Have fun. Build relationships. It’s a necessity!

ON DECK
We have a slightly shorter practice tomorrow. We gradually get shorter as the week goes on. Shallowater scrimmage is on Friday. Exciting days lie ahead.

HARD WORK PAYS OFF
Safety Tristan Warren is one of the hardest working kids on the team. He had a great off season. It carried over onto the field on Friday night against Coronado. He picked off a pass and was involved in several tackles. Great start for him. The power of hard work!

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JAMES GARCIA
Our QB can use his feet. Very versatile. Very elusive. In honor of that, our conditioning circuit tonight was called A Day in the Life of James Garcia. I had barrels staggered over fifty yards. They weaved in and out of them, practically going sideline to sideline and then finally into the end zone. They had a first hand look at how exhausting it can be to be a QB who moves around like that. Mission accomplished!

RANDOMNESS
– The Yankees were off tonight; surprised they didn’t lose on their off day.
– I am a Pittsburgh Penguin fan. Hockey is football on ice. Watch it.
– Coach Neal Tull eats hummus.
– Johnny Manziel. I’m going write something. It’s a must.
– Remember, life is what you make of it.

All done. It’s like 3:00 a.m. I’m a night owl. Blogging before I go to sleep. Total relaxation mode right now. Can’t buy this inner-peace.

….. FIO.

No More Fumbles

Play Football

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About the Author

Jeff Fisher
Jeff is an award-winning journalist and expert in the field of high school sports, underscored with his appearance on CNBC in 2010 to talk about the big business of high school football in America.Jeff turned to his passion for high school football into an entrepreneurial venture called High School Football America, a digital media company focused on producing original high school sports content for radio, television and the internet.Jeff is co-founder and editor-in-chief of High School Football America, a partner with NFL Play Football.