Friday night is the last night for regular-season High School Football. For many seniors, this will be the last game they ever play; for others, there are the playoffs and then maybe college. Greenville will not make the playoffs. This continues a string of seasons that has become too long. Why is Greenville having such trouble in football? Most parents and people in the stands will say it is the coach’s fault. That is why Greenville changes coaches like underwear! Coaches get tired of hearing the criticism, and it is hurtful to their families too. Coaches are an easy target….but are they REALLY the problem?
I may get skewered for this, but no, coaching has been fairly good at Greenville. Coach Ford, I think, knows what he is doing and wants to have the time to BUILD a program. What does that mean? It means getting everyone, including the young men in the Jr. High and High School involved. Not just for the season, but year round. That will take commitment from players and parents.
When you are in a hole like Greenville is, quit digging….when you are looking for something, start digging! Young football players and those who may want to play, START NOW! Football has become a full-time commitment, and showing up for pre-season practice is not enough. Yes, it is hard, not everyone can do it…..that is why YOU should!
I can remember Coach Al Hetrick telling his Versailles players as he ran them up and down the hill at the football stadium, when most of them were barely crawling up that hill they were so tired, him standing there telling them “MARION CAN’T DO THIS, MARION CAN’T DO THIS!!”
That was their motivation, and those kids back then worked all summer on conditioning, even the ones who had jobs worked out afterwards. THEY WERE COMMITTED…..and they were damn good!
I am sure Coach Ford will have a program for football players this offseason. If you want to succeed, you have to want it bad enough to sacrifice….there are no shortcuts. Fifty-two years of not having an undefeated team is ridiculous! We were not that big, but we worked at it year-round, at least most of us did….you kids can do it too.
Oh, and I don’t care if the other team has more players on their team; only 11 can play at a time. Look at our neighbors to the north, Marion Local, Coldwater, and Versailles….they don’t care who they play; they will play any school! They have programs that foster success, and if our young athletes do the same, success will come to Greenville.
Greenville does have a good following; our facilities are improving, and we have a good staff, and the school board needs to keep helping. This is a problem we all can solve if we do our part. But let’s not fool ourselves, it is not easy, requires time, and commitment, and the athletes need to carry the load and work to be better.
We can be good in football.’ We showed it in 1971-72…..you just have to want it like we did, and we had a coach, Tom Holman, who made sure we were taught properly and cut no corners.
I know it is possible….so boys, pick yourselves up, put on your big boy pants, and start working to get better. I am sure Coach Ford has a plan…..learn it, and you will be remembered as the group that turned Greenville around!
“Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it because nothing is perfect. But, we are going to relentlessly chase it because, in the process, we will catch excellence. I am not remotely interested in just being good!” – Vince Lombardi.
That’s the way I see it…from the sidelines!
