Preface:
My friend Matt wrote this post in 2015, check it out: http://illiniulti.blogspot.com/2015/04/24.html
I promised him I'd do a similar write-up.
A few pre-regionals notes on the state of the team that I want to mention before I get into it.
- At sectionals two weeks prior I felt like we were carrying a lot of outcome-oriented expectation centered around winning the section again. This in combination with some strong play from Chicago and ISU gave us a healthy dose of humility - those teams played great and we didn't execute well.
- We had two good weeks of practice leading up to regionals. The majority of our roster was healthy and going hard, we were a great balance of focused and loose.
- In our last practice before regionals, I wanted to remind the team what makes us good and I wanted to give us a touchstone to fall back on in times of doubt. I talked about trusting (your teammates and yourself), about expectations (we never expect to win or to lose, we expect to play well), and I talked about how I felt that the identity of our team this year was as a mentally consistent, hard working, "blue collar" team. I did not say this, but I felt that we were among the best/fastest teams in the region at person defense when we fully committed to the effort it takes.
- Going into regionals I felt like the pressure to perform was almost completely gone. Having gotten 4th at sectionals very significantly changed our mindset for the better, removing a lot of the weight of expectation and helping us recommit to our values.
- The format change heavily favored the 1 and 2 overall seeds by providing a relatively easier path to the semifinals by seed.
- I felt like our chances going into the weekend were 15-20%, mostly depending on how we showed up. I thought we had a great shot if we brought our A-game.
-----
24 (plus 1)
All times are approximate, based on my memory and the tweets we have.
3:00 pm, Saturday, April 28th
The team has wrapped up a 2-0 day with a strong performance versus a quality MSU team and an underrated GVSU squad. Me, Champe, and Yiding drive over to the other field site to see if we can catch the end of the neck-and-neck Gungho/Flywheel pool play game. We get to the field site right when the game ends, feel dumb and head back to the original site to scout Purdue/Kentucky a bit.
3:45
Notre Dame is camped out watching the next field over (MSU/Indiana), so I wander over and say hi to all the Stump (South Shore Line) guys, get the low-down on Purdue, and wish them good luck for Sunday. Beetle and I talk about how awesome a stump finals would be, and we both apologize to each other in advance for taking the bid from the other. Feels good.
4:30
Keith messages the group about going to the thrift store to pick up blue collar shirts to wear during Sunday morning warm ups. I am loving this idea, I ask him to get me one too.
4:40
Purdue/Kentucky is at DGP, Purdue has to go upwind on offense to win. Kentucky gets a layout D on an incut, works it to the goal line, calls TO. Subsequently drops the wide open game winner. Purdue works it down to the opposite goal line, calls their own TO. Long upline from the reset, ballgame. Looks like we get Purdue tomorrow morning.
4:50
We talk for a bit about the matchups we want to use and the approach we want vs Purdue. We're feeling good about the way our defense has been playing so far, and we feel like we can put a lot of pressure on them in the reset space.
5:00
The weather has turned pretty nice, so we stick around at the field site to throw some hucks and win the fields. Yiding throws some jump balls to me and Champe we get some quality trash talking in. Feels good.
5:40
Josh's family is hosting a bbq for the whole team for dinner! Huge! We head over. Note: In a lot of ways, this tournament felt like a home tournament for us. Both Josh's and Champe's families live about 30 minutes from the field site. This made the whole experience have a much friendlier and comfortable feel.
6:15
At the bbq there is a lively discussion about the validity of "quack quack seat back" versus "fives" for staking your claim on a chair. As a Minnesotan, I'm a strong quack quack advocate. Spirits are high and we're having a good time.
6:35
Champe and Yiding are determined to crush Eric in ping pong, so I chat for a while with Kyle, Bif, Nate, and Jeff about who we think the best player in college is right now and who should win the callahan. We also talk about how good you have to be for you to win with a terrible video (Nethercutt), and how much of a travesty it was that neither Jack Williams nor Ben Sadok won last year.
