Hillsborough County public schools have cancelled school on Monday due to the tropical storm approaching and obvious weather concerns for the students. Jesuit will has the same concerns and students will not be attending classes tomorrow. No school, means no athletic activities can take place on campus. So how does this effect Tampa Bay football teams preparing for week 1 match-ups on Saturday?
A Typical Work Week for Football Teams in Tampa Bay (Not uniform for every team. Schedules vary)
Monday: Installation Day – Introduction of opponents offense, defense and special teams. More learning, less physical contact. Or, could be dedicated to offense or defense.
Tuesday: Review of installation – with more physical contact and higher tempo. Or, could be dedicated to offense or defense.
Wednesday: Polish Day – Usually a shorter practice. Players should have a complete grasp of what their opponent is trying to do and their own game plan. Or, could be a combination day of offense and defense
Thursday: Walk and Talk – Not really walk, more so sprinting with no contact.
Friday: Game Day
Jesuit head football coach doesn’t think missing one day of practice will effect his preparation too much. Jesuit is scheduled to host Plant on Saturday. The game is highly anticipated and will showoff many of Tampa Bay’s top prospects. “It’s [losing practice on Monday] not going to effect us much at all. I will have to stay the course to make sure we are prepared to play them. Everybody will be dealt the same hand. No one will be at a disadvantage,” says James Harrell.
Jesuit was not able to play Friday, but Plant did. Following games on Friday night, it is a profession practice that coaches exchange film from the previous two games in order to prepare for that opponent to following week. So, Plant and Jesuit would be exchanging film on the spring game and the preseason classic. Well, weather prevented Plant from playing a spring game, Jesuit did not have a spring game and Jesuit did not play a fall classic. In order to prepare for each other, the two coaching staff exchanged the last two playoff games from the 2011 season. Neither team has seem the each other in 2012 yet.
If school is cancelled Tuesday, Coach Harrell still thinks their preparation will be fine. “If school is cancelled on Tuesday, we will have a Wednesday practice which is a combination day as a Thursday practice where we will have to go offense, defense and special teams. Friday is a typical pregame practice. Shouldn’t impact us much at all. I don’t see it”
At the end of the day, the game should be played on Saturday and Coach Harrell has no excuses. “Our kids, they are waiting to play the game. excited about it. Like I said, everybody is dealt the same hand. We have to prepare for it, so there are really no excuses”