Photo by Jason Olson/Deseret News
I was blessed—or cursed—to be a part of two different Coaching regimes: one that went to consecutive bowl games, and one that went home for consecutive bowl seasons. While seeing your family for an extra week during Christmas break is nice, the bowl games are more beneficial to individual players and teams.
When a team reaches the all-important sixth win, it sets its self up for an additional couple weeks of football practices that losing programs don’t get to participate in. I was never the kind of player that loved practice, but I appreciated the extra time on the field while other teams were at home sucking down eggnog.
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Those couple of weeks help build and establish a program for the next year. Coaches are able to evaluate young talent in short scrimmages and contact drills. Starters are able to rebuild the strength lost during the long season, which can catapult players towards spring and summer conditioning.
Those practices also give players additional time on the field with Coaches to learn technique, schemes, and position mastery.
The learning aspect of bowl preparation is what contributed the most to my individual growth as a player. Being able to assess my performances on film and then have the opportunity to get out on the field enabled me to fix bad habits and restore proper technique before the introduction of a new season.
When I think of the springs after bowl games, I can definitely say I came into the next season more prepared and ready to contribute after participating in a bowl game. Missing out on the bowl games early in my career slowed my progress and made the beginning of the winter semester the absolute worst: conditioning, lifting, and position drills.
P.S.—I also need to mention the fact that consistent attendance in bowl games in crucial to recruiting. 18-year-old kids love to hear about bowl game experiences and the cool gifts and such. The national exposure also helps bring BYU’s accomplishments to a wider audience.
Gotta love the MWC’s television contract, but I would like to thank the Mtn. for updating the HD cameras. I’m glad Cougar nation didn’t experience The Gooch in HD. That would've been U-G-L-Y, and I would've never lived it down.
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