Manitou Springs football coach Stu Jeck has said the same thing all season. The Mustangs need to be bigger, faster and stronger to compete on the level the coaches, players and fans want to see.
Manitou’s season ended with a 33-6 loss to Lamar, taking its record to 3-6 overall and 0-5 in the league. This is just the second season under Jeck, but now that the coach has his feet under him, the idea of growing the program and getting it back to a level of consistency not seen in about 10 years is his biggest priority.
“As you’re looking to build something from the ground up, a foundation is very important,” Jeck said. “Collectively, I think we did a lot of good things that are getting us in that direction.”
The message Jeck has been sending to his team is that games are not won on game day. They’re not even won during the week of practice. They’re won in January, February or March. They’re won in the summer.
It’s the offseason work the players are now determined to put in that can help achieve that goal of getting bigger, faster and stronger.
“We have a lot of potential with a lot of young kids,” running back Logan Moore said. “In the program, we have more weightlifting being talked about. The leaders need to step up and start bringing that mentality into the young guys.”
The football team mainly consists of young guys, so it’s crucial that the attitude take effect sooner than later. Although Jeck is a coach who would love to see immediate success, he understands the task of building a program into a consistent winner.
The good news for next year is that he has several players returning who should make a big impact. They include Nate Gentzel, Preston Rhodes, Sam Fournier and Moore.
But for those players to have the impact that they should have based on their experience with the team, they can’t rest on their laurels. They have to keep battling in the offseason. They’ll all play additional sports through the year and they’ll also have to put in effort to develop as overall athletes.
“If you’re not competing for your school in the winter, you should be doing something for your program,” Jeck said.
“A lot of that comes from being in the weight room and getting bigger, faster and stronger. The teams in our league are doing that and they’re doing it better than us.”
That’s the challenge ahead for the Mustangs and that’s the challenge that Jeck is excited for his guys, and for himself, to take on.