Scott BresslerThe Washington University football squad is ready to beat last year’s 6-4 record this season. With strong returning seniors and other upperclassmen, as well as a promising new group of freshmen, a UAA championship just might be in the cards.
Head Coach Larry Kindbom, after 18 years at Wash. U., said he has been employing the war philosophies of Sun Tzu with this particular team.
“Champions win the battles,” he said, “and then they go to war.”
According to Kindbom, the Bears are ready for war.
“They’ve been so good at the prep stage that it’s hard to believe they won’t take it to the next level,” he said. “Practices are intense and it takes a lot to get through them.”
With such a large group, competition for playing time is stiff for the new freshmen. Kindbom said they are a “very talented, very spirited group” and a few will contribute early on with special teams. None of them, however, will be starting on offense or defense. While they have shown a lot of talent and promise in practice, the coach said it will be interesting to see how that translates on the field, against other teams. Kindbom said that the freshmen have especially contributed to the team by helping get the older players ready for their younger and faster opponents.
In terms of the transition and the loss of recent graduates, Kindbom chooses not to focus on the past. “Each team develops its own identity, its own chemistry,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a need to look to the past.”
He said that it is enough to have to worry and think about everyone who has not graduated yet.
“I’m just so engrossed in the people that are here right now,” said Kindbom.
Kindbom stressed the fact that every member of the team is a role player in his own way. He suggested that the guy who gets a lot of tackles in a game is just as important as the guy on the sideline cheering.
He spoke specifically about a player who graduated two years ago whose major contribution to the program was his renditions of ‘Nsync songs from the bench. Kindbom said he does not expect any more from all-conference athletes like senior Captain Mike Elliott and senior Tyler McSparin than he does from the rest of the team.
Kindbom will be relying heavily on the talent and spirit of his upperclassmen players, especially the captains. He stressed the importance of having playmakers like offensive lineman and Captain Scott Reigle, defensive backs senior Evan Mayer and junior Tommy Bawden, the defensive line triumvirate of seniors Charlie Machan, Bob Pine and Chris Rhodes, the aforementioned linebackers Elliott and McSparin, and the tight end duo of seniors Jeff Howenstein, a captain, and Dan Liebetreu, a pair Kindbom called “as a good a tandem as we have had here.”
Kindbom certainly sings the praises of captains Elliott, Howenstein and Reigle.
“They are awesome individuals,” he said. “They all add something a little bit different.”
He said they are all outstanding leaders and outstanding football players, the latter of which is especially nice because it is hardly a requisite to be captain. Kindbom also emphasized that all three captains “like to have fun” and “express themselves on the field.”
Although the coach makes it clear that this team has potential to succeed this season, there is one possible downfall.
“We have a lot of talent,” said Kindbom, “but not the experience depth we’ve had in the past.” Still, he acknowledges that the team “ups the practice level every day” and that they are “on track to get where [they] need to be.”
Kindbom predicts that some unexpected people will step up and become role players at the start of the season and the spirit of the freshmen will also work in the team’s favor.
“I hope the young guys will give us an enthusiasm base,” he said. “They have so far, but I hope they will after classes start.”
Kindbom and the rest of the team is looking forward to taking the field this Saturday, September 1, especially because it is a night game.
“I’m hoping we can pack the stadium,” Coach Kindbom said.
The season opener is against Lake Forest College at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Francis Field.
Home schedule
(all games played on Saturdays)
September 1
6 p.m.
vs. Lake Forest College
September 15
Noon
vs. Wheaton College
September 29
1 p.m.
vs. Rhodes College
October 6
1 p.m.
vs. LaGrange College
October 13
Noon
vs. University of Chicago