- November 5, 2024
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School isn’t in session for another week, but education starts early for Matanzas football players.
The offensive linemen show up to Matanzas’ facilities around 7 a.m. for classroom work. By 8 a.m., all players are on the field and ready for work.
After about 2.5 hours of practice, the team breaks for lunch. The afternoons consist of character class and walk-throughs. In total, players are at Matanzas from early in the morning until about 3 p.m. The days are long and intense. First-year coach Jeff Nettles knows that. But if the team wants to create a winning brand, it has to put in the work, Nettles said.
“I’ve been very pleased,” Nettles said Thursday, moments after he wrapped up the fourth day of the six-day camp. “We have a group of seniors that has done a good job. They are really starting to buy into the amount of work and intensity of practice.”
Practice hasn’t been perfect, Nettles said. But that’s to be expected.
Heading into his first season as the Pirates’ coach, Nettles said the team’s physicality continues to be an area that needs improvement.
“I can tell with our demeanor and our approach that we’re still not a physical team,” Nettles said. And that starts at the top, from the coaching staff, down to the seniors, and onto the incoming freshmen.
“The coaches have to have a constant, businessman, tough demeanor,” Nettles said.
As the team ran through its offensive set Thursday morning, an increase in leadership was evident on the field: Players were barking at each other in positive ways.
“We’re definitely better in that area,” Nettle said. “When your seniors say, ‘Enough is enough,’ that’s a big deal.”
Matanzas will likely dress 35 varsity players this season, a number that Nettle said is “thin.” But those players have gotten closer over a tough offseason program. “I love those 35 players,” Nettles said.
And while learning plays and formations is largely important for a winning program, Nettles said he gets a lot of gratification from the character classes. During that time, coaches preach to the student-athletes about how their own decisions impact their playing days. The idea, Nettles said, is for players to recognize their mistakes — in the classroom, on the football field and in everyday life — before they commit them.
“We talk about starting the winning tradition at Matanzas,” Nettle said, as he pounded his fist on the conference table in his classroom. “We talk about this group of seniors starting the winning tradition. It is our responsibility. We have to have a winning season.”
