Brad
Seiss blew his whistle as Merrillville's football team completed a drill.
"Nice
punt," Seiss said.
The
next play started prematurely.
"Whoa,"
Seiss said. "Can't snap until he says, 'Set.'"
The
Pirates were more than ready to go for the first practice of the fall on Monday
at Merrillville High School. Even the mistakes were made out of eagerness.
Monday
also marked the next chapter in Seiss' coaching career. He is in his first
season at Merrillville.
"The
kids have done a good job," Seiss said. "As long as all the paperwork
is in and the administrative end is taken care of on the first day, that's your
No. 1 goal you want to accomplish.
Seiss
spent three seasons at Muncie Central, where he went 13-17. He takes over for
Zac Wells, who is now the defensive coordinator at 2014 Illinois Class 8A state
runner-up Homewood-Flossmoor.
"The
best part of the first day is knowing you're going to have multiple days in a
row," Seiss said. "In the summer, you want the kids to still have a
summer. You have a few days off here and there. And then you get your
moratorium weeks.
"Just
the fact that we're going to have these guys for, hopefully through November,
is what the goal is. School is getting ready to start and there is excitement
with the first game coming up.
"One
thing that's really good is that we established a good foundation here. That's
been in place for a really long time."
Merrillville
announced Seiss' hiring in April. He played college football at Ball State.
"I
really like him," said senior defensive tackle Shawn Streck. "He's a
good guy. He runs his practice similar to coach Wells, which is the way I like
to run practice.
"…
Everybody is buying in and believing that we can do something special in his
first year and our last year."
Seiss
said the first few practices go beyond fine-tuning plays.
"One
thing that I really preach to our guys is that this is the seniors' team,"
he said. "They have to be leaders and they have to be guys that really
lead everybody that is younger than them.
"Establishing
how things are going to be, who the leaders are and figuring out the guys you
can count on, that's the big part of the first few days."
The
seniors have embraced the message.
"Just
make sure we go hard every play so the young guys can see what they need to be
like," senior running back Isaiah Thornton said. "Don't goof around.
You don't have time for that. Make sure you lead by example."
That
attitude has helped the transition.
"The
thing I'm most impressed with is the kids have a great worth ethic," Seiss
said. "They are eager to learn, eager to play football. They want to be
good. And that's great. As a coach, when you have guys that want to do what it
takes to be successful, that's always a good thing. And that's a big thanks to
coach Wells, all the assistant coaches, everybody that's been here before. We
have a lot of good things in place.
"The
kids want to be good and expect to be good."
Football 2015
Key dates
Monday: Practice
began.
Friday-Saturday, Aug. 14-15: Scrimmages.
Friday, Aug. 21: Opening night.
Sunday, Oct. 11: Sectional draw.
Friday, Oct. 23: Sectionals begin.
Friday-Saturday, Nov. 27-28: State finals.
Its never to late to get that checkup in at Excel DentalStudio, Call our office today to schedule your appointment!Copyright © 2015, Post-Tribune
