The Turnaround: Preparation begins for Andrews HS

Lubbock High SchoolLubbock Westerners begin their prep for Andrew this Thursday.
gamestrat high school football sideline instant replay

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

Lubbock High School

Lubbock DC Nate Gensler goes threw defensive game plan install Monday.

The Westerners are bouncing back.  We had a good Saturday and a very productive Monday.

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Lubbock lost three key starters in Friday loss. Monday they watched practice and began the healing process.

We started the day off today with a 7:30am defensive game plan install.  The defensive staff is doing great things.  They were up bright and early “stealing” time today.  It is a short week, as we play on Thursday night.  Time is of the essence right now.

After school we had an offensive meeting and then hit the field for practice.  We went a little longer tonight, again, a product of a short week.  We wrapped up our day with a weight workout.

Lubbock Westerners

Lubbock High School weight room.

We were dodging rain and lightning today.  It sounds like that kind of weather will be here all week. So we are going to have to adjust.  Bring on the adversity.  We can deal with it!

Happy for Happy

On Friday night we had a WR do some really good things.  Check that; great things!

Happy Martinez, all 140lbs of him, hauled in 11 catches for 126 yards.  Talk about a great way to start a season!  He was catching balls and breaking tackles.  He was playing like he was 210lbs.  It was a great effort.

So yeah, I’m happy for Happy!  Hard-working senior who doesn’t care how big he is.  He just plays ball!

Mental Health Tip

I read a total of 23 quotes, from different head coaches in four different states, who complained about their win on Friday night.

I’m going to say this: I will never complain, ever again, about winning ugly.  As a coach, I have had good success as a head coach and assistant coach.  Lots of playoff appearances, Coach of the Year accolades etc.  Winning, it seemed, was easy.  Coming to LHS and trying to rebuild this program has been a daunting task.  It has truly taught to me appreciate every win, no matter how ugly it has been.

Why complain?  Why say, “Tonight was awful?”  I mean good grief head coaches, you won a game. Why not say, “Hey, the kids came through in the clutch tonight.  Good win.  We will get better tomorrow by watching film and making adjustments.”  Really, it isn’t hard to appreciate coming away with a “W.”

So the mental health tip is this: shut up.  Enjoy your win, for crying out loud!  You did what you set out to do so go enjoy it.  This kind of mentality takes the joy out of the game and detracts from the kids effort to pull out a win.  Don’t be a “Negative Nancy” in a winning effort.  One day you may soon see how precious those ugly wins are.

Keep your mind healthy by enjoying a win. What a noble concept.

Randomness

-What is with narcissistic antics by high school football players?  I don’t get the whole “flash the college you committed to signs” in the middle of your high school game.  Last time I checked, you were wearing your high school uniform.  That should be the school you care about… in the middle of the game!  Get a grip on reality.

-Enormous lack of humility displayed on Twitter this weekend by some 5-star recruits.  Wonder is anyone important noticed.

Gary Sanchez is the real deal.

Neal Tull puts mustard and mayo on Pop Tarts.  And eats them with a knife and fork.

Tyler Trout is our staff funny-man.  Cubs fan, what do you expect?

-Oh, and Tyler Trout eats  two pounds of processed meat daily at lunch.  Weird stuff!  But he uses wheat bread, so it’s healthy.  He uses mustard and squiggles a “W” on each slice of bread. It’s very cute…LAME.

See you tomorrow.

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.