Well…..finally got my computer charged…. For some reason I have been having trouble. My email is down…messages aren’t coming thru. Facebook is on the blink and no messages being allowed in or out.
I guess that little man who lives inside of this computer must be having a tough time. Maybe he got into the vodka – don’t know. Or maybe I have been to the beer distributor a few to many times myself.
Anyway I think things with my computer are better now. Looks like I can actually type into the blog without an error message. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Well….a few days ago we had a tough hard fought 29-14 loss to the Mules over in Allentown. Although I guess it is a rivalry game….is it really? Yeah, they are in the next city over – but isn’t that where the similarities stop?
I know at Moravian we think of Muhlenberg players as privileged and wealthy theater majors. (Hey wait a minute I went there! I emphasize that I was not a theater major but an English major – well maybe a PE major!) But….if they are theater majors – they are big and fast theater majors. Somehow we need to get some of them to Bethlehem.
But, let me say this…we are closer to getting back on track than a lot of people think. Our underclassmen are going to help build our program and propel the Hounds forward. Trust me this group of young guys are the real deal.
But….we still need to improve…..we still need to get bigger and stronger. And yes we need to improve our fundamentals! I know I say that a lot….but it is a fact. We need to get better at blocking and tackling! We let too many things get away during games.
Things that we can control!
****Enter Strength Coach Tom Long and his excellent staff….in the next few weeks they will organize the off-season training program. They do a fantastic job and it will be fun to watch our underclassmen train for next year.****
Here are a few things that hurt us last weekend. We have chances to score and we hurt ourselves…..snap on a FG before we are ready….allow a blocked FG…..fake punt that allows a scoring drive to continue…..inability to get our best players the ball…..inability to get our best players on the field at times…..poor tackling…..dumb penalties….kicking ball out of bounds on KO.
If we wouldn’t spend so much time on coaching these areas I’d say it is all about coaching. But, we do work on these things every single day. So some of the responsibility falls on the guys who are playing as well.
We certainly have to coach better – but we need to have the troops understand what we are teaching.
One touchdown we gave up Saturday was literally something that we corrected in practice on Thursday. It went like this….we failed to make a defensive adjustment. This is an adjustment we have made since day one.
We corrected it in practice….then we fail to execute it during the game. We allow a Muhlenberg first down run because we didn’t do our job!
A few plays later we commit a personal foul penalty – which we talk about all the time. Just a lack of discipline. Next play we give up a TD on a run we practiced every day this week.
This is just unacceptable – and when you are playing good teams these things will cost you dearly. These errors in play and in judgement – we just can’t have them if we expect to be competitive in big games.
As coaches we will have to revisit our season and look hard at what we need to do to improve our team. This self study is something we do every year and although sometimes this reflection can be painful it is necessary.
I will end this by thanking our seniors and the leadership that they supplied. The season may not have gone the way we had wanted but no one can find fault wth the effort the troops put forth.
With another season in the books the konkretekidinfootball will move on to he next project and adventure in football.
Many things on the horizon….more international football (Switzerland etc). A few clinics to speak at….others to attend and learn some more about football. Working with my pals Ed, Terry, Curtis, Taylor on our football projects back in Michigan that may eventually send us overseas again.
Also looking to help my Swiss friends find a way to the US as exchange students or college students.
But…..wherever it takes me we will be looking for more adventures in the great game of football.