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AFM Magazine


The Staff Report

What Do You Do When All Your Toys Are Broken?
by: Gene DeMarco
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The start of a new season always involves the coaching staff’s discussion of personnel. We have sat in these meetings as a GA, as a volunteer, as an assistant, as a coordinator and as head coach. It seems that in every one of these meetings the discussion of depth creates quite a bit of emotional dialogue. Who wants the player on offense? How many tailbacks do we need? Do we need that many at wide out? Can we get by with the amount of defensive and offensive linemen? After the discussion, you look at the depth chart and inevitably one of your assistants always says, “How is it that the offense gets all the toys?” Well, the following story is a true account of what happened to our football program in 2004, the year all our toys were broken due to injury.

We know the coach speak – “Injuries are part of the game”; “You have to overcome injuries”; “The strong will survive.” We also know reality. How do you approach every week with the hope of winning, leaving everything on the field and using no excuses for losing. In 2004 we lost 18 players. Yes, 18 players to season-ending injuries. We finished the season with our fifth string quarterback playing in our last three games. When that didn’t work, we used our senior receiver at quarterback and ran a very limited version of the spread offense. We finished with a winning record in one of the toughest NAIA conferences. It was a very emotional year as a coach, because we always accept responsibility for our team’s performance. The process of adapting to the emotional reactions of shock, anger and despair all were evident – after the season. Yes, it was after the season, because although the season of 2004 was the year of injuries, it taught us more about coaching than the previous 18 years.

The most important thing to believe in when injuries hit is to approach every game with the idea of finding a way to win! This season, since most of the injuries were on offense, we decided to control the ball, mainly on the ground, and manage the clock. We finished second in the league in first downs and time of possession, allowing our defense to keep us in the game. Remarkably, eight games this year were decided by a touchdown or less and all eight were in question during the 59th minute of the game.

It was evident that all those coaching clichés are actually true and 2004 was one of the most enjoyable years because we had the opportunity to overcome adversity. We looked at 2004 as an opportunity and not as a string of bad luck. Luck does not exist. Opportunity is what drives hope. Hope is a willingness to believe. We actually believed we would win every game, every week. Our players truly refused to accept bad luck. The final thing that became evident was to never use excuses for not achieving our goals. We took the season and its situation and made an effort to learn from it, not to use the excuse of injuries as a reason for failure. We addressed the following questions about our injuries:

#1. We evalutated our training program. Is off-season program contributing to the right rate of injuries? We traded the 6:00 AM conditioning for 6:00 AM speed training workouts. The bench-squat-power clean triad was replaced by all full body movement exercises. Lightweight snatches, push-jerks, front squats, snatch-squats and power cleans are more suited to what happens on the field. Static stretch was replaced with dynamic stretching under the supervision of all the coaches and just me, the head coach. RESULT – We went through spring ball with a small amount of pulls, but no season-ending injuries.

2. We evaluated our practice and game field condition and found that we were hurting our kids because of the poor condition of the surfaces. We have addressed this issue by changing locations on the practice field, watering the fields and decreasing the number of events on both fields. We anticipate that our facility will have an artificial surface in the future. RESULT – A better and safer track for our kids.

3. We evaluated our equipment. Every pair of old school shoulder pads was tossed out and replaced by a top-of-the line model by a quality company. Our helmets are now virtually all new, with the technological design that limits head trauma. But the most important piece of the equipment issue was to have the manufacturer representative come and fit our players properly. We are coaches. We are not designers. Bring in the people who know the product. RESULT – An athlete who is properly equipped.

4. We evaluated our practice schedule. The full-go, full-pads Western Pennsylvania mentality was replaced by a more strategic approach. This included less contact and more individual periods. We still practice hard. We conditioned in the beginning to prepare for playing when they got tired.

5. Lastly, we evaluated ourselves. Did we put our kids in a position to succeed? Did we do our best job of placing available personnel in the right situation? Did we accentuate our strengths and try to limit our weaknesses? Did we seize opportunities and minimize threats?

In closing, the list of season ending injuries is included. This will happen to you and your program at some point. When it does, remember the important things. “Find a way to win,” enjoy the process and never use excuses. Learn from the experience. Coaching is all about the hope of the next game. Keep the faith and continue to teach and learn.


In his 12 years as head coach at Geneva College, Gene DeMarco has won more games than any other coach in the history of Geneva football. Taking over the program in 1993, DeMarco has compiled an overall record of 83-44. In 2003, DeMarco surpassed his former coach, Gene Sullivan, for the most wins by any other Geneva coach. A standout linebacker in the early 1980's, DeMarco became the school's first NAIA All-American.

2004 GENEVA COLLEGE FOOTBALL
18 SEASON ENDING INJURIES
Position
Injury
1. Back-up Quarterback #2
Slap Tear to Right Shoulder Labrium
2. Back-up Quarterback #4
Slap Tear to Right Shoulder Labrium
3. Starting Quarterback
Torn ACL, MCL and Medial Meniscus of Right Knee
4. Back-up Quarterback #3
Sprained MCL of Right Knee
5. Starting Left Offensive Guard
Slap Tear to Left Shoulder Labrium with Rotator Cuff
6. Starting Right Offensive Guard
Torn ACL and MCL of Right Knee
7. Starting Tight End
Slap Tear to Left Shoulder Labrium with Rotator Cuff
8. Starting Right Offensive Tackle
Slap Tear to Right Shoulder Labrium
9. Starting Cornerback
Severe Concussion
10. Starting Cornerback
Cervical Spine Fracture/Spondolythesis
11. Starting Inside Linebacker
Slap Tear of Left Shoulder Labrium
12. Starting Wide Receiver/TE
Medial Meniscus Tear of Right Knee
13. Reserve Tight End Fractured
Left Humerus
14. Reserve Outside Linebacker
Torn ACL and MCL of Right Knee
15. Reserve Nose Guard
Lumbar Spine Injury, Herniated Disk
16. Reserve Cornerback
Lumbar Spine Injury, Herniated Disk
17. Reserve Inside Linebacker
Lumbar Spine Injury, Herniated Disk
18. Reserve Defensive Tackle Medial Meniscus Tear of Right Knee





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