8:15
We head back to Champe's dad's house (which his grandpa built!) and settle in to watch the Bucks/Celtics game 7.
8:45
Andy comes over and we get into some lively conversation about who should be 1st team all-region in the GL, the objective best way to beat (Michigan's) clam, and how soccer zone/person defense is taught. I tell Andy I think Kyle is the best player in the region, he doesn't buy it. I tell him "you'll see".
9:30
The Celtics are just obliterating the Bucks. I consider staying up to watch the Warriors/Pelicans for about 5 seconds, then decide against it and head to bed.
3:20 AM, Sunday, April 29th
I wake up, check the time on my phone. T-minus 6 hours. I try not to get too worked up about how exactly I want to prepare my team against the clam if we make semis. I manage to chill out enough to get back to sleep, thankfully.
7:30
I wake up to some really soft TV noises coming from Yiding in the next bed over. Turns out he is watching a replay of a disc golf tournament on his phone (??) with the volume on the lowest setting. Unclear how long he has been watching, though likely between 0.5 and 8 hours.
7:45
I'm feeling good today. I say good morning to Champe, we eat a couple pieces of cantaloupe, and we rock n roll to the site. The drive is mostly quiet, each of us with our own thoughts. We talk briefly about how we'll approach the clam if we see Michigan in semis. Before the weekend I had a conversation with Andy about finding the right balance of "worry" and "trust" as a coach. This conversation had a huge impact on my approach to the weekend, mostly by reminding me (as the coach) to remember to trust our work and our players more. I think it is natural for coaches to worry, but sometimes I can slip too far to the worry side. This weekend I was resolved to be a source of stability and trust for the team.
8:45
It's sunny with mild wind. Gungho is crushing Purdue next to us. Keith hands me my "blue collar" shirt. Our energy is strong; high focus and good spirits.
10:30
Our offense is carving up Purdue and our defensive pressure is causing real problems for them in the backfield. Rozo is closing down their main handler and we've been able to create a bunch of blocks and punts as a result.
10:55
We head into half up 8-3. I talk with Yiding for a few minutes about adjustments, but we feel like the plan is working well and we'll just stick to it.
11:40
D2 has just rattled off 5 breaks in a row on Purdue and we close them out on an efficient O point. On the next field over, Chicago is taking it to Michigan, and they close it out 14-10. Turns out I won't need to use my clam schpiel after all!
11:50
I'm trying not to pay too much attention to what's going on in the other quarters because I want to keep my mind focused on the game in front of us. Despite this I catch that ISU won on DGP over Illinois and ND won on DGP over Indiana. Phew. I congratulate Zubair on the win and we flip. We're on D going upwind to start. I'm glad we're playing UChicago - we have a great relationship between teams and the game are always very competitive and spirited. I am also slightly relieved to not have to play Michigan, though this Chicago team is excellent and had smashed us pretty good at conferences a few weeks back.
12:20
We go up 3-1. We did not change our strategy much between this game and conferences - we made some tweaks to our matchups and we had Kyle cross over and take Wets. Kyle did an incredible job, anchoring the offense while also shutting down Chicago's best cutter for about half of the D points.
12:55
At 7-5 we load up a Dline going upwind and break for half on an inside break from Kenneth. The oline is untouchable right now - turning in flawless holds against whatever look Chicago is bringing. I know they're going to come out of half firing and their top guys have the legs to play a lot of points in a row, so I'm trying to sub so that we can put them away.
1:30
At 13-7 we send out D2 and Chicago drops a swing pass giving a short field. We fast break and score immediately, then D2 closes out the game downwind next point. Finals! I am not particularly excited at this point, I am very much in the mindset of one game/point at a time. It was not until much later that I felt the magnitude of what we were doing.
