Chapter 24

David
David and Professor Blum had flown commercial to Oregon for Elite 11. David had been unable to get either a first-class upgrade or an aisle seat. Since he was a touch claustrophobic and had long legs, the flight had been uncomfortable.

The wheels had barely touched down when David powered up his tablet and began to scroll through his emails.

“Young man, you’re not supposed to turn that on until the plane has come to a stop,” the woman in the aisle seat complained.

He bit his tongue to halt the sharp retort that wanted to come out. It seemed everyone felt it was their duty these days to impose their will on you, even if it was misguided. David was a fricking pilot, after all. He knew the risks. He would bet that in the next minute, the flight attendant would be on the PA system, welcoming everyone and saying that they could now turn their devices on.

Sure enough, the announcement came, but the old biddy just huffed her frustration at being unable to control him for the whole fight.

The woman, who looked to be his grandmother’s age, had been on him since they took off.

David’s messenger bag had been the first issue. He’d made the mistake of putting it in the middle seat when he sat down. She’d scolded him and told him he could either stow it up above or under the seat in front of him, which was what he planned to do before takeoff.

He’d brought his books to study, which got him a lecture on how he was an enemy to the environment and how he should have gotten electronic versions. She didn’t want to hear that he highlighted key text and wrote in the margins. She pointed out that it was possible to do that with electronic books, too.

Before they left the gate, David had put his phone in airplane mode to disable the Wi-Fi and turn it into just a device. To prevent more lectures, he’d plugged his earbuds in and played music. That caused her to tattle on him, and David had to show the flight attendant that he had it in the correct mode.

The woman was convinced that he would damage the plane and they would all crash.

When his legs began to cramp up, he’d had to get up twice to stretch them out. David was told that he should have gotten an aisle seat if he planned to get up so much. The irony was, he’d all but begged her to trade with him before they took off.

The kicker was when they went to get off, she’d made him get her bags down and help her carry them to baggage claim. Once there, she began to boss around her family, who’d come to pick her up. That was when some of the other passengers got brave and wanted pictures taken with him.

Professor Blum went to grab a taxi, leaving David to deal with his fame. The lady made him take a picture with her and her family before he could leave. He had no doubt that she would trash him on social media before he made it to the cab.

On the ride to the Nike campus, the professor wanted to talk.

“I still can’t believe you got the okay from the department to pay for this trip. They even gave me money for meals.”

“Be sure to pay for your meals, even if they offer you free food at the training center. I don’t want to run into trouble with the NCAA,” David reminded him and then focused on the trip. “They know they pulled a fast one when they made everyone volunteer their time to film Trojan Inquirer. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have sold advertising.”

“Your doing that is the talk of the department. They might go out and get actual advertisers for shows similar to yours, but they floated ideas for public service announcements or notices of upcoming events. We can do all of those in-house,” Professor Blum shared.

“USC has its own restaurants and catering. I bet they have an advertising budget for those; I know the athletic department does. If I were running things, I would reach out and see if some of those dollars couldn’t be pulled to the School of Cinematic Arts.”

“You should come to our next staff meeting.”

David shook his head.

“How about I give you the ideas, and you take credit?” he suggested.

“When I say something, they ignore me, but if I use your name...”

“Then give me credit. As long as you get what you want,” David said.

That was why he’d asked the athletic director to call. With a third party involved, it made it easier to say yes.

“So, what’s on the agenda?” Professor Blum asked.

“We arrive at noon, which is when they take a break. I’m meeting with Coach Trent to find out how he wants to handle the rest of the day. I should have a schedule once that meeting is done.

“I got us permission to film and interview the participants. Maybe you could get some B-roll footage and ask some general questions at lunch. What you can’t do is video anything where you see their cameras filming. Examples are when I talk to the campers or the coaches give them instructions. What you can film is general stuff, like someone throwing a pass,” David explained.

They arrived at the hotel and checked in. Jaxson, USC’s athletic director, had called and reminded David that he represented the university on this trip. So he changed into his USC gear: a polo shirt, baseball cap, and khaki shorts, all with either ‘USC’ or the Trojan logo. Even his sneakers were cardinal and gold.

When David returned to the lobby, he noted that Professor Blum must have gotten a similar reminder. He wore a cardinal blazer with a cardinal and gold striped tie.

The hotel had a shuttle ready to take them to the Elite 11 camp.

Coach Trent introduced David to all the other coaches. They were eating lunch and making notes about their charges. Each evening, the entire coaching staff got together and ranked the signal-callers.

