Inside the Huddle: Sachem East Football: Day 1 ... Senior Leadership

Last season is history, and it's time to move on for Sachem East football. If there is any class of seniors that can bounce back from a 0-8 season and lead a program back to success, it is the 2012 class of rising seniors at Sachem East.

I first met this team two years ago during the summer going into our JV season, and I was immediately taken as part of this family. I have never seen a closer group of guys in my life. We know what it takes to win just as well as we know how to lose, (going from a 7-1 JV season, to an 0-8 varsity season) and as a whole we are committing ourselves to be successful. A lot of the men on this team feel that last season was failed due to the poor attitudes, egos, and work ethic of the senior class. We all witnessed what took place, and we all saw how much senior leadership can affect a team.

Last November, just as the season was coming to a close, myself along with about 10 other rising seniors, including junior Steven Casali, went to Buffalo Wild Wings as we often do to watch UFC fights. At the table over to us sitting was four of the coaches from a local rival school (not Sachem North). We all noticed them and they all noticed us. Next thing we knew we could hear them obnoxiously talking about our team and making a mockery of our team play, and our coaching staff. It was loud enough for us to hear everything they were saying. It was that moment in time when we all have realized what a laughing stock we have become. It angered us but we weren’t going to start arguing with a bunch of obnoxious middle-aged coaches. Instead we all made a promise to ourselves to work our absolute hardest and give everything we possibly have into changing this program around, and that is exactly what we have been doing.

We stand here now in late June knowing that we have all put in a great effort throughout the winter and spring, and that we are now going to have to work twice as hard until the season is complete. We are currently ranked No. 13 out of 14 in our league, and the public’s expectations for us are extremely low, but internally we all  know what we are capable of, and we have our goals set high.

We seniors know that you can’t change an entire program in just one year,  but we will  give it our very all to not only have success this season, but to set a fantastic example for the underclassmen to follow and have success for the future of this program.

I can’t promise greatness this season but I can promise that no matter how this season goes it will be done with class and together as the giant family that we are.