good to GREAT!
Coach Creighton — The 2006 season is finally under way. It has been a long wait since last November’s loss to Capital University in the second round of the National Playoffs. We have all been chomping at the bit to get back out on the field to erase the memory of that painful loss and to improve on last year’s season.
We are off to a good start. Our off-season was as productive as we have had in my six off-seasons at Wabash. We grew in strength and we got faster. Our five weeks of spring football really allowed our underclassmen to become more familiar with our schemes and to improve at their various positions. The upperclassmen settled into their roles as team leaders. As a result of working out together at 6:00 a.m. and all the other things we do together as a team, our chemistry rose to an all-time high.
This past May, our team traveled to the country of Panama for an eight-day trip. Once there, we worked with Panamanians on remote farms, hiked a mountain, explored the jungle, boated through the canal, hung out at a resort on the beach, and played a game against a Panamanian All Star team. It was an awesome experience and brought our team together in ways that are difficult to adequately articulate. It may have been the best thing that has happened to our football program in the last six years.
The players reported on August 13 and we then went out to Marshall, Indiana for our four days of “camp.” We have been very excited about the potential of this year’s recruiting class and although we won’t really be able to truly evaluate them for another four years, they are off to a strong start.
I still can’t believe the freshmen beat the reigning champs and undefeated senior class in our annual Tug-O-War competition. In addition to getting all 115 players over a 16-foot wall while carrying a football and going through an obstacle course that included canoeing upriver, dragging tires up a cliff, flipping tractor trailer tires, and carrying teammates on 12-foot long 2x4 pieces of wood, our team confirmed its season goals and we started to become a family.
Our theme for the year is good to GREAT. Depending on one’s perspective, last year’s season and the overall state of our program can be defined in many ways. In terms of what we believe our true potential to be, we define last season as very good but not great. How can something be labeled great when you know that you underachieved in the last game? This season we are in pursuit of our ultimate potential. We are committed to becoming our best and when we begin to realize our potential as a team we will know that we are living our theme and going from good to GREAT.
Wabash College is a special place. It is unique in so many different ways. In order to begin to understand what Wabash and Wabash Football are all about, you need to come and spend time with us. We play in a very tough conference (three schools, including Wabash, have played for a National Championship in football) and our home game schedule this year is challenging to say the very least. We would love for you to come and see a game and to experience Wabash on a football Saturday.
I hope your senior season is going exactly the way you dreamed it would. Have a great week.
g2G!