Wheeeeee!!!

Ok so I'm ridiculously happy about this. Jason Clermont is comin' home! Two big bruisin' and cruisin' CANADIAN slotbacks, a speedster for a six pack offense and good enough guys all over the place to start to have one of the best and most agressive recieving corps in the league! HELL YEAH!

'Course now we need to really work on developing the young quarterbacks we have. With improving recievers it'll be a bit easier but still. We didn't exactly set the league on fire with the set we had.

And let's not forget Cates and an offensive line that is one of the best. That's where it starts people. While other's have been said to be better, when the 'Riders offensive line is all together and playing as a unit there is no one better.

But then again I have a different point of view when it comes to O-lines. I coached the offensive line for the Mounties this last year. That's a bantam team in the RMF. Oh yeah, and LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!!! But I digress. Here was my o-line:

Left Tackle - Big bruiser of a kid, Brandon, never played football until he stepped onto the field. Was a real quiet and placid kid. But stood about 5'10" and weighed in at 215. (Yeah that is a 14 year old kid as big as me.:)

Left Guard - Smaller guy, Austin, 6 foot, about 185. He WAS a defensive end the last year he played, but he had the speed and smarts to be a really great lineman. And he was 15 and I realized he could be a great leader for the others. He was my captain and did an incredible job of it.

Center - Dory, a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD! Who was too big to play in the younger league. About 5'8" and 160. Was the most consistent and toughest kid I had out there, and was incredible at center.

Right guard - Sean. 14, 5'10" and about 165. Not the biggest guy out there. Wasn't the fastest either. And at practice didn't really show off his great skills until he got pissed. But on game day, it was the same thing. He came to play. That first play he was shakey, but then BOOM! People got run over.

Right tackle - Lewis. 6ft, maybe a bit taller. And 135 lbs. No that's not a typo, he was a string bean. And slow. However, he knew the assignments and how to zone block almost perfectly and used his head to make sure he was in the right place at the right time.

Back up - Joseph. About 5'8", and 190 lbs. Happiest kid in the world. Couldn't piss him off to save my life. I even told him I was gonna start selling pictures of his mom nekkid and he just grinned at me. Never played football and I only had him for half a season, but he tried his hardest.

Here's the thing about all these kids. Not even Austin, who was fairly athletic, was a natural athlete. None of them had any particularily fantastic skills, and none of them would be picked for other sports to be the super star. However I fought for every single one of these kids to be my guys. Why? Cuz I know the secret of a great offensive line. Six to seven guys who want to work. Who take pride in doing everything the hard way. Who are willing to lay down their bodies to let others grab the glory. A group of guys who will bond together and make a name for themselves as a unit, not as individuals. I've been a part of these groups. I know how to look for them.

And these six guys did it. They became a unit faster than anyone else, and allowed our offense to gel around them. They never once said 'Look at us' they always pointed to our stars like Connor and Burke, and said 'Look at the touchdowns they got!' They worked harder than everyone else, and never once gave up. My guys pushed themselves and each other to keep getting better and better.

And let's not forget that on average, my guys gave up a lot of size to most teams. Most d-lines in the RMF had at least one behemoth who was like 250, and shoulda been playing high school but couldn't for some reason or another. Yet we ran. We ran over people like you wouldn't believe. Our running backs racked up, in 11 total games, over 5000 yards in rushing. And yes we passed. The RMF said they've never seen offensive stats like we put forward. We passed for close to 3000 yards as well.

So let me tell you some stories about my guys. Let me show you the character and the toughness these kids had. Let me tell you why I was so proud of them at the end of the season and why when I said to the captains who had the trophy, 'Y'know you should let the o-line have some time with that thing,' everyone, including the coaches, said 'hell yeah!' and my guys carried that huge beautiful piece of hardware off the field and to the dressing room we were using. They got the honour, they got the privilage of carrying it each and saying 'This is what WE did.' WE, you see that, we, the team. They brought it all back to the team and I was so proud of them.

So lessee. Let's start with my favorite moment from the preseason. Austin, who we were still arguing about where he would be, O or D, and Ben, another big boy who was one of our top d-ends, do a two on two against Dory and Lewis. The two smallest o-lineman out there. I pointed at Austin and Ben and said 'They beat you, you guys should be ashamed.' Then turned to my o-line and said 'Beat'um. Size is irrelevant, we've gone over the technique, and if you want to beat them and you do what you're s'posed to, you'll win.' Sure enough, Dory and Lewis just RAN OVER those two. Drove'um right out of the blocks and dumped'um both on their backs about 10 yards away. I was screaming and cheering and whooping so loud the entire team was looking over. Ben and Austin were embarassed. And this is what made me fight even harder for Austin to be an o-lineman. He got up and he nodded to Dory and looked at me and said 'I got beat. Gotta try harder.' Ben on the other hand waved it off and made light of it. Austin was a leader there, and someone willing to work. Defeat is as telling as winning is.

