State of the Jaguars
Chapter 3
With June nearly over, and the Jaguars Football team heading into its first summer break, I asked Mill Valley head coach Joel Applebee for an evaluation of this year’s team. What follows is a question and answer interview I conducted with Coach Applebee on June 27.
Todd Habiger
With June ending could you give me your state of the Jaguar address?
Joel Applebee
I feel really good about what we've done this summer. I feel like we are where we should be. The good thing is that we have shown improvement from the beginning of June to the end of June. That's all you really ask for when it comes to the football side of things and in the weight room. I feel like our conditioning is really good. We improved a lot on the football field and in the weight room as well.
Todd Habiger
How would you describe the identity of this year's team?
Joel Applebee
I think they're still trying to discover that. People deal with a lot of things in the summer when it comes to other activities going on, which we completely understand. Some kids are dealing with injuries that are keeping them out, so I think our identity is still yet to be determined. But the kids are doing a great job of starting to develop that identity. We’re going to start focusing on that as we head into the end of the summer. Right now, we want to step out there every day and be better than we were yesterday. That's the whole goal and they’ve done a really good job with that. Every single day I ask them all to focus on one thing that they can improve on that day, and they've done that.
Todd Habiger
At this point in time, what would you say is your team’s biggest strength?
Joel Applebee
Offensively we feel really good about our running back position because they've got a lot of experience. I like where our offensive line is right now and the improvement they made from day one until the end of June. Defensively I like that they're starting to understand the overall concept and really understanding that every single person has a job to do and that we need to trust our teammates. That’s probably the best thing that we can develop in the summertime is that cohesion where we understand that all 11 have a job and we have to trust that everybody's going to do that job. Defensively they've done a really good job of showing that they are understanding that concept
Todd Habiger
Going into July, what are some areas of emphasis that you're going to be focusing on?
Joel Applebee
The same thing honestly. There's a lot of programs that focus on daily improvement, but our kids really buy into it and that's what it comes down to. There's nothing special we can say or do other than focus on daily improvement. It sounds cliché or monotonous, but our kids don't look at it that way. Our kids understand that every day we show up we have something to work on. If there’s one thing we can improve on that day, that’s what we’re looking for.
Todd Habiger
Some people, including myself, try to figure out the secret sauce that makes Mill Valley great. But you’re telling me there is no secret sauce?
Joel Applebee
I want these kids to understand the value of hard work every single day. If they understand that, that mentality is going to help them in life way beyond football. If they can understand that every time they show up and clock in it's time to get to work. When they're done, they can rest and enjoy themselves and do things that they want to do but when we're here, we have to put in the work and we have to get better. That is the secret sauce. People ask me that all the time and I tell them I don’t have anything special other than we show up and we work. We have a sense of urgency about that work every single day — we don't let that slack.
Todd Habiger
How would you say your leaders are setting the tone for this year's team?
Joel Applebee
They’ve done a tremendous job. They really have. I've heard numerous positive comments from kids encouraging their teammates. I've heard a lot of encouragement in the face of a little bit of adversity. Those are the types of things that we want to see? It's got to be because we coaches can't be on the field with them. Once we hit the season, in game situations, they have to rely on each other and that's ultimately what we want to see from our leaders. The biggest thing that we try to establish with the leadership council is they need to go out and help others be leaders too, because we want all of our guys to be leaders. What the leadership council is all about is encouraging their teammates to do the things that we need them to do to be successful.
Todd Habiger
I've heard from several coaches that they say they need to get players for the best position to succeed and that they may not be there right now. How do you go about making those decisions?
Joel Applebee
We want to put the players in the best position possible so they can have success which ultimately allows our team to have success. Film’s a great evaluator. Adversity’s a great evaluator. All those types of things help us determine where they best fit and we're constantly trying to do that on a day-to-day basis. It doesn't stop and it won't stop even during the season. It will go all the way up until our season ends.
