Friday night is the center of socialization and noise, but there is a lot more work that goes into a high school football game than one would think. It’s not just one day on Friday. It takes all week to prepare the team for the big game.
Football Coach Nick Mullen puts in a lot of work every week to get ready for the football games on Friday. Coach Mullen has been coaching football for 25 years, five of them have been at Olympia High School. Coach Mullen even spends time on weekends getting ready to coach for the week. He spends on average 15 hours a weekend planning. Coach Mullen also spends “hours and hours” planning during pre pre-season. The planning consists of watching the opponent’s gameplay, finding the tendencies, and planning how he wants to place his players.
Senor Handel Itegi has been playing football here for three years. Itegi said, “he regrets not playing football his freshman year.” Itegi said he practices Monday through Thursday, about 3 hours a day. Itegi either spends time out on the field or in the weight room, in the weight room, they do things like bench press, hex bar, and squat. And sometimes Itegi will work out when he has free time on the weekends. And Itegi does all that before the big games on Friday.
There are also so many other roles you might not think of. For example, the grounds crew sets up everything on the field and prepares it for the team, like the yard markers, pylons, chains, and play clocks, so Coach Mullen can spend more time getting the team ready. Some other coaches help with some setup, like setting up the camera equipment and headsets.
