Iron Mike Tyson’s famous quote, “everyone has a plan until they get hit in the face,” perfectly explains the start of our 2022 season.
As underdogs, on the road vs #2 ranked Hartford High School, we had a disastrous start that led us to be down 7-0 one minute into the game. Weeks earlier, we had a terrible practice that I contemplated ending early… But I wanted to see how the team would respond to hard coaching, and they finished that practice session with a great final 15-minute team period.
As we discussed here on last week’s Blog, a football’s points mean sometimes the ball bounces in unexpected ways…
Just prior to the Hartford game, I reminded the team of that unexpected practice, and their resilience in the face of adversity… I told them that at some point things may not go well tonight but we all know how well you can respond and can turn things around just like you did weeks ago. I never thought such advice would be implemented so quickly at the start of the game.
But just like they did during that terrible practice session, our players showed great resilience and outscored our opponents 49-7 over the next 47 minutes. Unlike most of MIke Tyson’s counterparts, we got hit in the face and were still able to execute our plan. Things do not always go as planned on the football field or in life. Holocaust survivor and author Victor Frankl notes, “In the moments between stimulus and response, we find character, and our actions define who we are at our core.” I’m proud of the team, their character, and our culture. They responded like “Hilltoppers,” and carried forward a proud legacy of the legion who played before them.
Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!
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