"Eyes up!" the Center barks as his Quarterback enters the huddle. The offensive line and backs snap to a ready position and turn their heads to see and hear his call. "Flex Double Star, Orbit, 54, T Quick Out. On 2, on 2, Ready...Break!". All eleven claps sound like one great smack, and the team hustles to the line of scrimmage to carry out their assignments. The defensive players are already communicating to each other on the run; "Lucky, lucky move!", "Ace, ace!", "Motion!, check 2, check 2!", "Keys, keys!"
The quarterback, listening to this communication and watching the movement, puts his hands under center and barks the cadence. The ball is snapped. The defensive players again begin their vigilant chatter; "Pass, pass, pass!", "Ball, ball!" All twenty-two players are in the midst of making full speed decisions based on their knowledge and skills. What happens next is a set of variables which will determine multiple possible outcomes of one of more than 120 such occurrences during the game.
This is like taking final exams every Friday night in front of 2,000 people and getting instant feedback on the results. Consequently, coaches and players take learning very seriously, and both are very highly motivated to get it right!
"Getting it right" includes some rather fascinating pieces. As a Football Coach, I have learned to focus on teaching skills and concepts related to the game. However, as Director of a Student Assistance Program (SAP), I have renewed my understanding of the importance of encouraging belonging, learning, and contributing, as well as the nurturing of such characteristics as courage, responsibility, and cooperation. Football and SAP. An interesting mix, to say the least, with very interesting possibilities.
One of our approaches to alcohol and other drug prevention education is to enhance "protective factors" and to foster "resiliency" in our young people. If the definition of "resiliency" is the ability and motivation to "bounce back" in the face of adversity, then Football is a "learning lab" for discovering one's innate predilection toward resiliency. When handled well, all the ingredients are there: pervasive caring, high expectations, and ongoing opportunities for meaningful participation. This is not just membership, it is intense engagement. We spend concentrated periods of time learning skills and constructing an attitude that says, "I can handle whatever comes my way, and I have friends who will help."
Coach and quarterback make eye contact as we consider our options on 3rd Down. We have practiced several possibilities during the week and we have these on the script. Considering what we have done the past two 3rd-and-short situations, and how the defense has defended, I select the formation and the play. The quarterback, however, has the option to change the play at the line of scrimmage based on "pre-snap" reads or pure "gut instinct". If he does make that change, he must communicate to the other ten players, very clearly, what change has occurred. Since we have practiced these situations, the other ten players will even know why he has made the change. "Eyes up!" "Right, 12 Veer, on the first sound..on first sound..Ready...Break!" All of the above plus the initiation of the next response on this night's "final exam", must occur within 25 seconds.
Every crisis (3rd down, 4th and goal) is an opportunity to pull together and show what we can do as a team and as individuals. Our team goal is 75% 3rd down conversion. We expect to reach it, and often do, even though this percentage would be considered by many to be ridiculously high. Our philosophy is that if we aim very high and only come close, we have not failed but have gained. Setting long, medium, and short range goals is a part of what we do. In many instances, we get immediate feedback. First Down, or punt! In all cases we must evaluate, re-set, and renew our efforts.
The entire process of going through situation after situation in which we can succeed or fail, come close or make it big, are opportunities to learn, re-focus, and continue. Winning and loosing become the same, then, in one very important sense. We learn from both. We do not spend a lot of time talking about winning. Rather, we talk about, and work on, what we do. This is the focus we take into a game. The opponent creates the adverse conditions through which we will become stronger as the game goes on. We are great learners. We are better players in the fourth quarter than we were in the first, because we learn during the game. We have a sense of self-efficacy; "I have a clear vision of what I want and the knowledge and skills to realize that vision".
Adaptation to change is imperative. Change is the only reality. Football players work daily on making "full speed" decisions based on knowledge and skill. Adjusting "on the run" or "sight adjusting" for us refers to being flexible in all the various situations that might come up in a game. Internalizing the ability to adapt is an absolute must for success. This is "resiliency training" at its best!
From helmets and shoulder pads, to resiliency and self-efficacy, the protective factors are there. Inclusion, responsibility, ownership, opportunity to contribute, all are a part of the football field as "learning lab". When approached in this way, we have an invaluable tool for fostering resiliency and encouraging the development of goals and a vision. We are doing prevention.
Robin D. Andrea
Director, ASAP
Head Football Coach
Astoria, School District #1C
Astoria, Oregon 97103
P.S. For those who may be curious, Astoria High School was League Champions and in the State playoffs in 1993 and again in 1994. State Semi-Finalist in 1994. These playoff appearances were the first in 21 years, and the only back-to-back football championships in the history of the school.