Coach Trent took him aside so they wouldn’t bother anyone.

“When are you going back?”

“Our flight’s at eleven tomorrow,” David said.

“Good. I was wondering if you wanted to show off that cannon of an arm of yours.”

“It’s not really fair for me to show up these guys. I’ve had three years to work on my strength and conditioning. Most of these guys haven’t had proper strength and conditioning yet,” David said to push back.

“Well, it’s something more than that. We’re having issues with kids not following the proper read progressions. I’d hoped I could give you the playbook and you learn it. Our NFL defensive coaches arrive today, along with the additional receivers and defensive backs for the seven-on-seven tournament on Friday.

“I thought you might want to get some live snaps bright and early tomorrow morning,” Coach Trent offered.

“And you want me to smoke the defensive coaches,” David added with a grin.

“We’ll make it a voluntary session before practice starts. It’ll help us see who’s dedicated.”

David remembered the trouble many of the guys had had getting up early. They were teenagers about to enter their senior year of high school. Sleep was something they all felt they deserved over summer vacation.

David also remembered Coach Trent harping on ‘everything counts.’ The ones who didn’t show up would be penalized.

“Could we split it up? Could I use the first half to lay down some knowledge and the second to make the NFL guys fear when I get to the league?” David asked.

“Can I tell them you said that?” Coach Trent asked.

“Sure,” David said with confidence.

“Then I’m all for it. We’ll have you do this at seven tomorrow morning. That’ll give you enough time to get to the airport,” Coach Trent said. “And David, thanks for this. Looking back, I should have pushed for you to be the sole MVP.”

David was surprised that the coach saying that meant so much to him.

He walked out to the practice fields with Coach Trent.

“Okay! Gather around and take a knee!”

It was as David had remembered. The twenty quarterbacks made a semicircle around the coach while all the receivers and defensive backs fell in behind them. The other coaches were all standing behind Coach Trent.

The first guest up had gone to college at Clemson. Coach Trent read off his impressive list of accomplishments. He’d been selected first-team All-ACC and named player of the year for the conference. He was drafted in the third round of the NFL draft and made a living as a career backup. He talked about what winning Elite 11 had meant to him.

David was up next, and Coach Trent read off all the awards and accolades he’d garnered in high school. Hearing them all took some time. Then it was his turn to speak.

“Talent is your greatest nemesis when it comes to your mindset, especially when you first walk onto campus. You’ve always been told you’re the best player on your team, and now, all of a sudden, you have to pay attention to details and compete with other people. And you don’t really know how. But you can learn how. It’s a choice; it’s a decision you can make. Don’t let your talent be your enemy.

“Starting out, you might not be the man to take the reins of the program. No college coach who wants to keep his job will start a true freshman unless he has to. Your goal will be to get better each and every day. At USC, we call this ‘stacking days.’ You listen to your coaches, learn the playbook, eat right, work out, get your proper rest, and get your education.

“If you do your job, you’ll get your shot. When you do get that shot, don’t try to make something happen. That’s when mistakes are made. Just do what you’re supposed to and trust the other guys on the field to do their job, too.

“Once in college, no one is going to hold your hand and make you do what’s right. You have to step up and get in the right mindset. When you’re asked to run ten-yard sprints, do you run eight, or do you run ten? If you have to run 60, do you run 58, or 60? Again, it’s a mindset; it’s a habit you create. It’s not really about what you want; it’s what you are willing to do to get it.

“Maybe you have to give up a not-so-good habit to replace it with a better routine. Whether it’s how you recover, how you sleep, or how you spend your free time. Everybody has to make that decision. It’s not just about the freedom to goof off. As a college football player, you have to earn playing time. That’s what it all comes down to.

“If I ask you if you want to be number one, all of you will raise your hands. Nobody says they want to come in second. But are you willing to do what the best do? Your hardest task will be staying motivated and doing what you know you need to do to become the best instead of just doing what you want. That’s why high achievers don’t like mediocre people, and mediocre people don’t like high achievers,” David said and looked at each of the twenty signal-callers.

“I think you get what I’m trying to say about college, but let’s talk about the next two days. Up until now, you’ve been working on improving yourselves at Elite 11. I hope you’ve all taken advantage of the world-class coaching you’re getting. But come Friday, you’ll be competing against each other.

“The biggest tip I can give you is to remember what you’ve learned this week. Coach Trent has created a playbook that’ll have these pro coaches scratching their heads. Play within yourself and run the plays as drawn. If you do that, I guarantee you’ll succeed,” David said.