Head Coach enters the press room and sits down in front of the microphone to speak to reporters after a loss: “First, let me say, first of all, that everyone wins some, and loses some. Football is a game of two halves, so we’ve got to work hard, like we have been working, and grind it out to get better, you know, so that, win or lose, we have something to show for it at the end of the day when we see ourselves in the mirror. Alright, first question.”
First Reporter: “Coach, can you comment on your team’s defensive struggles?”
“Yeah, well, there are things about the game, certain variables that are probably half of success, maybe 50 percent of the big picture. Any way you look at it, we try to control those things that I’m talking about with hard work and just grinding it out every time we set foot on the field.”
Second Reporter: “How about the offense? Your team had trouble on third down.”
“We are better, much better, than we showed tonight. One thing about it is that it’s really multiple things. It’s not just one thing, but we can do to get better, which at the end of the day, is what we are trying to do as a program.”
Second Reporter: “As a follow-up …”
“I mean, tonight, it was more than one thing, both physically and mentally. It’s not as simple as it might be if you just looked at it from one perspective. Let me just say that, as a team, we have to stay within ourselves and take it to the next level. Yes, next question.”
Third Reporter: “Any comment about your quarterback?”
“First, he’s a hard worker. He literally gives it 110 percent, day in and day out. But football is a team game, and we have to improve our confidence and execute what we worked on in practice, you know, all during the week. It’s really about getting better each day, and we’re all going to do that work. That’s what we expect of all our guys, you know, as a team.”
First Reporter: “What do you think about next week’s opponent?”
“We have to take it one game at a time. Win or lose, there are, you know, things to improve because what we are really about is striving for excellence in every facet of the game. That’s why we stress the fundamentals in practice, and also the intangibles, like integrity and commitment to the goals that we set out to do every day. Okay, yes, you over there.”
Second Reporter: “Pizza or tacos?”
“We will take a look at the video from tonight and see. I really can’t speculate. Yesterday is behind us, but tomorrow is a new day. Like I tell the guys, it’s a matter of putting in the work and just grinding it out, day in and day out, every day. Ok, last question. You over there, with 97.9 The Hill.”
Michael Koh: “You’ve shown a lot of progress. But will it be enough to win?”
“Pizza. Definitely pepperoni pizza.”
(feature photo via AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.
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