Warhawks Weekly Meets The Coach's Corner

Warhawks football lives here.




-- Skip Bishop and Bas Freeman

Warhawks Weekly: Appalachian State Recap/Georgia Southern Preview

Warhawk football lives here.


-- Skip Bishop

Coach's Corner: Buzzin'

I feel like I did something wrong.  That scoring 91 points was in some way not okay.  I have heard and read many criticisms of some of my coaching decisions from last week and so in response to those I just wanted to - as best I can - explain some of what happened.

You know from my last post that I had told the players to start fast and finish strong.  They did that.  We scored 33 points in the first half and scored 49 points in the 4th quarter.  We also only allowed one touchdown.  I could not have hoped for a better outing from the defense.  So from my perspective I saw the team do exactly what I told them.

As far as the offense goes we certainly got great output from Foster, but honestly our receivers dropped a ton of great throws (something we had worked hard on in terms of Jenkins accuracy).  We needed to rebuild confidence, and so while it seemed like we were trying to run up the score my intention was to maintain morale as best we could.  Some plays just went in our favor whereas for Appalachian St. that was not the case.

This week my focus has shifted to the offense - making sure that they understand we have some big games coming up in the next few weeks.  We can't afford to drop passes.  We can't afford to make mistakes.  Winning comes from constant and consistent performance and so we as a team need to make sure that is the case every time we step on the field.  Georgia Southern might be new to our conference but they certainly have talent to warrant their inclusion.

This week for me has been a time when I have had to learn to love and honor times of rest.  I think society says that to succeed you have to go 100 miles an hour non-stop until you're done, but I have found that taking time to rest and regain strength both physically and mentally has made me a better coach when I am working and more patient when I need to be as a husband and a father.

So yes - hustle hard and grind hard - but know that times of rest are just as pivotal.


Until next time,


Bas

Coach's Corner: Make Moves or Make Excuses

Well this seems a little late.  Late in that I am writing to you much later in the week than I hoped and late because of what happened on my way home to write.

I'm tired.  Tired from all of the preparation and tired from all of the adjustment that I have felt at home.  So as I was leaving work I don't think it was that I thought to drive as fast as I could - it was just that I didn't care.  I just wanted to be home.  I wanted to see my wife.  I wanted to take a break and get some sleep before a big day in my career - our first game of the season.

And so when I was pulled over for going 65 in a 45 I was deflated.  I pulled over and waited for the cop to come to my window, license and registration in hand.  I was worn down from a long day.  For a moment I thought about trying to get out of the ticket - to tell the cop who I was and how tired I was.  But as I sat there I thought - I was just an idiot.  I knew I was speeding - and I didn't care enough.  I didn't think I would get caught.  Then I did.

The problem is that I didn't make this mistake any old time.  I made it during a week when our focus had been to start fast and finish strong.  Every day multiple times in practice I had told the players to start fast and finish strong - and then I go and quit too soon.  I quit on what seems like a minor thing - just a drive home.  But now it costs my family and hurts my pride and reputation.

We will win against Appalachian State as long as we can start fast and finish strong, but if I don't think the same way for everything I do I know that victory will be hollow.  I will have so much else on my mind that I won't be able to celebrate the way I should.  So I guess as I go forward and own up to my ticket I leave you all with what has been running through my mind:  When things go wrong we have two choices: make moves or make excuses.

I'll be praying you and I make the right decision.



-- Bas

Coach's Corner: Introduction to SUAG

I guess since this is the first time you all are hearing from me it only makes sense to explain why it's happening.  I hold the firm belief that hearing someone speak - whether in a public forum or even one on one with your closest friend - can tend to feel like wasted time unless you can relate to that person.  If you don't really know about what the speaker has gone or is going through you tend to dismiss whatever they say as too vague or even misguided.  So my hope with the Coach's Corner is to give you all an opportunity to know who I am because that might encourage you to trust my judgement when I do something that seems questionable as a coach.  

That does not mean that I think I am always going to do the right thing.  In fact, I know I have and will continue to make mistakes.  Football is a game of calculated risk - very high risk - and so will result in quite a lot of difficult decisions that don't pan out.  My hope is that as you grow to know me and hear my struggles and successes we could find ourselves in a community of support amidst trials as opposed to condemnation and hyper-criticism.  I would love to hear from you and hope that this blog will give me the opportunity to answer some of the questions you might have as the season goes on.

Each week my hope is to share with you a thought I have had leading up to the game.  Since our first game is not until the 30th I will be back again in a week to talk about my thoughts going into the Appalachian State game, but I feel like this week's post might be a place where I share with you our over-arching vision for the season.

I have searched long and hard for a message that I feel like could carry us from start to finish of what will be a taxing campaign.  A couple of weeks ago as I was driving home from watching some video of last season I heard a song come on the radio that immediately grabbed my attention.  It was a song by a rapper out of New Orleans named Dee-1, and while at first it was the lyrics that grabbed me I think it was the heart behind his words that kept my attention.  He believed what he was saying.

Shut up and grind.  Over and over in the chorus that was all I heard - and as I drove I thought to myself what a great message for me to hear in my own life.  If you ask my wife she will tell you that more times than not I go overboard with the venting after work or even the venting while I am at work.  Coaching is a hard job - because I am in the business of people.  The business of convincing people to be all they can be knowing full well that they might decide not to do that - and I can't stop them.  I need to shut up and grind - trusting that if I do that, the outcomes will take care of themselves.

I also thought it was a great message for a generation full of chronic complainers.  Don't tell me why you can't do it or what is stopping you - shut up and grind.  This university and we as coaches know that you have the ability so get out on the field and show us the truth.  Anything else rolling around in your head is a lie.

So my hope going into and through this season is that regardless of outcome these boys understand that our focus is on our work - one play at a time, one game at a time.  

In Texas I struggled with players who would look at me and say, "I can't do it."  My response was simple:  You can, you just haven't yet.  Get back on the line and try again.  The same will be true here.  Don't give me lip.  Words only have meaning when actions and evidence support them.  Don't let your actions (or inaction) make the LIE that you can't do your job a relative truth.

Shut up and grind.

-- Coach Freeman

Warhawks Weekly: A Career Begins

This offseason our beloved Warhawks hired an exciting high school coach out of Texas - Sebastian "Bas" Freeman.  Although he has never coached at this level his success at the high school level convinced our hiring staff to take a chance on him.  Check out my interview here - and let's go Warhawks!!



 Your Local DJ   -   Skip Bishop