On my way home that night, my anxiety came rushing back. I knew I needed to spend my time on the bus calming myself down. I reminded myself of my first observation at East Whitaker, and how intimidated I was as I watched the fast running backs. That same day, I felt more comfortable once I was able to compare myself to players who would be playing my position. Then I had to remind myself of linemen camp and how I was so obsessed with my competitor that I forgot to accept the reality of both of us starting. Finally, I had to praise myself for using my competition in high school as a motivator, rather than as a reason to run away. That motivation kept me in the starting lineup in high school and helped me become a team captain.
Although I wouldn’t be the captain of my team that season, I would again have to use my competitors as motivation to fight for a starting role. It then dawned on me that I would be on the team for two years and shouldn’t stress over my first season. I formed a new plan to use the first season as an opportunity to get comfortable with playing at the college level. Playing with guys who were bigger, faster, and stronger than me would allow me to get used to playing with, and against, elite players. I would then work on starting during the next season, knowing that half of my competition would be leaving at the end of the current season and I would have a year of experience by then.
Chapter 38
The next day, I came back to practice feeling more at ease. I felt comfortable being on the field and I no longer felt isolated. I had a goal in mind, and I found it easier to work with a short-term goal, rather than obsessing over the long-term. Once the coach made it to the field, he called us over for a team huddle. In the huddle, he broke down our practice schedule for us. He told us that we would have two months until we started practicing for the regular season. By then, he wanted us to be in the best shape possible, to understand our assigned position, and to memorize the plays that we would be running. Every day for those first two months, we would be working on speed and strength. He would have drills for us to run which would help improve our speed and allow us to make quicker decisions in game-time situations. Due to the heat, we would be doing those drills in the morning. In the afternoons, we would spend time in the weight lifting room where we would be allowed to do our own routines. He felt that since we were all adults, it would be our responsibility to increase our strength on our own. After the first two weeks of summer practices, we would begin trying out for positions. The coach wanted to see what position fit us best based on our size and agility. Finally, we would spend the rest of the summer in our positional groups so that we could memorize plays as they related to our group.
After breaking from the huddle, I quickly planned out how I wanted to use the next two months of summer practices to the best of my advantage. As far as the speed drills were concerned, the only thing I could do was try my hardest, just like I did in high school, working on not being the slowest on the team. I also planned on using the same weightlifting routine that helped me get strong in high school, making sure I didn’t waste any lifting time. Finally, I figured memorizing plays wouldn’t be that hard as an offensive lineman because my job should be the same in college as it was in high school; stand up once the ball was snapped, and don’t let anyone get by me.
After practice, I decided to give Mike a call. I wanted to see how his practices were going, and how he was handling the transition into college football. After we talked, I realized that I had it made compared to him. His strength and conditioning routine was similar. They had the same practice schedule we did, but his workouts were more intense. He was working with the best college football players from all over the country. Competition was tough, so the coaches had to come up with intense drills and practices to determine who the starters would be. The teams they would be playing against were full of elite players as well. That meant that they would have to be the strongest and fastest players in their conference in order to win their games. With only one post-season game, and no conference tournaments, every win counted in major college football.
Mike was also disappointed about his chances of starting. When he talked to the recruiter while in high school, it sounded like he would be starting right away. He quickly realized that he wouldn’t be able to start until his sophomore year because freshmen usually didn’t start their first season. The only way he would’ve been able to start right away was if he was absolutely the best running back on the team. That wasn’t the case because the starter from the previous season was still on the team and he had already earned the trust of the head coach. Unlike junior college, major colleges usually kept the same starters because they already had the experience needed to play at the elite level. Since their running back had been nominated as one of the best running backs in their conference the previous season, USM wanted Mike to use his freshman year to get used to playing at the major college level. After his freshman year, the current starter would graduate and Mike would have a chance at being a starter for the next three seasons.
Chapter 39
For the first couple of weeks of summer practice, my plan went off without a hitch. I wasn’t the most athletic guy on the team, but I definitely wasn’t the weakest. I was able to keep up with the rest of the team during the speed drills, and never finished last. In the weight room, I stuck with my high school routine, and it was paying off. I learned from the other players that a high protein diet would help me gain muscle, so I was actually getting stronger faster than I was in high school.
