by Jason Strunk
Lubbock High School Head Football Coach
Follow @WestTXCoach
I don’t know how many consecutive days we have had good practices. I have lost count. This can only mean one thing: we are on a roll!
Attendance is there, commitment is there and the desire to be great has really reached a new gear. This group of Westerners has really galvanized since last season. They have formed a steely resolve that I haven’t seen since 2009, when I was in Plant City, Florida. That is saying a lot. That PC team had some of the toughest characters I have ever coached. They bought in to what we were doing and 2009 became a season to remember. I can feel the 2014 Westerners heading that way.
Anything we throw at these guys is met with resistance. They will not let us get to them. We have pushed them to the edge and all they have done is answer the bell. The conditioning we put them through tonight was grueling. They were tanked. Not a single person threw in the towel. They completed it together. The sense of family these kids have built shines through in everything we do.
Wednesday is the middle of the week and that means it is downhill from there. We are two days away from completing the best camp (anywhere I have ever been) that LHS has had under my watch. My gut is telling me this crew is going to knock it out of the park. They have shown a tendency to do that. Finish strong, it’s the only way to do it!
THE OKIE DRILL
We started Tuesday practice off with an oldie but goodie, the Ole Okie Drill. Two blockers, one running back vs. three defenders. It gets the competitive juices flowing. We started the day off by clacking and doing so with authority. Jacob Bayouth, 6’4″ JR Safety, was coming downhill with authority. Wow. He was bringing it. Solid player who has gotten better each day out. He stood out. But overall, the entire team was more physical. We have preached being physical and this group has brought the tenacity!
Steven Duke and Alex Orsa, two LB’s coming off a solid scrimmage, were cranking out the hits during the Okie drill. Kristian Johnson, our lock down Corner, was really letting it fly during the drill. I have a feeling our defense is going to be fun to watch this year.
Lubbock HS defensive line coach David Moody
THE DL
Our big boys up front have gotten better under the tutelage of David Moody. Affectionately know as Moods, coach Moody has about as much experience coaching as any seasoned veteran coach you can find. Moods had been at TTU (with Spike Dykes) and Rice and he even interviewed at Purdue in 1999. You won’t find a better DL coach anywhere.
Our DL is anchored by Tommy Najera, Tony Garcia and Issac Perales. They had a solid scrimmage against Coronado and will only continue to get better. There get off and pass rush is the best we have had since our arrival in 2011. I have a strong feeling David Moody has something to do with that.
ATTITUDE AND MENTAL TOUGHNESS SIGNS
We touch those signs everyday on the way out to the field and on the way back in. I feel it finally means something to these kids and they aren’t just doing it because we say so. They believe in what the signs are telling them. More importantly, they believe in what it brings to the overall well-being of the team. It’s becoming a staple of what we do.
RANDOMNESS
– I am wiped out tonight. There is no time to rest like everyone else. Rebuilding takes everything you have everyday. No rest for the weary, or so the saying goes. He need to be mentally strong to rebuild programs. You need to be disciplined and you need extreme patience. You just need to get the job done.
– The Yankees. Where to start. They are awful. Lost to the Astros tonight, who are twenty games under .500. Season is a wash.
– The song of the day today was Pantera, “Walk”. That song has way of livening of your daily outlook on life. Well, it does for m anyway.
That’s it. I’m ready to crash. This is early for me.
Till tomorrow… FIO!!!
