Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal

Wednesday, February 2, 2005

GEE, IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK HOME – Paul Simon

Today we had our very first on campus practice experience, and I must admit that it was good to be back home playing on a familiar piece of soil.  The weather was cool (for June), but pretty near perfect for a Groundhog Day.

HAVE GOAL WILL TRAVEL

It is not easy being practice nomads constantly searching for a meshing of time and place that will allow us to really get some work done.  The ninety minutes we had today on campus at our own practice place was great.  It felt like an eternity compared to any other session we have had in 2005.  Weather permitting we will have a more normal practice on campus situation like today's twice a week for February. 

Today we full-field scrimmaged for a long time, and we need to do a ton of that whenever we can just to get into "playing shape".  I was pleased with our intensity.  We (coaches) tried to make it as game-like as possible.  We are going to need all the intensity we can muster to survive the 3-day, 4-game marathon that commences a week from Friday night in Texas. 

It is my greatest hope that we know ourselves well enough by then to ride in to Arlington with a little bit of quiet confidence, and with a big itch that needs some serious scratching.  As a team we are young.  This will be a test and a trip that will put some quick age on us.

PRACTICE – WE TALKIN' BOUT PRACTICE!

As a coach I used to shorten my practice schedules to two hours because I wanted players to always be eager to come back the next day.  What luxury I once was able to indulge myself in.  Now a two-hour practice seems like a distant fairy tale.  I know I must keep getting better at time management for this season to work.

So far I am very pleased with the leadership in and on the team.  Our captains and officers lead by the way they work and how they conduct themselves. It is my hope and belief that these types of things can and will pay healthy dividends down the road.

What I really like about this team is that they mostly all work hard, as if every little thing we do DOES mean something.  I also like the fact that they complain very little.  That means a lot, of course, and from a coach's perch this seemingly unanimous willing-to-work attribute on a whole team is not as commonly seen as one might think. 

I worry that the "meat" in the earlier part of our schedule may not be enough to sustain them as warriors, so practice may often mean everything.  Here we go.

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