1:50
The Stump (South Shore Line) regional final is a reality! I'm very excited about this outcome. I head over and talk to Beetle, Klenke, and Hoff to congratulate them and wish them a good game. I tell them that I will be happy regardless of who wins, and I mean it. I quickly add, "but we'll give you our best" in a totally unneeded clarification. We're on O going downwind. It's a very mild wind, conditions are good. Sunny and not too hot.
1:55
I talk with Yiding and Champe about our defensive approach and the matchups we want. We feel like Kyle has the legs to play a lot given how our bracket games went, and we feel like we'll need him to help contain Beetle.
2:10
We come out firing, Kyle Ds up Beetle and we go up 3-0 right away. I'm feeling okay about that, but I know that ND has a lot of great athletes capable of making big D plays and a couple really strong throwers who have the legs to play every point. I'm wary of the push I expect them to make.
2:25
Hoff gives me a high five on the sideline. What an awesome guy.
2:40
The oline is playing lights out. Turning in efficient hold after hold against a variety of ND defensive looks. We turned it twice in the first half but converted quickly on the back of Josh's defense after the turn. ND is sagging off Keith and he is getting consistently free in the endzone. We go into half up 8-5.
2:45
I talk with Yiding and Champe about adjustments. In general we've done a great job containing their deep game, but there are a few really great players we hadn't known about going in that we want better matchups for. I know Kyle is getting a bit tired, but we also know he'll have halftime to rest and that we'll need him down the stretch.
2:50
Going into the second half I know that Beetle is going to play almost every point, that the ND sideline energy will be intense, and that it is unlikely that our offense will continue to play flawlessly. This was my worry mode showing a bit. I do some mental game planning for how I want to approach the likely ND push/our oline getting broken. My general plan is to show my trust for them and to commit to not over-coaching.
3:10
We break out of half to go up 9-5. Then the ND push comes, bringing the game to even at 10s. As I expected, the errors we are making are execution errors, the offensive decisions we are making have been generally good. My play calls for the offense don't change much, and I do my best to show with my voice and actions that I trust them to execute well.
3:35
We hold and break to 13-11, they hold and break to tie at 13s. On the next O point, Kyle reels in a incut past a bidding Beetle, who receives a blue card. Kyle puts up an away shot to Keith, Keith has his guy on his back, goes up a bit too early, tips it, then follows and gets a clap catch layout for the goal! After that hold, I figure we'll get two chances to win, this point and DGP next point, and I send out our universe dline to try and break to win.
3:40
Matt makes a massive bid on a Beetle upline but comes up just empty. The D pressure is great and Beetle has to look off some options downfield, and the swing pass back to the center is bobbled and dropped. We go slow and set up an iso to Jeff about 30 yards out. Matt goes to pick up, looks at Kyle, Kyle says "you got it". Jeff strikes deep and gets past the backside help, Matt puts up a trust away flick. Ballgame. I'm standing about 10 yards away.
I don't exactly remember what happened next, but I remember rushing the field, shouting, and hugging everyone. I remember that I lost my pen somewhere, probably threw it. Someone told me I threw my hat in the air. I remember taking a ton of pictures, shaking a ton of hands. I remember saying good game to Notre Dame. I remember talking in the huddle about history and struggle and milwaukee and how our youth stepped up this year (our oline has 1 senior). I remember taking a picture with the players I had coached on Bolt. I remember telling Andy "I told you so", talking about Kyle. I remember hugging Carol. I remember talking to Pat and Bens and them coming over to congratulate us.
The evening was filled with excited discussions about nationals, with congratulatory emails and texts, and with a palpable feeling of excitement. Our van ride home was filled with talk about our seed, Max's experiences with nationals, and our next 4 weeks of practice. We're going to nationals!
My friend Matt wrote this post in 2015, check it out: http://illiniulti.blogspot.com/2015/04/24.html
I promised him I'd do a similar write-up.
A few pre-regionals notes on the state of the team that I want to mention before I get into it.
