Junior Year Box Set

In the second half, they had the number 1 offense play the number 2 defense, and we ran situational plays with the coaches out on the field. I appreciated that Coach Diamond let me showcase my skills with all the recruiters there. I was surprised when they pulled Tim out at center and put in Johan Bauer. Roc got to play some varsity wide receiver. It looked like a couple of guys had played their way into positions. On defense, the Bauer brothers were inserted at defensive tackles, replacing Wolf and Jim. It was good to see we had finally developed some depth so that key players didn’t have to be on the field all the time. Over the course of the season, it would cut down on injuries.

Not everything was perfect, though. We had a lot of work to do if we wanted to repeat as State Champs. Our defense had me worried. I didn’t want to have to try and outscore everyone we played. I guess that sounds dumb because that is the object of the game. What I meant was that I hoped our defense could at least slow the other team down.

◊◊◊

After the game, I was grateful when Coach Hope refused to make any of us available to the press. It was just a scrimmage, after all. While I was getting dressed, Alan asked me to join him in the coaches’ conference room. When I walked in, they had our game software on the big screen, and they were talking to someone on a conference phone. I spotted Bo Harrington in the back.

“Hey, Coach, how’s Alabama treating you?” I asked.

I walked over and shook Bo’s hand, and he handed me a card with writing on the back. I looked up at him when I saw it was a phone number and address.

“That’s my direct number and private office address. I thought you might need it if you had something you needed to talk to me about that wasn’t Alabama-related. Keep that private, because we only give out the main office phone number and address to everyone else,” Bo said.

“Thanks.”

I would give it to Brandon to put with all my other recruiting contacts. Of course, technically Bo was talking to Coach Hope, and I had just bumped into him. I decided it best to ignore that he was in the room from that point forward for this meeting.

“Hey, David, it’s Coach Mason.”

“Wow, that was fast. I didn’t realize they could send you game film so quickly,” I said.

“They only sent me a couple of plays so far. I’ll go over the rest over the weekend. I wanted to see if you actually listened to me or not, so Coach Hope sent me a couple of plays. I wanted to talk to you while the game was still fresh in your mind,” Coach Mason said.

They had cued up the first offensive play we scored, the one where I had thrown the touchdown pass to Roc. Somehow Coach Mason had control of the video. This was possible because the software Alan had found us was cloud-based.

“I’ve already talked to Coach Diamond and Coach Zoon about what you need to fix as a unit from what I saw in the first few plays. Like I said to them, I’ve only seen a few plays so far,” he said to bring me up to speed. “When I saw this play, I wanted them to bring you in so I could talk to you.

“If you do what you did on this play in a real game, you’ll get yourself killed. I know you think you’re indestructible, but you need to avoid the unprotected contact. I would much rather have seen you knock the defensive end on his butt. Better yet, pitch the damned ball, or slide! You might get away with this shit in high school, but as you go up in levels, it’s plays like that that will end your career. If you don’t learn to protect yourself now, you’ll never survive to be the pro that I know you can be.”

I looked at the coaches, and they were all were amused at how Coach Mason was tearing into me. I wasn’t fazed in the least. He had gotten on me worse than that on a number of occasions.

He ran the play so I could see exactly what had happened. I cringed when I saw it on film. Coach Mason was right, I’d gotten greedy and should have pulled the ball down when Wolf was covered and ran the ball. Even if I had knocked the end on his ass, I had time to launch the ball to Roc. Ed had made the mistake of thinking he had deep help and let Roc run by him. The safety had blown his assignment. I was sure Coach Zoon and Moose would get that fixed. I watched the actual throw and was happy with my footwork and placement of the pass.

Coach Mason took fifteen minutes to educate me on the nuances of the play. I think all the coaches in the room learned something new. I felt good that he would help me, now that Bo had taken the Alabama job.

◊◊◊

When I was finally done with the coaches, I came out, and everyone was gone except for my farm boys: Roc, Johan, Milo, and Derek. They didn’t look happy, and when I looked outside it was easy to see why. The rain had settled in as expected. Mother Nature was out in full force, with winds and lightning. I was glad we had missed the weather while we played. When they saw me, they all looked at me expectantly.

“Can we get a ride?” Johan asked.

“Where’s your sister?” I asked Roc.