By Jacob Greene
Photo by Jacob Greene
The culture of the Simpson University football team cannot be defined by its record.
There is more to life than football, especially when the team is 0-a lot.
“[The] Goal with leading this team is just trying to get everybody to buy in[to] the same mindset,” Marc Buenrostro, a transfer from Modesto Junior College, said.
Football is a team sport. Especially, with a program in athletic infancy—you need leaders.
“I think this year, just stepping in a leadership role of how can I get guys to not only buy in mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, but also how can you grow as a man on the field and as a man outside the classroom and in your faith?” Buenrostro said.
Buenrostro emphasized how necessary it is for the team to find identity outside of football.
“In these times of uncertainty, you know, just leaning again, only on my faith. I can’t rely on anything else,” Buenrostro said, “At the end of the day, I can only do the best that I can do and hopefully I can bring people with me. But that means I have to be at my A-game 24/7. And so, with that, takes faith.”
Buenrostro is grounded in a firm foundation.
“In a leadership role, I think that’s just important to have a firm foundation on what you have because you can’t let other people sway you to be something else you’re not gonna be,” Buenrostro said.
The driving force in your life cannot be a fleeting thing. Freshman Mickey Cohn understands that.
“I most look forward to Wednesday nights doing Bible studies with Marc. It really is the highlight of my week,” Cohn said.
If you have something else that you find identity in outside of football, then win, lose, or blowout does not matter as much. At the end of the day players are only here for 4 years—some have less.
Trey Bumstead, a transfer from Bakersfield Junior College, explained the current team culture.
“I think there’s a lot of individual ‘me, me, me I want to get mine’ attitude, where we’re not really thinking about the team as a whole,” Bumstead said, “You know, playing for the guy next to you, wanting to win that rep for the guy next to you.”
It would be naive to assume the team is going to win it all during its inaugural season. Over 100 players need time to build unity. They need time to get rid of the individualism from high school. The goal is now playing as a team, not to be recruited to play college football.
“You can’t win unless you unite as a team and come together as brothers that build that bond and I feel like there’s just a lot of internal badmouthing of each other, not believing in each other or some guys that are injured constantly,” Bumstead said.
They need time to correct those mistakes. Then they need grace to mess up again until they get it right. That also goes for the coaches.
The culture after a loss here is different— unlike at Bakersfield College, where Bumstead played for 2 years.
“We were fired up after a loss, and when we were in that film room, we talked about what we did wrong, we’d watch a little bit of the film, but then we’d go right after it and focus right on that thing that we did wrong and fix it. And then we’d just rep it out over and over and over.” Bumstead said, “We didn’t want to lose again. So, we just fought harder, practiced harder.”
That mentality begins with coaching.
“I grew up listening to this, hearing this all the time, hard practice, easy game. So, the harder you practice the easier the game is gonna be for you by far,” Bumstead said.
Cohn, who has no prior college football experience, did not win a lot in high school.
“My best season was my senior year, and it was like 5-6 and that didn’t bother me. Losing doesn’t bother me that much, because I’ve never been on a winning football team anyway,” Cohn said.
Cohn illustrated the contrast between his high school coaches and his current coaches, “After the games [they] didn’t like belittle [us], that hurts at the end of the day.”
Great leadership builds culture. Head Coach Shawn Daniel knows there is negativity surrounding the program. Good leadership can combat that.
“I don’t listen to it,” Daniel said, “We don’t want students to come and go.”
The program needs players that stay through bad times. It may not be a winning team for a few years. The key to that is having players that buy in.
“Retention plays a huge part in it. Building it the right way. Building it from the ground up, trying to build the program with players that stay here for 4 years,” Daniel said. “Assigning a class of players that want to play for 4 years. Buy into the culture, then the very next year teach the culture to the next recruiting class.”
The establishment of a program is marketing. It is business. It is not only a sport—there are a lot of variables that go into it. It is not as simple as people try to make it. Conflict is part of the growing pains.
“They’re not going to turn away and run away from problems. These are guys that are gonna be successful businessmen. Great fathers and husbands,” Daniel said, “It’s not simply learning offense and defense systems, it’s learning college life.”
No matter what Owen’s 3rd floor staff on down to residents in the dorm buildings think—football should not be the top priority. It brings in a lot of money. A lot of money is spent on the program. It is called an investment.
No one should be demanding perfection— even coaches. The expectation of 100% effort, that is needed.
“Our drive to keep coming up, keep showing up, I think that’s the biggest thing, because, you know, these moments that we’re living in there is gonna these hard times that we’re losing games. But we’re growing every day, so we’re growing. And that’s what the positive of this is,” Buenrostro said.
Success is not defined by the outcome of a game. It is defined by the culture that surrounds a team. To build a successful program, you need positive leadership that builds a propitious culture. The goal right now should not be the win column. It should be a culture that adds to Simpson, rather than takes away from it.
If Rome wasn’t built in a day, then you cannot expect a football program to be.
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