- At sectionals two weeks prior I felt like we were carrying a lot of outcome-oriented expectation centered around winning the section again. This in combination with some strong play from Chicago and ISU gave us a healthy dose of humility - those teams played great and we didn't execute well.
- We had two good weeks of practice leading up to regionals. The majority of our roster was healthy and going hard, we were a great balance of focused and loose.
- In our last practice before regionals, I wanted to remind the team what makes us good and I wanted to give us a touchstone to fall back on in times of doubt. I talked about trusting (your teammates and yourself), about expectations (we never expect to win or to lose, we expect to play well), and I talked about how I felt that the identity of our team this year was as a mentally consistent, hard working, "blue collar" team. I did not say this, but I felt that we were among the best/fastest teams in the region at person defense when we fully committed to the effort it takes.
- Going into regionals I felt like the pressure to perform was almost completely gone. Having gotten 4th at sectionals very significantly changed our mindset for the better, removing a lot of the weight of expectation and helping us recommit to our values.
- The format change heavily favored the 1 and 2 overall seeds by providing a relatively easier path to the semifinals by seed.
- I felt like our chances going into the weekend were 15-20%, mostly depending on how we showed up. I thought we had a great shot if we brought our A-game.
-----
24 (plus 1)
All times are approximate, based on my memory and the tweets we have.
3:00 pm, Saturday, April 28th
The team has wrapped up a 2-0 day with a strong performance versus a quality MSU team and an underrated GVSU squad. Me, Champe, and Yiding drive over to the other field site to see if we can catch the end of the neck-and-neck Gungho/Flywheel pool play game. We get to the field site right when the game ends, feel dumb and head back to the original site to scout Purdue/Kentucky a bit.
3:45
Notre Dame is camped out watching the next field over (MSU/Indiana), so I wander over and say hi to all the Stump (South Shore Line) guys, get the low-down on Purdue, and wish them good luck for Sunday. Beetle and I talk about how awesome a stump finals would be, and we both apologize to each other in advance for taking the bid from the other. Feels good.
4:30
Keith messages the group about going to the thrift store to pick up blue collar shirts to wear during Sunday morning warm ups. I am loving this idea, I ask him to get me one too.
4:40
Purdue/Kentucky is at DGP, Purdue has to go upwind on offense to win. Kentucky gets a layout D on an incut, works it to the goal line, calls TO. Subsequently drops the wide open game winner. Purdue works it down to the opposite goal line, calls their own TO. Long upline from the reset, ballgame. Looks like we get Purdue tomorrow morning.
4:50
We talk for a bit about the matchups we want to use and the approach we want vs Purdue. We're feeling good about the way our defense has been playing so far, and we feel like we can put a lot of pressure on them in the reset space.
5:00
The weather has turned pretty nice, so we stick around at the field site to throw some hucks and win the fields. Yiding throws some jump balls to me and Champe we get some quality trash talking in. Feels good.
5:40
Josh's family is hosting a bbq for the whole team for dinner! Huge! We head over. Note: In a lot of ways, this tournament felt like a home tournament for us. Both Josh's and Champe's families live about 30 minutes from the field site. This made the whole experience have a much friendlier and comfortable feel.
6:15
At the bbq there is a lively discussion about the validity of "quack quack seat back" versus "fives" for staking your claim on a chair. As a Minnesotan, I'm a strong quack quack advocate. Spirits are high and we're having a good time.
6:35
Champe and Yiding are determined to crush Eric in ping pong, so I chat for a while with Kyle, Bif, Nate, and Jeff about who we think the best player in college is right now and who should win the callahan. We also talk about how good you have to be for you to win with a terrible video (Nethercutt), and how much of a travesty it was that neither Jack Williams nor Ben Sadok won last year.
8:15
We head back to Champe's dad's house (which his grandpa built!) and settle in to watch the Bucks/Celtics game 7.
