Well, our 2015 season has drawn to a close. The ending was not what we envisioned, but the accomplishments this year can not be over-stated:
- First 9-0 season since 1978, only the second undefeated season in school history.
- Outright league championship, 7-0 in league contests.
- First-round playoff shutout over a state power program, improving us to 10-0 at the time
- 6 shutouts
- 2 games holding opponents to under 50 yards rushing (Chipotle to come!)
Most importantly to me, however, is that we did things the right way and learned valuable life lessons over the course of the past year. This season began in December of 2014. It began with guys eating peanut butter sandwiches and lifting weights four days per week from December through July. It was built upon Friday morning workouts in April and May and Spring Survivor evenings in May and June. It was forged upon summer lifting, speed training and passing league. It was galvanized at camp in August and took shape in a scrimmage at Saline. It was perfected through great effort at practice, hours of film study, and most importantly through young men who were extremely coach-able. Our players brought great enthusiasm and attitudes to practice daily. The characteristic that I will refer back to for the rest of my career is the ability of our young men to see something on film that needs to be corrected and then go out that same day and correct it. We had a great attention to detail, and it will pay dividends to all of our young men in the future.
I salute our seniors, you did a tremendous job and I'll miss each of you! For the underclassmen, it may seem like we just finished our 2015 journey, and we did, but 2016 will be here before you know it. 2016 will bring upon new challenges, such as a new league alignment with a very good opening game, and the need for some younger guys to step into new roles. I am excited about what the future hold for Groves football!