Another favorite practice moment. Ben was harrassing Sean, and Sean had had enough. In one on ones, Sean destroyed Ben, repeatedly. Every time Ben came in, Sean would shove whoever it was in there out of the way and go against Ben. And he spent the entire session schooling Ben. So proud of that mook. :)

Brandon, he was young, he's going through some tough times. He seemed a bit introverted and almost too quiet. He'd just moved from Calgary, and wasn't sure of himself. Occasionally he got whiney. Drove me nuts. So we're playing the Raiders and they've got this retarded defense where they've stacked two lineman and two linebackers on top of my left guard and tackle. That's Austin and Brandon. And Brandon keeps saying 'I don't know what to do, I get the first but the next guy gets past, what do I do, what do I do what do I do?!' and I finally snapped, I shouted at him 'Look! Just destroy the first idiot that crosses your face, and chances are he'll trip up the next guy stacked!' Brandon shot me a dirty look and said 'Fine' all sulky and stalked off. Next offensive series, I told Mark, our head coach, to send a play right up the 5 hole, which is to the left of the left tackle. He does. And you want to know what Brandon did? Exactly what I told him to do. That d-lineman steps up and Brandon DESTROYS HIM!! I mean just kills him! And sends him flying into the lineman in front of Austin, and both go down, so Austin just covers them so they can't get up. The two linebackers are now coming in hard, and Brandon does it again!! Just DEMOLISHES the lineback and sends him cartwheeling into the other. Both end up in a heap on top of the lineman, and my two stand over these four and hold them down. I'm jumping up and down on the sidelines, screaming and yelling and shouting, and generally looking like a maniac, and the other coaches think I'm pissed because we only got like 3 yards. As the offensive goes to huddle up I yell 'Brandon! Austin!' and they turn and one coach goes 'Take it easy Rich,' thinking I'm gonna freak. And I yell out 'DO IT AGAIN YOU STUDS!! That was exactly right!! DO IT AGAIN!' I explained it to the other coaches and we run to the right, get a first, and we run to the left again, and I'm guessing that my line told Connor where to grab the read cuz sure enough, they do it AGAIN!! They demolish four guys and the entire right side of the Raider's defense, and Conner cuts loose and is GONE! I was so impressed. I honestly cannot stop talking about that moment, it was so cool!

So as I said, a loss is as telling as a win when it comes to character. So is a bad game. Lewis had one of the worst games I've ever seen played on a football field. Guys blew past him, he didn't make any real blocks, only half blocked, and generally he stank up the place. It happens. I don't expect perfection. What I expect is learning a lesson even when a mistake is made. I dunno what was going on with Lewis that day but it was a bad day for him. We discussed it on the field, and afterwards at the next practice. I told him my rule. Making one mistake, and really the way he played I'm sure it was just one looooooong continuing mistake, is not bad. What is bad is making the exact same mistake in the exact same way. He took that to heart. The next game out I watched him just smash guys around. Here's this skinny kid who I'm sure my 12 year old girl is bigger than, just crushing guys in the next game. He came off the field and I grabbed his face mask, gave him a glare and said 'What was that?' He stared right back, smiled and said 'I'm not gonna make the same mistake coach.' And he didn't. He was stellar the rest of the season. So proud of him.

Dory. So he's one of the youngest guys on the field. He's smallish for the age and position. And he's got this totally relaxed demeanor that always throws me off, especially when I watch game film of him playing. You see the 'top' team, the 'Riders, had this big freakin' goon named Cy, who was like 6'4" and 280 lbs, and he was posting YouTube videos about how they were gonna win the championship and how he can crush anyone. Well we outpsyched ourselves and didn't play our game and we lost to the Riders. However one guy did play his game. Dory. See, Cy spent the game lined up on top of Dory. And my guy kicked Cy's ass! I told Dory, 'Make him remember you man. Make a tattoo of your facemask on his fat gut, and make sure he realizes, that you're no push over.' And he did. To this day I'm sure that blowhard has a big cross shaped bruise that will never go away over his belly button, put there by Dory. What a beast!

Finally Joseph. Or Jo-jo. See, I made a joke one day cuz he was not paying attention and I called him 'Joey-jo-jo Shabadue.' Like from the Simpsons. And from that point that was his name Jo-jo. And he didn't become a mascot but he became a rallying point. See, he wasn't very good, but when he did good it drove everyone else to get better. Every special team tackle, every great block, every time he worked hard everyone else worked harder. When he went in as backup, the guys around him stepped up and played harder to help him out and they coached him THEMSELVES to get him up to speed with everyone else. Jo-jo got much better and I'm really looking forward to having him back on the team next year.

So that's my long winded football rant. I loved coaching. And my guys impressed me and made me proud the whole year. They played for their team and crushed other teams within the rules. No dirty play, no smart mouth, nothing but showing they knew their jobs and doing them better than anyone else could. It was fabulous. And I get almost all of them back next year! :) So awesome.