What does the team do on game days before the actual game?
We do this simulation called “Kick the Field.” It allows the guys to perform offense/defense, run special teams routes, and to basically polish up all the plays and routes we run in a game.It ensures that we have our backup plans ready to go and we are locked in.
Are game days the day where you spend the practice catching and correcting the little mistakes?
Yes, we do seven on seven and run the play again and agin; we watch each player individually to see if they made a mistake so we can correct it, or we can tell them they did the right steps and to keep doing it that way. We focus so much on the little things because the mistakes you make in week two, you don’t want to be making in week ten.
What do you think our season will look like this year, especially after us losing the team from last year and how do you think we will perform with the new one?
We grow every week and we need those losses to ensure we keep working hard and always set a higher goal than we had last week. One of our top words in Pleasant Grove Football is to grow because it is more than becoming a good athlete, it’s a state of mind and us coaches strive to encourage our players to not only grow their skills; but also their heart, soul, and mind.
One of our top sayings at Pleasant Grove is Heart and Soul, but what do you think it means to be Heart and Soul?
I personally believe we grow more as a team and a family by working together in the weight room. Being in a room with a bunch of guys and lifting each other up physically and mentally makes those connections we need on and off the field. The weights never change, the changes are made in your mind and by having your boys and teammates around it makes it easier to set new goals and lift more weight and push yourself to grow.
What was the moment in your life where you decided you wanted to continue your football career by coaching?
I started playing football in the second grade. I begged and pleaded to my parents to let me play because they had to sign a waiver and they did. I played all through high school and college. I honestly think about this a lot, I could not imagine my life without football because it has been so much more to me than a game. Football has taught me more off the field about life than on the field. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity Coach Gibson gave me because I met the coolest guys and I get to come here everyday and work and get to know these amazing kids and it’s a truly life changing experience and it truly is a blessing.
Speaking of your platform, we all love it, we all mimic it, and we all do it. How did you come about the Coach Henry Stance?
I have done it forever and honestly it is comfortable and to explain it you get into a power stance with your feet outside your shoulders, your hands on your knees, and your back at an angle which intensifies with every play and movement. If it is a real close game or this is a big play I’m practically at a perfect ninety degree angle, but most of the time I’m at a forty five degree angle which is good because I’m at the pad level with our defense and offense and I can watch their every move and what they do. When I see my players doing it with me I laugh and find it comical but then they understand why I do the stance and how beneficial it is. I feel that personally I should get it copyrighted because I would make so much money and get to have my name on something