The Turnaround – Week 1 of Spring Ball

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

Lubbock High School football helmetThe first week of spring ball is in the books!

It’s been a lot of fun. The nice thing is there is no tempo. We are evaluating and putting kids in positions to see what they can do. We are coaching and making sure we are getting the staples perfected. Our focus is rep, rep and more reps. However, we aren’t repping to just to rep. I want 20 GOOD reps as opposed to 100 reps that aren’t good.

I’m one of the guys that got caught up in the “tempo” buzz. Never again. Most overrated term in football today. I’m never going to allow that to happen again. We are going to play smart, efficient football. Move at the pace that dictates success for us, that is the focus.

So far, it’s been good. It will get better as we move forward. We have some great kids on this team.

Shaping up to be a fun year!

THE PURPOSE OF SPRING BALL
Here is why we are doing spring ball. It isn’t groundbreaking info here. It’s just why we do it.

5. It’s a nice way to wrap up the year. It breaks of weight training and gives us a shot of energy before we hit summer training.

4. We have 17 starters returning, 10 of which were Sophomores last year. Getting these guys 18 more practices before we start in August was critical to me.

3. We wanted to look at different kids in different spots. We are experimenting with a lot of different things. We are going to be playing some smash mouth football, the kind of football Chuck Bednarik would be proud of.

2. I wanted to do spring ball. Can you argue with that reason?

1. Installing a new offense and defense. We have a major overhaul underway. We needed as many practices as we could get. It’s exciting. We will look like a completely different offense and defense next year.

That’s it. It’s why we are doing it.

RANDOMNESS
– A-Rod hit 661. Passed Willie. I wonder if A-Rod hit all his homers off Tom Brady? The worlds two biggest conspirators. So I think it’s time the media and fans just shut up. Move on. Gaylord Perry doctored baseballs his whole career. Lester Hayes had more stickum on him then Clark Griswald in Christmas Vacation. Cheating has been a part of sports since they began. Fans and media act all shaken and rattled when someone cheats. Give it a rest. Gaining an edge is part of the culture of sports whether you like it or not.
Bill Simmons, otherwise known as the Sports Guy, has been canned. Breaks my heart. This guy is a putz. Another know-it-all, who never coached a moment in his life. Hopefully, Skip Bayless is next.
-When will people on the high school sports landscape realize how important nutrition is? To me, nutrition is just as important as the helmets the kids wear. We need to change the culture in the approach to nutrition on the high school level.
-Red Sox fired their pitching coach. Didn’t even know they had pitching, let alone a coach for it.
Neal Tull eats insects and is afraid of spiders.
Nate Jephcott wears Spider-Man pajamas to bed every night.
Jinks White coached in the first football game ever played. It was a pick up game after he and George Washington crossed the Delaware together.

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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.