Jaguars get the boot

Chapter 8 

A burst of light interrupts the darkness surrounding Jaguar Stadium at 5 a.m. on Aug. 12. The previously quiet stadium suddenly explodes with activity. It’s the first day of the football team’s boot camp and the coaches are busy moving tractor tires, sleds and medicine balls to various locations on the field. They needn't bother. The Jaguars didn’t even make it through their stretch routine.

Boot camp is a mixture of discipline and endurance. The opening stretch must be done to perfection to move on. 

Coaches walk through the 80 plus players looking for the smallest infractions. 

Failure to properly do a stretch, failure to clap after each routine, failure to be perfectly on the line — hell, something as simple as wiping sweat from your forehead leads to a restart.

The sarge

Something’s different about Applebee during boot camp. The way he walks. They way he talks. He has an edge in his voice. He’s harsher. More stern. He definitely takes on the role of a drill sergeant. While he didn’t go all R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket on the kids he wasn’t exactly Mr. Rogers either.

“I just want to set the tone and have them understand that we have to have a heightened sense of urgency,” Applebee said.

Boot camp isn’t meant to be easy. Applebee wants the kids to stare adversity in the face and conquer it. Boot camp consists of  rigorous stretching exercises to start and they must be done to perfection to continue. Once the team clears that hurdle they move on to drills — moving tires, sleds, medicine balls and sprints. Oh, and the whole thing has to be done in 35 minutes. If it's not completed in 35 minutes the kids come back the next day. Boot camp doesn’t end until everything is completed in that 35 minutes. It can be brutal.

“The idea is to face a little bit of adversity and come back better the next day,” Applebee said.

Applebee feels the boot camp is a great way to kick off the season as school gets ready to start and players battle their way up the depth chart. He also sees the benefit of boot camp as the season progresses and players work through the rigors of practice. 

“[Boot camp] is about leadership and discipline when it comes to doing your job on the field,” said Applebee. “It’s a team building opportunity as well.”

Mill Valley head coach Joel Applebee runs a tight ship when it comes to boot camp.

Day 1

Nothing went right. The players couldn’t make it through their stretch. It was the little things that held them back, but little things matter during boot camp.

Senior Blake Jay put the day’s failure squarely on the senior class.

“If the younger kids aren’t figuring it out then it’s on us for not having better practices or being more focused,” he said. “We didn’t do a good enough job of explaining the stretches or telling them the details like you can’t wipe the turf off, where to look, where to stand, things like that.” 

Senior defensive lineman Hayden Heller said that while it was disappointing not being able to get through the stretch, he was adamant that no one point fingers at individuals.

“Once you start pointing fingers then that person getting pointed at gets mad and it breaks down the whole system,” he said. “I feel that if you just worry about yourself and have the person learn from their mistakes then it creates a better team overall.”

Senior Jaxon Masek didn’t focus on the negative after day one but rather the positive. 

“It’s not supposed to be easy,” he said. “It’s supposed to be a challenge. Doing every little thing right is going to help us when we’re playing games. All the things we learn from each other during this is just going to help us build chemistry and trust when we’re on the field.”

Following day one’s shortcomings the seniors kept everyone on the field and went over the drills again and again and again.

Senior running back Reggie Reece was out in the middle of the players, whistle in hand, helping his teammates strive toward perfection.

“Today was all mental,” he said. “After a while it got into people’s minds that ‘oh, we’re not going to get through this today,’ and they started to lose confidence.”

While he was helping lead the improv post-boot camp practice, Reggie preached encouragement and resilience.

“Practice makes improvement,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to be perfect but I will say that we’re going to be much better tomorrow and go farther in the stretch tomorrow than we did today.” 

He was right.

Players try, but were not able to get through their stretch routine on day 1.

Day 2

The script flipped on day two. The day one mistakes vanished. The Jaguars got through the stretch with just a single restart. 

With muscles working overtime and sweat flying the Jaguars attacked the drills with enthusiasm and determination. 

“I feel great right now,” said an exhausted Jenner Scobee after day two. “If we can do that at boot camp we can do anything. Sometimes football isn't all that fun and boot camp is just preparing you for that, making you push through when you're tired on fourth down in the fourth quarter.”

Senior offensive lineman Michael Fitzpatrick was ready for day two.

“Because yesterday didn’t go so well, today I was like, ‘let’s go attack this,’” he said. “Being a bigger guy on the offensive line this is definitely tough physically. But I’m out here with my brothers and that toughens me up and helps me keep running. I’m exhausted but I still feel a lot better than I did yesterday.”
Freshman don’t go through boot camp so this was all new to sophomore running back Lucas Mendez. 

“The first day was really frustrating because we kept messing up every time, making the same mistakes over and over again,” he said. “But we learned from it and got better.”

Mendez credited the Mill Valley coaching staff with helping the players stay focused and strong. 

“It’s all mental,” he said. “The coaches have taught us so many things about discipline and staying strong mentally so I give them a lot of credit.”

Despite being sweat drenched and spent physically, senior Tommy Hopkins couldn’t help but smile afterwards. 

“After we failed the first day I felt like we came out today and were ready to go,” he said. “There was just a different energy today. We were able to dominate the entire workout. I feel amazing that we all got through it together.”

Sweat flys off a Jaguar player as he works to complete the boot camp workout on day 2.