The Turnaround – Week 2, Wednesday

gamestrat high school football sideline instant replay

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

Lubbock Head Coach Jason Strunk. Photo courtesy of AbbyReedPhotography.com

Lubbock Head Coach Jason Strunk.
Photo courtesy of AbbyReedPhotography.com

The earth was round today. The sun was out. The Yankees still stink and life was back to normal. The world was not crashing down all around us. What a great feeling!

We got our wits about us today and had a damn good practice. Yesterday wasn’t awful. Wasn’t even bad in my opinion but we expect to be perfect every day, especially coming off a loss. Things didn’t go our way yesterday but my message to the players and coaches was simple: come back tomorrow and have a great day. We did. Mission accomplished.

When you rebuild you need to stay patient and you need to be persistent. Stay the course, absorb the bumps in the road and be positive. It is an absolute must. You can never be too high of too low. Just roll with it. Hard work pays off and this group of Westerners will find that out.

Heading into Thursday practice feeling good about where we are at. The countdown to Saturday is on!

SATURDAY GAMES
I will say it. Not afraid to. Even here in Texas, I prefer Saturday afternoon sun over Friday night lights. There is something about Saturday afternoon games that brings out all the nostalgia for me and this great sport.

I had two stints coaching college ball. I loved it. Saturday’s were awesome. When I coached at Purdue, remember getting off the bus at Notre Dame Stadium in 2010. The air was crisp. You could smell the peanuts and popcorn as soon as you stepped off the bus. Thousands of people all around you yelling insults. It is just football to me.

I was a part of great season back in 2007 at Muhlenberg College. Saturday’s that season were magical. Undefeated regular season. Great atmosphere. I worked with great guys like Jeff Knarr (Head Coach at King’s College now) and Joel Sheldon. It was a great year.

So on the whole, I love Saturday football. Brings out the best in me.

THE USMC
I am very honored to have the Marines as my guests tomorrow at the weekly media luncheon. Tremendous group of guys who have built a solid relationship with our team. Very thankful for the work they put in with us.

Saturday is real important to me, for many reasons. A major reason though is the Marines will be leading us onto the field. They trained us this summer and I would like nothing more than to make these guys proud. The Marines are a huge part of what we do!

RANDOMNESS
– I was in Kindergarten twice. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
– I do not believe that auto racing is a sport. Do I participate in a sport every time I drive to work? Didn’t think so.
– I still have not received our brand new black jerseys for our home opener. Hmmmmm.
– Awesome surprise lined up for the team this Friday. Only I know what the deal is.
JD Howell, a former player of mine, comes into Lubbock tomorrow. He is a Strength Coach with the Oakland A’s. He is here for our game and will be on the sidelines with us on Saturday.

It’s early. It’s only 11:00 p.m. Still have plenty of work to do. Hopefully I can get it done by 2:00 a.m. Can’t fear the hours in this job. Just do it.

By the way… FIO. It’s all that matters. Talk to you tomorrow.

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.