Rockies Recap with head coach Adam Handley
Week 10 Sectional Rd. 1
Q — What are your thoughts as you end this first season out?
A — Obviously, you come into a new program and expect to change things and do things that you bring with you — X amount of plays, X amount of team things like going to Taylor (Team Camp), all those ideas you have. To see them executed and put together full circle at the end of the year is good to see.
You want to get more wins. No coach plans to go 0-10 but coming into the program where it was and where it is now I think that we’ve seen strides for improvement.
It’s going to take buy-in from the kids. It’s going to take buy-in from the whole team.
We are going to have “exit” interviews this week and talk with the seniors, and the juniors and the sophomores, getting their input and the freshman letting them know what we see for them next year. They may be moving positions. What do we want them to accomplish in the off-season to be successful for us and for us to be successful. I think that will be good to wrap it up for our guys.
Q — It had to be a learning process, for you too.
A — When you first get the job you get all the texts, “Congrats”, you get a couple that say “Congrats. The NLC is tough.” You know that.
You’ve seen team records and watched teams play. I saw that before I took the job and you know they’re (NLC teams) good. But you don’t really appreciate how good until you actually get in and have to prepare for them every week.
There is no off week. And that’s the tough part of this program.
It’s a challenge. I love challenges. The NLC isn’t going anywhere. It’s not going to get easier. We just need to understand how it is and what we have to do to compete.
Q — Was there a little bit of attraction to you because of that?
Any given year you are going to compete against several current, or soon to be Hall of Fame coaches. Was being able to test yourself by competing with that kind of guy who’s really established himself part of wanting to come here?
A — This is the premier conference in northern Indiana in my mind. A lot of people will argue that. But look at past seasons. There is a team from this conference that makes a playoff run almost every year.
The saying is that if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. I strive to be the best coach I can be for these kids and the staff that I have. If we want that kind of respect that’s how we get it.
Q — How do you feel things went this year? As a program?
A — This is an all-staff thing. We are all on board. It’s been about me coming in and being able to retain most of the staff already here and get them to buy in. It’s tough to be the new guy. It’s tough to say “This is what I want to do and this is how I want it done,” and those guys all said, “Let’s do it.”
I’m blessed to have an awesome staff. Those guys care about the kids, they know football and that’s all that I can ask of them.
We are going to get there. I know it’s frustrating as fans to sit and watch this back to back seasons, but I hope they see the differences we’ve made this year and what we are trying to do, and what we are trying to accomplish as we move forward.