WESLEY CHAPEL – Head Coach Tico Hernandez would make one heck of a boat captain. In the face of tumultuous seas in his first two seasons at the helm, Hernandez stays calm and focused on the goal. He understands that he is only as good as his ship and his crew–that the responsibility for the preparation and success of the ship and crew falls on him and that regardless of the surly seas and the lack of resources in years past, the ship must set sail–work has to be done.
Wesley Chapel has been through some lean times the past two seasons under Hernandez going just 2-18, but talk to him and his players and while accepting of the past two years, they could care less. Those were 2013 and 2014. They’ve got a mission to accomplish that goes beyond wins and losses. They’re simply trying to restore the pride the community of Wesley Chapel exuded when mentioning their Wildcats at the beginning of the 2000’s. Since 2004, the ‘Cats have had just one winning season and the last time they even got to four wins was 2010.
Hernandez’ first season, the Wildcats went 0-10. Last season, they went 2-8. If that trend continues, the ‘Cats will have reached something that hasn’t been accomplished in half of a decade. Although transfers seemed to happen on a daily basis both last season and this summer, Hernandez and his staff along with his players continue to take an immense amount of pride in what they do, and who they represent regardless of who’s on the roster.
We caught up with Hernandez after his squad defeated Citrus last Friday in their preseason classic 15-7 and as per usual when we speak to him, his tone was positive, upbeat and solely focused on what he and his staff had to do to make his players become better men and football players. Here now, is Coach Hernandez in his own words.
BCP: What’s your quick assessment following the ‘W’ versus Citrus on Friday night?
TH: “The boys played well. Obviously there were dropped passes, some missed assignments that will obviously take reps to get fixed, we were able to weather the storm for the victory, but some games we are definitely going to need to minimize those mistakes especially with the tough district that we’re in.”
BCP: You guys put in a tireless effort this offseason working on reps through 7-on-7, obviously having the pads on is a much more realistic barometer of where your kids are at, but with such a young team the reps are already starting to show aren’t they?
TH:”This whole summer we worked our butts off and we had some kids definitely make some plays. Marcus Gillott made some big plays in space. Secondary looked sharp linebackers did a fantastic job causing some forced fumbles and sacks, so the defense looked pretty good. Offensively, we had a few missed assignments and a couple dropped balls–and dropped balls equals points if we can take care of that I can easily see us making our goal which is 28+ points a game.”
BCP: With the kind of adversity you’ve faced, it’s easy for a team to get down, but you guys are far from that aren’t you coach?
TH: “I hope so. We talk to the boys everyday about attitude and effort. Every time we’re getting together, we’re competing–whether it’s in the classroom–whatever–doesn’t matter if it’s a chicken wing eating contest, we’re trying to get what we call ‘all-state reps’… having these guys get their mental mindset into believing it’s about winning every single rep and I think (las) Friday night was a good testimony to that. I was real proud of the boys, we had ZERO personal fouls and unsportsmanlike penalties; we actually only had four penalties and played a very disciplined football game in my eyes.”
BCP: What are some of the “micro” goals that are helping to sort the “macro” which is the bigger picture have you set?
TH: “End every series at a kick–whether it be a field goal, an extra point or a punt–close to a dozen series and we ended all but one that way (last Friday)–that was one of our goals. We make little goals like that and we can then see the bigger picture and start to see things moving in the right direction.”
BCP: It feels like you might be closer than ever to getting the culture that way it should be and one that you’ve envisioned since taking over at Wesley Chapel, is that a fair assessment?
TH: “Everything takes time–everything takes time in life that’s worth doing. We’re real proud of the boys–coaches, administration–everybody. We’re close than ever to putting a product on the field that our community our fans our families will be real proud of. I feel very good about that.”
BCP: What was it like before lining-up and playing after waiting all offseason?
TH: “Citrus was a 5-5 football team last season and they’re still a pretty good football team. Coach Taylor does a great job with that program so we were anxious and we were excited–a little nervous–to see what we could do and the boys had a great week of practice which is what we talk about when we say to win Friday’s game on Monday and actually Saturday when it comes to film and doing the prep. I preach that we just don’t show up on Friday to play a game.”
BCP: You mentioned the district. Two of your wins in 2014 came against district opponents from this season, but more-so than concentrating on at least getting those two wins, it sounds like you want them to just stay focused and things might get interesting this season, don’t you?
TH: “We have the physical ability–obviously we’re not going to be the biggest in terms of roster size, but we will have the talent that we should be able to push back, we will be able to play fundamental football–not have worry about about every single thing–so our boys can just go out and concentrate on executing which should give us a shot. Between the ears is a powerful tool, even on the elite teams, but I want our kids to be strong mentally even in the adversity. Even if you haven’t gotten the job done the last series, know that I’m still coming back to you and that your head has to be up at all times. Just don’t dwell on the negatives.”