MENTAL WORKOUT: CAPE CENTRAL PROGRAM TURNS FOOTBALL PRACTICES INSIDE OUT

Sometimes it was funny.

Sometimes it was serious.

But at all times it was educational.

"Who's got the tight end?" Cape Central assistant coach Darrick Smith asked the 60-plus sophomore through senior football players.

"Yeah, that's a touchdown if the quarterback sees it," added assistant coach Greg Klund.

On another play, assistant Bobby Haggerty chimed in, "We're not taking a crap in the woods."

Haggerty, while pointing out a flaw in one of his linebackers' stance, provided some comic relief.

"Look, the whole team is standing up," head coach Lawrence Brookins said later with a much more serious tone. "We've got to stay low."

"Good job DBs."

"Good!"

"See how you stopped your feet at contact, Mitch? Don't do that. Run through the guy."

On and on went the verbal exchange as Central's coaches broke down a filmed practice Friday during the air-conditioned classroom session.

Classroom training is an important part of Central's practice routine. The coaches and players all like it and insist it's an invaluable key to the team's success.

Many purposes

When Brookins became a head coach three years ago, one of the first things he did was change the team's early August practice routine.

Instead of the traditional two-a-days with one practice in the morning and one in the evening, he instituted one extended practice with a cool-down learning session in the middle.

The time of rest is certainly not wasted. The players are given a half hour to eat something light and drink all the fluids they want. They can shower, lay down, do anything except leave campus. The next hour is spent totally on the mental aspect of the game.

It gives the players more time to rest their bodies while keeping their minds on the game.

"You kill two birds with one stone," Brookins said. "I guess you could call it an active rest."

Brookins brought the idea from his many years of experience as a coach in mid-Missouri. Several schools in that part of the state do it, he said.

Sometimes, the coaches break down the team into groups with each group meeting in a different room with a different coach.

Other times, like Friday, the entire team gets together to review a filmed practice. Occasionally, they'll remove desks and walk through plays. Often they'll engage in "chalk talk" where they'll learn new plays and go over old ones.

But most of the time, they go over stances, alignments and keys. Though those aspects of the game are perhaps the most fundamental, Brookins contends "most big plays happen to your defense when you're not aligned properly."

"I love em," said Central player Adrien Wren of the classroom work. "I'm glad the coaches do it. You can see what you can do and what it takes to make you better. Then you get to go out on the field and do it."

Michael Zimmer, a lineman on the team, believes learning in the classroom and studying the film as a team had a huge impact on Central's success last year.

"It forces the athletes to use more than their body. You have to think," he said. "Watching the film, especially, gives you a different dimension."

Friday was the last day of the extended practices for Central this year, but the Tigers, like most teams, will take time to watch film in the classroom at least once and as many as three times a week during the season.

"The coaches break down the film and when you see the formations on the field in a game, you have an idea of what's going to happen," Zimmer said. "It makes your job so much easier."

Senior receiver Andrew Eaton appreciates learning entire plays, not just learning his own responsibility.

"Seeing it written out helps out a lot. You can have an understanding of the whole scheme, the whole play. You can get a picture of what it's supposed to look like on the field."

4 Not all fun and games

Though there are light moments, the teaching and learning are taken very seriously.

"We definitely take it seriously," Eaton said. "Coach Klund is pretty tough on us. He'll make us run if we don't pay attention. When we get out on the field we're expected to know what we learned."

Friday, before the entire team met for film review, the offensive and defensive linemen were given a test. The players had to draw plays and show what every player was supposed to do.

"They don't like those tests too much," Brookins said. "It would be un-American if they did."

Several tests were given over the week. This allows the coaches to see exactly who knows what and which players are having troubles grasping the system.

Similar situations

Charleston coach Brent Anderson said he's been doing the extended practice routine for the five years he's been head coach there. He said he took the idea from former Charleston coach Danny Kesselring.

"I'll never ever do it any other way," said Anderson. "It's great for the coaches and the players."

Anderson said his team doesn't do much classroom work during the break. Instead they review the first practice and preview the next practice. Mostly, the time is used for the players to relax.

"It's also a good time for the coaches to communicate," he said.

Scott City also goes with the extended practice format.

The Rams haven't done a lot of classroom work, but they have used the time between practices to watch some film and walk through plays.

"We had more planned," said Scott City coach Stephen O'Brien, "but we've been forced to do some other things in that time. But we definitely try to get a little extra work done while they're cooling inside."

O'Brien said studying film has become one of the most important aspects of coaching.

"It's changed a lot since I was in school," he said. "You used to be able to just line up and run people over. You can't do that now. You have to study and do a lot of extra work."