So Football Season Is Over..... Now What?

"College football season is over. What is your husband doing? Why is he still at the office?"

 Those are probably the second biggest questions I get after, "What on Earth is a Video Coordinator? What does he actually do for the team? and, "Oh, he's a coach?" 

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Yes, for the rest of the world, college football season officially ended on January 12th, right after the first ever College Football Play-off National Championship game.

(Congrats to the Buckeyes~ though I may not have been rooting for you since a few of your players awhile back decided to SELL their bowl rings, and you'd been kicked out of bowl games for a while since said players didn't value the EFFORT and HARD WORK that it takes to actually deserve those rings.)

And, this southern girl is still WRITHING over the fact that a SEC team wasn't in the championship game....

Whew, vents over.......

What exactly does my husband, and all of the actual coaches do when the final whistle is blown?

Well, they get right to work. They start preparing for the first game of the very next season. 

You see, football season doesn't ever officially end. At least, not for a football family.

We are in the constant go and buzz of football. It's not just September through December/January. College football is year round. 

This year was a bit different for us. 

When our team is bowl eligible the football season holds strong through most of December. We have even had to rearrange Christmas just to travel to a bowl game. However, this year, the season DID stop when our coaching staff was let go and we had to spend almost two weeks waiting until we found out that my husband continued to have his job. Praise Jesus.

Once we were able to move past that point; DJ was busily working on getting all of the former coaches film and cut ups. Once they were out, and our new coaches came in, he worked on setting up the technology for the them to be able to fully do the job they were hired to do.

At the top of the list: Recruit.

Teams are always having recruits in throughout the season. We have several games a year where junior and senior football players, get to come in and see what game days are actually like. Then, in December and through January, teams hold recruiting weekends. 

Now, let me point out here, that there are rules and guidelines set forth by the NCAA that colleges adhere to. I'm not going to get all fancy with those.

So, right now we are in recruiting season. Coaches typically leave the Sunday after their final game and hit the road. They are each assigned different areas of the country to recruit. They drive, fly, and spend nights in hotels and they visit potential players. They spend the entire week away from their family; their wife; their children.

I say it  every single day, I'm so glad my husband isn't a "coach." I am so glad that he doesn't have to be away for any more time than he already is. To those of you wives that put up with their husbands being on the road recruiting. You are fabulous; a much better woman than I.

While the coaches are on the road, DJ's at the office, making sure that the technology for the coaches is running smoothly.  If problems arise, he's able to remote in to their computers and fix them.

Each year, he makes an end of the year hi-lite video that the coaches use while on the road and he makes a video that's played during recruiting weekends. 

 He works on getting film gathered from the potential signees. Once the high school seniors have signed their letter of intent,on signing day, he formulates hi-lites and player information into a video that is shared with our alumni at an event on the evening of signing day.

For those of you who don't know when official signing day is~ You can impress your husbands~ It's the first Wednesday in February. This year, it's February 5th.

 He switches out player Ipads and makes sure they all still work correctly. I can't tell you how many late night trips he's had to make to the apple store lately. Apple should be paying us for all of the service that we give them. 

He's typically at the office by 8 and home by 5:30. Right now, this is our normal, because technically, it's off season. But remember, those coaches are on the road.

On the weekends, DJ is busy with the recruits that are visiting. There are dinners, team meetings, and the chance for him to show off the hi-lite video that he made. Last year, we had to plan Gretchen's birthday party around his free time during a recruiting weekend. He left his event, came to her party, and then left again.

Once signing day is over, we breathe a collective sigh of relief. In the past, DJ has had a few days off after signing day, and this year, he'll be going to a convention in Las Vegas. 

The rest of February is spent getting ready for Spring ball. And, I think that will be a story saved for next month......

 

Until then....

 

You can check out our first recruiting weekend in my weekend wrap up post here.