8:45
Andy comes over and we get into some lively conversation about who should be 1st team all-region in the GL, the objective best way to beat (Michigan's) clam, and how soccer zone/person defense is taught. I tell Andy I think Kyle is the best player in the region, he doesn't buy it. I tell him "you'll see".
9:30
The Celtics are just obliterating the Bucks. I consider staying up to watch the Warriors/Pelicans for about 5 seconds, then decide against it and head to bed.
3:20 AM, Sunday, April 29th
I wake up, check the time on my phone. T-minus 6 hours. I try not to get too worked up about how exactly I want to prepare my team against the clam if we make semis. I manage to chill out enough to get back to sleep, thankfully.
7:30
I wake up to some really soft TV noises coming from Yiding in the next bed over. Turns out he is watching a replay of a disc golf tournament on his phone (??) with the volume on the lowest setting. Unclear how long he has been watching, though likely between 0.5 and 8 hours.
7:45
I'm feeling good today. I say good morning to Champe, we eat a couple pieces of cantaloupe, and we rock n roll to the site. The drive is mostly quiet, each of us with our own thoughts. We talk briefly about how we'll approach the clam if we see Michigan in semis. Before the weekend I had a conversation with Andy about finding the right balance of "worry" and "trust" as a coach. This conversation had a huge impact on my approach to the weekend, mostly by reminding me (as the coach) to remember to trust our work and our players more. I think it is natural for coaches to worry, but sometimes I can slip too far to the worry side. This weekend I was resolved to be a source of stability and trust for the team.
8:45
It's sunny with mild wind. Gungho is crushing Purdue next to us. Keith hands me my "blue collar" shirt. Our energy is strong; high focus and good spirits.
10:30
Our offense is carving up Purdue and our defensive pressure is causing real problems for them in the backfield. Rozo is closing down their main handler and we've been able to create a bunch of blocks and punts as a result.
10:55
We head into half up 8-3. I talk with Yiding for a few minutes about adjustments, but we feel like the plan is working well and we'll just stick to it.
11:40
D2 has just rattled off 5 breaks in a row on Purdue and we close them out on an efficient O point. On the next field over, Chicago is taking it to Michigan, and they close it out 14-10. Turns out I won't need to use my clam schpiel after all!
11:50
I'm trying not to pay too much attention to what's going on in the other quarters because I want to keep my mind focused on the game in front of us. Despite this I catch that ISU won on DGP over Illinois and ND won on DGP over Indiana. Phew. I congratulate Zubair on the win and we flip. We're on D going upwind to start. I'm glad we're playing UChicago - we have a great relationship between teams and the game are always very competitive and spirited. I am also slightly relieved to not have to play Michigan, though this Chicago team is excellent and had smashed us pretty good at conferences a few weeks back.
12:20
We go up 3-1. We did not change our strategy much between this game and conferences - we made some tweaks to our matchups and we had Kyle cross over and take Wets. Kyle did an incredible job, anchoring the offense while also shutting down Chicago's best cutter for about half of the D points.
12:55
At 7-5 we load up a Dline going upwind and break for half on an inside break from Kenneth. The oline is untouchable right now - turning in flawless holds against whatever look Chicago is bringing. I know they're going to come out of half firing and their top guys have the legs to play a lot of points in a row, so I'm trying to sub so that we can put them away.
1:30
At 13-7 we send out D2 and Chicago drops a swing pass giving a short field. We fast break and score immediately, then D2 closes out the game downwind next point. Finals! I am not particularly excited at this point, I am very much in the mindset of one game/point at a time. It was not until much later that I felt the magnitude of what we were doing.
1:50
The Stump (South Shore Line) regional final is a reality! I'm very excited about this outcome. I head over and talk to Beetle, Klenke, and Hoff to congratulate them and wish them a good game. I tell them that I will be happy regardless of who wins, and I mean it. I quickly add, "but we'll give you our best" in a totally unneeded clarification. We're on O going downwind. It's a very mild wind, conditions are good. Sunny and not too hot.
