“What’s the secret?” I wondered to myself as my high school football team got shellacked for seemingly the millionth time by West Lyon. “They’re on steroids”, “They worship football”, “They don’t have balance”, and “Well, I bet they aren’t good students” were common refrains that I heard from people in my immediate and ancillary circles. As a naive 18-year-old I wanted to believe these stories, so I did.
For years, I believed that there was simply something that the West Lyon football team had that I didn’t. That there was some secret drill they were doing, a special lift, or perhaps they actually were on steroids! I mean, have you seen how these kids change from freshman year to senior year? As an incoming freshman, I remember playing a lot of them in baseball. They were no different than I—scrawny and semi-athletic. By the time senior year rolled around, I remained largely the same. The Wildcats however, did not. As a whole, they all put on significant muscle and had definition that my frame did not hold. I lifted weights, so why was it different? “Must be the creatine”, I thought to myself.
As a sophomore in college, I started coaching junior high football with one of my best friends, Brandon. We put a lot (too much, likely) of time into planning practices, developing plays, and figuring out where the young men would be best served on the football field. I kept coming back to a similar phrase in my head: “I wish that I could just watch West Lyon practice. I just want to know what they do that we don’t.” I debated reaching out to Coach Rozeboom to request a visit, but I always chickened out before getting that far.
We kept plugging away. Our practices improved as we moved through each year. We figured out how to block our time more effectively, utilize the numbers on each team as they shifted during our three-year tenure, and which drills were useful for some teams and which ones were rendered effectively meaningless for the 7th and 8th grade boys. It felt like the guys were more prepared for high school after our last season in 2021, but a lot of that could probably be attributed to the fact that our quarterbacks were our best leaders, and were both all-conference basketball choices this past winter. Nevertheless, it seemed like something was working. If I continued to coach football, I would have needed to join a different program to see how things work. I couldn’t deal with the uncertainty any longer.
In October-December of 2023, I finally took the plunge in a way. I had some extended time off of structured work, and I wanted to see how different coaches that I respected ran their practices. From Iowa to Minnesota to Colorado all the way down to Arizona, I set off in my pursuit of finding the secret. I’d like to detail all of my findings in another post, but I’ll keep it brief here.
On Thanksgiving weekend, I wandered into a Northwestern football practice. As a Dordt fan, I have no choice but to respect Northwestern’s football program. They’ve been the class of Sioux County for (literally) my entire life. I may not like the team in red and white, but I have a great deal of admiration for them. And I’ve softened my position towards them as I’ve gotten to know Northwestern people quite a bit better. One of the plights of old age, I suppose.
I took a seat about 15 rows up in the home grandstands and pulled out my weathered blue notebook with gold binding. This was the practice, I thought, that would uncover any secrets that those damn Raiders were withholding from the rest of us.
They warmed up just like most teams that I have played on and coached, just a little bit more crisp. When they moved to individual drills, they focused more on their technique than most teams that I have been a part of. But, the drills themselves and the coaching style wasn’t drastically different than I’d previously witnessed. As they shifted to a more team-oriented block of practice, everyone was flying around, excited. This was different than the teams I played on (mind you, we went 0-9 my junior year. yes, you read that right), but I could attribute that to them preparing for a playoff game against the “little brother”.
As they ran plays, everything was on time. Players held each other accountable. Coaches bellowed instructions. Crisp, straightforward, and zero wasted movement. The plays weren’t all that special, though there were likely intricacies that I wasn’t able to pick up on.
After about an hour and fifteen minutes, I had seen enough. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I just had myself a nice little cry in the 25-degree weather. My whole high school and college career, I had assumed that there was something drastically different that these other teams were doing that I wasn’t. I chalked everything up to factors outside of my control, when in fact they were really just a little more consistent. Just a little crisper. Just a little more technically sound and on time. Add up all these just a little’s and you have a national championship caliber team and a nationally revered program and culture. It wasn’t easy, but it was that simple.
Whatever your goal is, it’s likely that it’s achievable. The secret that you’re looking for is something that you already know/are doing, but it’s perfecting that thing to the point where it’s second nature. My encouragement (more for me, but you can have it too :)) is to simply keep doing the things that you know work, and do them over and over and over again. Someday, it’s likely that you’ll look up and end up exactly where you were meant to be all along. And if you don’t get to where you thought you were going? Then that’s a whole new blessing
March in Review
Reading List
The Dynasty - Jeff Benedict
Legends and Soles - Sonny Vaccaro
Tiger and Phil: Golf’s Most Fascinating Rivalry - Bob Harig
Eleven Rings - Phil Jackson
Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant - Roland Lazenby
Master of Change - Brad Stulberg
Listening List:
Podcasts:
George Mack - How to Take Control of Your Own Destiny - Modern Wisdom
Mission? Vocation? How Should I Organize My Life? - Considering Catholicism
Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt - The Science of Childhood Bullying & Adult Mental Health - Modern Wisdom
From Hot Dog Stand to Millions - Never Enough
Usain Bolt | Greatest 100M EVER - Ready Set Go
Music
Starry Eyed - Good Neighbours
Caroline - Mumford & Sons
Still Arriving - gavn!
I’m Moving On - Rascal Flatts, Kelly Clarkson
Place I Hate - Evan Honer
The Roads - Jonah Kagen
Hold Me While It’s Ending - Chelsea Cutler, Matt Maeson
Quotes:
“We do not remember days; we remember moments” - Cesare Pavese
“Many men go fishing all their lives not knowing it is not fish they are after” - Henry David Thoreau
“While pessimists write reports, optimists write history” - Shane Parrish
“Don’t plan yourself out of something great” - Hannah Glynn
“When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full or argument. I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.” - Mary Oliver
“A gold medal is a wonderful thing, but if you’re not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.” - Cool Runnings
Quarterly Awards
Books:
Gold: Never Enough - Andrew Wilkinson
Silver: Legends and Soles - Sonny Vaccaro
Bronze: Eleven Rings - Phil Jackson
Podcasts:
Gold: Mission? Vocation? How Should I Organize My Life? - Considering Catholicism
Silver: I Made $50M Buying & Running Boring Businesses - My First Million
Bronze: John Harris - Resilience and Imagination - Invest Like the Best
Music:
Songs:
Gold: Hold Me While It’s Ending - Chelsea Cutler, Matt Maeson
Silver: Gateway Drug - Daniel Seavey
Bronze: Sally, When the Wine Runs Out - ROLE MODEL
Artists:
Gold: Riley Green
Silver: Kameron Marlowe
Bronze: Tate Mcrae / Megan Moroney