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| 2021 Mercer County Titans |
Saturday, April 4, 2015. I had just become the head coach at Mercer County HS. I asked to meet with Drew Davis and D Smith. I had coached Drew's Dad (Dennis) in HS and now he was my Boss as the Superintendent. D's Dad (Donald Wayne) had been a friend for a long time. We played HS football against each other when he was at Harrodsburg and I was at Mercer.
Drew was going to be our Quarterback, as a senior. D was going to be our Tailback and a DB as a junior. I had never met them, but I felt like, "If I have got Dennis' and Donald Wayne's sons on my football team, those guys are going to be winners!" I was right.
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| D Smith, 2016 |
As we discussed preparation for the 2015 season, I asked them, "Should we do a traditional spring practice in May, and an install in June? Or, do we make spring practice install and do a June mini camp?"
After that question, there was silence. They looked at each other and just stared.
I said, "Guys, what's wrong?'
One of them said, "Coach, nobody's gonna come."
My response was, "Well, let's get to work and see what happens."
I got a couple lists. Guys that had played that said they were not playing. Guys that were not playing that were good athletes. I had meetings with a bunch of those guys.
Fortunately, we made both spring practice and June, happen. Now, we were super thin. We only had 6 seniors and 30 total on the Varsity roster (grades 10 thru 12). We added two kickers in November... and that is a whole other story....thank goodness for those two young men (Garrett Dean & Nick McClain).
And, the start was rough. We started 0-5. My Dad was dying and died after our first win. Two of our players lost their Dad during those 5 games.
Then, this happened and I still am not sure what to think about it. After starting 0-4, one of our assistants walked in on Sunday and told me, "If Wayne County gets a running clock on us, I am quitting." My response was, let's get to work.
As it turned out, we ended up winning 6 games in a row after the Wayne County loss*, which was good enough to win our district and a first round playoff game. Drew scored a TD in round 2 but the officials made a mistake, or we would have made it to the quarterfinals.
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| Drew Davis, 2015 |
By 2019, we were averaging 70 guys on the total roster, grades 9 thru 12. We were playing much better football and competing with and beating some of the best teams in Kentucky.
When things look hopeless, thinking is ok, but getting to WORK and doing what you already know how to do is what will move the needle. Once the work begins, you will see how to tweak and adjust going forward. But, thinking about how bad things are or how the ultimate results are going to be seemingly impossible to reach....WASTE OF TIME.
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| 2017 Quarterfinals |
When you hit Monday, there may be a big mountain in your way. There is nothing wrong with that. Get to work. One day at a time. Whatever is the best you know to do in that moment, DO IT. Sure, you will tweak and adjust as you move forward. But, if we all wait until we know 100% what to do, we will never get started and get to work.
Who knows... maybe someone will show up.
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| 2021, Southwestern's only losses were to Mercer & Frederick Douglass |