1:55
I talk with Yiding and Champe about our defensive approach and the matchups we want. We feel like Kyle has the legs to play a lot given how our bracket games went, and we feel like we'll need him to help contain Beetle.
2:10
We come out firing, Kyle Ds up Beetle and we go up 3-0 right away. I'm feeling okay about that, but I know that ND has a lot of great athletes capable of making big D plays and a couple really strong throwers who have the legs to play every point. I'm wary of the push I expect them to make.
2:25
Hoff gives me a high five on the sideline. What an awesome guy.
2:40
The oline is playing lights out. Turning in efficient hold after hold against a variety of ND defensive looks. We turned it twice in the first half but converted quickly on the back of Josh's defense after the turn. ND is sagging off Keith and he is getting consistently free in the endzone. We go into half up 8-5.
2:45
I talk with Yiding and Champe about adjustments. In general we've done a great job containing their deep game, but there are a few really great players we hadn't known about going in that we want better matchups for. I know Kyle is getting a bit tired, but we also know he'll have halftime to rest and that we'll need him down the stretch.
2:50
Going into the second half I know that Beetle is going to play almost every point, that the ND sideline energy will be intense, and that it is unlikely that our offense will continue to play flawlessly. This was my worry mode showing a bit. I do some mental game planning for how I want to approach the likely ND push/our oline getting broken. My general plan is to show my trust for them and to commit to not over-coaching.
3:10
We break out of half to go up 9-5. Then the ND push comes, bringing the game to even at 10s. As I expected, the errors we are making are execution errors, the offensive decisions we are making have been generally good. My play calls for the offense don't change much, and I do my best to show with my voice and actions that I trust them to execute well.
3:35
We hold and break to 13-11, they hold and break to tie at 13s. On the next O point, Kyle reels in a incut past a bidding Beetle, who receives a blue card. Kyle puts up an away shot to Keith, Keith has his guy on his back, goes up a bit too early, tips it, then follows and gets a clap catch layout for the goal! After that hold, I figure we'll get two chances to win, this point and DGP next point, and I send out our universe dline to try and break to win.
3:40
Matt makes a massive bid on a Beetle upline but comes up just empty. The D pressure is great and Beetle has to look off some options downfield, and the swing pass back to the center is bobbled and dropped. We go slow and set up an iso to Jeff about 30 yards out. Matt goes to pick up, looks at Kyle, Kyle says "you got it". Jeff strikes deep and gets past the backside help, Matt puts up a trust away flick. Ballgame. I'm standing about 10 yards away.
I don't exactly remember what happened next, but I remember rushing the field, shouting, and hugging everyone. I remember that I lost my pen somewhere, probably threw it. Someone told me I threw my hat in the air. I remember taking a ton of pictures, shaking a ton of hands. I remember saying good game to Notre Dame. I remember talking in the huddle about history and struggle and milwaukee and how our youth stepped up this year (our oline has 1 senior). I remember taking a picture with the players I had coached on Bolt. I remember telling Andy "I told you so", talking about Kyle. I remember hugging Carol. I remember talking to Pat and Bens and them coming over to congratulate us.
The evening was filled with excited discussions about nationals, with congratulatory emails and texts, and with a palpable feeling of excitement. Our van ride home was filled with talk about our seed, Max's experiences with nationals, and our next 4 weeks of practice. We're going to nationals!
Great post. And congratulations on the region.
ReplyDeletere: clam. My approach I think had decent success. Bring a 4th handler back and see how they decide to deal with it. Who are they leaving open and where are they leaving them open? And send handlers downfield, how are they dealing with handoffs and switches. I think this bit of scrambling leaves defenders uninvolved with the play while they figure what they are supposed to do next, leaving open and even unmarked players. Michigan was pretty quick (10ish throws) to go into man offense, not sure if that was intended or because we managed to get the disc moving. I think them going clam also gave UChicago which ran with ~14 guys for that game some welcomed rest after every turn - so a blessing in disguise.