After the first two weeks, it was time to try out for our positions. When we got together for our daily huddle, the coach explained how they were going to determine who played what position. At the major college football level, there was a coach for every position. At the junior college level, however, they didn’t have quite the budget, so they simply had a coach for the running backs and receivers, a coach for all linemen, a coach for the defensive backs and linebackers, and a coach for the quarterbacks, who would also double as the offensive coordinator. We were to simply work with the coach for the position that we wanted to try out for. It would be up to that coach if we were talented enough to stay in their group or not. If we didn’t make the group, we were asked to work with the special teams’ coach, who was also the defensive coordinator, or find our way off the team.
Right away, I found the line coach. It didn’t take long to figure out who the four defensive linemen were that the head coach referred to in our initial meeting. The line coach told us that, unlike in high school, we were allowed to only play on the offensive line, or defensive line, but not both. The head coach had already told me what my chances of playing were if I chose to be a defender, so I went with those going out for the offensive line. There were eight of us on the offensive side and seven on the defensive side. The coach then explained that at the college level, most of his starters would be playing the entire game, so his backups wouldn’t see much game time. So even as a backup, I would have to stand out amongst the other backups just to get a decent chance at some playing time.
We went through some simple strength and conditioning drills, similar to our familiar high school drills, and at the conclusion were told that we were all talented enough to stay in the linemen group. After reminding us that none of us were declared starters, the line coach told us how impressed he was with our performance, and that we were all in for some good competition. Even though we would be on different sides of the ball, it was important for us to remember that we would all be working as one big linemen group, and he would be our coach for the rest of the season.
Towards the end of the day, our head coach called us in for a quick team meeting. He told us that after the first two weeks of summer practice, our initial group of 80 players had been reduced to 60. Even though we lost quite a few players, the coaches weren’t done making cuts. The team only had 55 available spots, so five more players would have to be cut before the regular season began. In an instant, the pressure was on.
Chapter 40
After a few weeks of str
essing, I was able to survive the remainder of summer practices without being one of the five players cut. As I figured, the plays for an offensive lineman were easy to remember. Some of the plays were interesting, though. For some of them, one of the offensive lineman would stand up as soon as the ball was snapped and, instead of blocking, would run behind the center and block on the other side of the line. The shift opened up a gap in our offensive line, but it allowed more coverage for the running back as he ran up the middle of the line. Although those plays were foreign to me, it didn’t take long to get the hang of them.
As the head coach had promised, once the summer practices were over, we had our assigned positions, we all had the plays memorized, and we were all in great shape. Unlike high school, once practice began, it was hard-as-you-can full contact. This allowed us to prove ourselves right from the get. Personally, I didn’t waste the opportunity. In our daily huddle, the coach told us that we would be spending the next two weeks in our positional groups. We were to use that time to better ourselves at our positions, and work on our plays as a unit. We wouldn’t get together as a big group until we got ready to practice for our first game. Although we wouldn’t be able to hit as a team, we were still going full contact in our groups, while being able to show off our speed and our ability to retain information.
Even though I didn’t stand out as one of the best players, I didn’t stand out as one of the worst. I quickly learned how different college football was once I struggled to hold back defenders on the line of scrimmage. They made me look weak, but I felt better when I saw that the big defenders were walking over the rest of the offensive line as well. As it turned out, my ability to memorize plays quickly became my biggest weapon. It was the one thing that set me apart from the others who struggled to remember their roles.
After those two weeks, my hard work paid off. Just like the head coach predicted, the defensive line was the same line used the previous season. After struggling to contain them, I wasn’t going to argue that decision. The offense had some returning starters as well, but two of the spots went to players new to the team. I wasn’t one of those two, but I was the next one called. The three guys who didn’t make the starting offensive lineup were designated as a backup center, a backup tackle, and a backup guard; I would be the backup tackle. The coach then went on to explain that even though our backups had designated titles, we still had a backup order, as the titles were only used for the official team roster. So even though I was declared the backup tackle, I would be used to relieve any starter on the offensive line. The coach felt that, of the three of us, I worked the hardest during practice and deserved to be the primary backup offensive lineman. That meant I would be the first one to go into a game if any one of our guys needed a break. Suddenly, my chances of impressing the University of Southern Michigan skyrocketed; it was up to me to keep my position, and I was more than motivated to fight for it.
That night, I talked to Mike to see how his summer practices had turned out. He told me that he was the number two running back on the team. He wasn’t the starter, but he would definitely get some good playing time. At Southern Michigan, the starting running back ran most of the plays, while the backup running back would play if the team was close to the goal line. He knew that I wouldn’t be able to watch the games on television, since our games were at the same time, but he wanted to make sure I recorded them so that I could actually watch him play on national TV. I then told him my good news; I had become the number one backup offensive lineman on a college football team.
