Championships are never won in the offseason, but for certain, they can be lost.
That’s the pearl of wisdom head coach Tom Eanes learned a year ago when he grabbed the reins of East Rowan’s storied football program. He dove in, ever so eagerly, and introduced us to something called the “Hambone,” a re-tailored spread offense that didn’t quite fit his personnel.
Looking back, it can be argued that Eanes’ first notable decision may have bred his first mistake. Then again, no one can argue his reasoning.
“I’ve always been a wishbone coach,” he was saying the other day. “When I worked with Pete Stout at Catawba we ran it and loved it. You don’t necessarily need Florida State speed to make it work.”
You do need a quarterback capable of making double reads within a second or two and an offensive line worth its weight in slide blocks. Eanes seemed like the right man to teach the Hambone, having coached an East Surry squad that used it to produce 4,411 yards rushing in 1998.
But that was then. And this was 2000. And for a guy who views the world sunny-side up, life suddenly became rather scrambled.
“Last year wasn’t much fun,” he says, rolling his eyes for emphasis. “It’s like we switched from a 35 mph zone — where the quarterback gets the ball and hands off to someone — to this, which feels like you’re going 70. It’s a growing thing. It has to be learned. But in truth, we just weren’t prepared for what we were up against.”
Confirmation came in weekly doses of despair. The out-muscled Mustangs went through skill-position players like disposable razors and struggled to concoct a productive offensive chemistry. Their tissue-soft defense got pushed around and yielded points by the shovelful — 419 in all. Not surprisingly, East lost eight of 11 games and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
One offseason look in the mirror told Eanes — the ex-quarterback who steered Davie County to an 8-1-1 record in 1973 — he hadn’t succeeded. So he decided to do something about it.
“After the season, when we came into the weight room to get our maxes, I was shocked,” he recalls. “We weren’t very strong. I don’t know if it had anything to do with wins and losses, but our numbers were not what I thought they’d be.”
Indeed. There were no Popeyes roaming the field for East last season. No Arnold Schwarzeneggers. No Charles Atlases. “We needed,” says two-way lineman Ben Weisensel, “the same thing every team needs — to be stronger and faster.”
Eanes kicked off the East Rowan recovery program by taking a small but significant step. He established a semi-regular weight-lifting schedule. Nothing mandatory, mind you. Just a get-here-when-you-can deal for players looking to beef up during the spring and summer months.
“To me it was obvious,” he says. “We hadn’t — and still haven’t — lifted like we need to. And getting them here in the offseason was like pulling teeth. They gave me excuses like, ‘We can’t do this,’ and ‘We’re not used to this.’ Believe me, we are going to do this. We have to be able to do these things in the offseason if we hope to compete.”
As many as 25 varsity and jayvee players took part in the conditioning and weight-lifting program. File that under “A Fine Start.” But Eanes plans to turn East’s summer-autumn romance with the weight room into a year-round affair. He even envisions a day when all of his players attend — because they want to.
“It won’t be easy,” he insists. “Most of them still don’t understand why you have to do this. Look at all the good programs. Those kids are there. I read in your paper about A.L. Brown and all the kids that were there for summer workouts. That’s the mentality we’ve got to get if we’re ever going to play with the big boys. You want that? Then do what the big boys are doing.”
In the newly formed North Piedmont Conference, a 3A league filled with haves and have-nots, East remains outside the swirl of excitement. The Mustangs are not playoff contenders. But with a much-needed push from their second-year coach, they may be before long.
“I’ve had a year to evaluate our talent,” Eanes says, scanning the team’s practice field. “You look around and you don’t see a lot of 6-4, 260-pound guys. But I’m working on their heads, getting them to understand why they have to pay a price. They haven’t experienced what A.L. Brown has year-in and year-out, and what West (Rowan) is into now. Get them in the weight room in December, when everyone else is on break. That’s where it’s going to happen.”
n
Today's News
