I miss football.

I do.

I know it’s basketball season.

I know we are great.

But I miss football.

I do.

Bennett’s blog on ESPN.com has a couple must read articles if you are suffering from football withdrawals as I am.

In the post I quote from below Brian details HCCS media meeting from yesterday. Most of the notes are the standard fare of a team preparaing for the start of spring practice.  

However, the highlight of this is the story HCCS tells at the end. It’s a fitting summation of his larger view of the coaching a team. You can’t just be good on the field; you have to be good everywhere.

Strong was asked about the now-legendary first team meeting he called after getting the head-coaching job last winter, when he ripped into the players and told them they weren't good enough.

"More than anything, what pissed me off was grades," he said. "That's why I said I want a team meeting right away, because of their grades. You show me a good football team, and I'll show you good grades. You show me a bad football team, and I'll show you bad grades. [Bad grades show you] they're not committed, they don't care, they're just going through the motions. A team with good grades has players who want to graduate, who want good things to happen."

Strong said the grades have improved since he took over, and the team has had a cumulative GPA above 2.5 the past two semesters. He still makes periodic classroom checks himself. He said he walked into a class last week and saw one of his players arguing with a professor. The player didn't see Strong enter through the back of the room but heard Strong yell out, "Excuse me?"

The player's reaction?

"He turned around and was like, 'Oh, God,'" Strong said.

Linkage