Chapter 41
It was finally time to practice as a whole team. In our daily huddle, the coach told us that we would be spending the week getting ready for the upcoming game. Although it would be used as a tune-up game, it was still a game to be taken seriously because it counted towards our overall record. He reminded us that even though starting positions had been announced the previous week, those positions weren’t guaranteed until game day, and we would have to spend that week fighting to retain those titles.
The team we were scheduled to play wasn’t quite the tune-up game I was used to in high school. The way I saw at it, it was a tune-up game for the other team. Their team didn’t make it to the title game the previous season, but they were ranked as the number three overall junior college football team. They lost a few players during the off-season, but they still had the same coach who clearly knew what he was doing. We were definitely the underdogs. But, as our coach explained, every team had a 0-0 record in the first week of the season, so we were all tied for first place.
Even though I wasn’t a starter, I made it my goal that week to make the coaches feel comfortable with me as the number one backup. I had a rough week the previous week by letting the defensive line through me, but once I knew what to expect, it happened less and less frequently in practice. Although I didn’t stop them every time, I held them up more than any other backup lineman on our team.
The rest of the week went by fast. Unlike high school, though, we had five days of practice instead of the four that I was used to. The practice schedule was pretty much the same as what I had done before, only we used the additional day to spend more time working with the entire team. The biggest difference by far was the level of intensity. Because we were all fighting for a chance to be in the spotlight, we were treating practices like games. Everybody went full contact and wouldn’t stop until told to do so by the coach. We all wanted to play for major colleges, and everyone knew they only had two years to prove their abilities at this level. Even though I was a tough blocker, I still didn’t stand out as the best on the line. Knowing my memorization skill was my biggest asset, I continued to focus on that and made sure that I was the only one on the line hitting all the right blocks - every time.
Towards the end of the week, I thought my chances of starting were getting much better. One of the offensive starters messed up on a play and ended up falling to the ground. I knew that because the game was one day away, it would be too late for the coaches to switch starters, but they would’ve been forced to if the guy couldn’t get back up. As it turned out, he missed the block because he hurt his right ankle, and it was the pain that made him fall to the ground. I felt relief for him when he got back up on his own, and yet, was discouraged when he went in for the next play. Just like I would’ve done, he continued to play through the pain.
Chapter 42
I wasn’t nervous about playing time, I was nervous about the game itself. I was used to high school games, but I didn’t know what to expect from a college football game. I had a feeling it would be intense based on practice. And I knew the intensity of practice was nowhere near what I would be facing during the game. I once again had that uncomfortable feeling of not quite belonging.
That feeling went away once I looked up at the stands on game day. I was used to playing in front of a sold out crowd on Friday nights. After seeing massive college arenas with standing room only on television, I was shocked when I saw that the stands were nearly empty during our Saturday afternoon game. Apparently, junior college football games weren’t a big draw. It didn’t help that the University of Northeastern Michigan was playing 30 minutes away, and were also in the Midwestern Conference with the University of Southern Michigan. Even our stadium was unimpressive. It reminded me of our practice field at East Whitaker. There wasn’t much to it; a one-level press box, three sections of bleachers on either side of the field, a run-down score board, and an eight foot long table used to sell snacks to fans.
Once the angst of playing college football went away, I was able to concentrate on the game. I was on a team of really tough guys, playing against another team of really tough guys, who shared the common goal of victory. All we had to do was score more points than they did. I had the simple goal of protecting my quarterback; it was a goal that I had become very familiar with.
After three quarters of play, the game remained close. In college, the quarter lengths were three minutes longer than what they were in
high school, so a lot of the new guys were starting to get tired. I was fine with that because I figured eventually one of our guys would tire enough to require a break. Unfortunately, those guys were so obsessed on impressing recruiters that they were willing to play on. I did, however, get my chance to play towards the end of the 4th quarter.
It seemed the pain became too much for the lineman who had injured himself a few days ago during practice. After being pushed around too many times, his ankle finally gave. I was called in to take his place at the tackle position. Quickly, my fears came back. That would be my first play as a college football player and it would gage if I was ready to take on the world of college football.
Once the ball was snapped, I stood up quickly. Waiting for the snap was no longer an issue of mine. As the defender attacked me, I realized that he wasn’t as strong as our starting defenders; the ones I had battled in practice. After a few seconds of blocking, I was ready to take him on again for the next play. This time, once the ball was snapped, he used his speed to elude me and found his way to our quarterback. I was disappointed that I couldn’t prevent our quarterback from getting sacked. I was devastated when the coach called me out of the game.
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