The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Murphy’s Law at LEC: Little things matter
The Reilly Murphy era began months ago following his hire in December 2018. But Aug. 12 was the first day the coach and the Storm’s full roster hit the field together.
One thing is certain as the countdown to LEC’s 2019 football season is underway:
It’s Murphy’s Law on the field.
On Day 1 of the Storm’s first practice, the first-year coach saw plenty of positives at Jack Britt Stadium in Painesville. The playbook given to returning players in the offseason was put to good use. Murphy said those players are getting acclimated to his system.
With more than 100 players on the roster, which includes about 60 who are newcomers — either freshman or transfers — there was some sloppiness with the latter players, and that was expected, the coach said.
He also said physical mistakes can be corrected. Of bigger concern for the LEC coach were mental breakdowns. It was as simple as not touching the sideline on sprints, or walking to and from drills or a play.
“Hustle!” yelled Murphy on several occasions during practice.
On this day, there were plenty of up-downs for the players — 10 at a time for the first no-no, then doubled each time for not following through. Needless to say, Murphy got the attention of his players.
“It’s just setting the tone, setting the expectations,” said Murphy. “Letting them know we want to do the little things right, and build from there.
“It’s much easier to be very hard if we’re taking one step the right way. (If we’re) not touching the line, how are we going to be able accomplish the things we really want to accomplish?” said Murphy. “Day 1, you can’t them an inch on that kind of stuff.”
Considering LEC is coming off an 0-11 season with a revamped roster, there’s no where to go than up for Murphy and Co. The goal early on is keeping his team sharp mentally, but also physically. The coach vows to have the Storm in shape come to start of the regular season, which begins Sept. 5 at Mercyhurst.
“There’s so many things we can control, and one of those is being in shape,” said Murphy. “We want this to be one of the tougher camps they’ve gone through so when times are tough, we’ve practiced those mental moments and are able to push through it.”
Quarterback Kolston Brewster of Perry said after one day it’s obvious the camp won’t be easy.
“Coach Murph wants ever yone conditioned,” said Brewster. “He made it ver y clear today we have some running to do, and some conditioning to work on.”
Like Murphy, Brewster is relatively new to LEC. He enrolled for the winter semester earlier this year after transferring in from the University at Buffalo. He’s competing with Javarian Smith, the team’s starting QB in 2018, for the No. 1 spot.
Murphy split the team into two groups of about 50 for the practice session that went from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Brewster and Smith were in the same group, and that was done on purpose by Murphy.
“I love competition,” said Brewster. “Competition makes everyone better. Brings out the best in everyone.”
Murphy expects the QB competition to extend into September, and perhaps even into the day of the Storm’s first game Sept. 5. If that’s the case, the coach is fine with that.
“I’m not going to force anything,” he said. “It’s just naturally going to happen organically. I think the cream will rise, and right now we just have two guys that have the ability to lead the team. Either one, we can win with. I feel strong about that.”