- September 18, 2024
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With eight seniors on its roster and only a handful of returning starters from the 2023 season, the 2024 Foundation Academy football team is going through what only can be described as a transitional season.
For the Lions’ young roster, though, that transition represents an opportunity for each of its players to employ the mentality that coach Andre Walker is preaching this season — next man up.
“This offseason has been a growing experience for the entire team,” Walker said. “Traditionally, I work with our players starting from middle school on up, but this season, it’s a lot of guys (who) have come to us from different middle schools and a few transfers from different high schools (who) we are incorporating into the program. So for us coaches, we’ve been focusing on helping them understand the expectations here. That starts with the physical commitment of playing Ironman football and the preparation that comes with it from the conditioning aspect, as well as understanding our concepts. We’re also asking a lot of them on the field, asking players to be leaders and playmakers for us this year.”
So far in the early portion of the season, Walker points to four players who have taken the next-man-up mentality to heart and become vital to the growth of this Foundation team.
Although this Foundation team has eight seniors, its most veteran and experienced player is junior center James Phillips. Because of his experience and natural leadership skills, Walker has entrusted Phillips to become the focal point of his offense, empowering him to make decisions and take command when needed, as well as increase his contributions on the other sides of the ball.
“Our center, James, who has been part of this program probably longer than I have, is going to serve as our long snapper on special teams,” Walker said. “He’s also been asked to step up into a role where he has to play some defense and give us an extra option there. We’re adding a lot on his plate this season. In the past, he’s always been the little guy (who) kind of followed the lead of the older guys. We expect him to step up into a leadership role now, where he has to take the initiative. He has to orchestrate our offense more. I told him in a recent conversation, ‘James, don’t be afraid to take hold of the huddle and maneuver things,’ because … he has a good grasp, a good understanding of everything we want to do.”
Despite his added responsibilities on the field, what he brings to the offense is priceless, according to Walker.
“He’s the brains behind the offense,” Walker said. “When James tenses up, you see it in our whole offense. But when James is relaxed and confident, then you see our offense follow and we’re able to flow. So, he is absolutely the engine that drives this car, and he’s taking that role on with a full head of steam and starting to embrace it a lot more now.”
It was a growing process for Phillips when it came to taking the wheel of the offense, but leaning on his experience helped him develop his identity as a leader for this Lions team.
“I mean, at first, it seems (like) a lot,” Phillips said. “But I’ve been playing this sport for five-plus years, so it’s become easy for me in a sense to grow into a leadership role because really all I have to do is just do my job 100%, make sure I’m being very communicative with the other four linemen. And everything else that comes with it is just second nature, and that’s a breeze at the end of the day.”
Similarly to Phillips, sophomore Cole Huntley and junior Aiden Cubero were breakout contributors to the 2023 Lions but leaned on the leadership of the seniors around them last season. This year, Walker says the two have become leaders of the defense in their own right.
“Cole (Huntley) played a lot for us as a freshman last year, and we’re asking him to step up in the role of being a big brother to a lot of our guys,” Walker said. “Aiden is another one we have asked to step up and be in a lead role. Last year, he got to perform next to older guys like Cole West, who helped bring him along. They both are going from being young guys who fit into the team surrounded by seniors to needing to be that player for our more inexperienced players.”
For Huntley that means being versatile, developing a comfort level with his new role and improving as a player, too.
“I felt like last year I did a good job producing on the field, but I know this year I have to do more than just play well,” Huntley said. “I know I have to step up and be a leader, because we’re a young team, but I also have a lot of expectations for myself to improve on the field as well.”
Cubero has a more vocal role on the defense. He’s transitioned from outside linebacker to inside linebacker and now serves as Walker’s voice on the field. With that role comes the knowledge that when one of his teammates need help, they will look to him for answers.
“Aiden’s been with us longer than most of the players on the roster, so he has a full understanding of what to expect,” Walker said.
“So going into that first game he wasn’t shocked by what was going on. When guys were confused, he was the one that was relaying the messages to our guys and kind of giving his input on what they should expect. ... He is the quarterback of the defense. He’s the one (whom) we trust to put everybody in the right position.”
Although Cubero has thrived early in his new role, he definitely noticed the difference in being able to lean on his seniors last year and being the one his teammates are looking to this season.
“There’s a big difference going from being the younger guy to being the guy taking the command and leading the defense,” Cubero said. “Because of how young we are as a team, some of the more experienced guys — even though we don’t have the leadership experience — have to step up for the team. … To make sure I can lead and take command of our guys on the field, I need to make sure I’m locked in during film. … I have to know everything that’s happening on the field — not just what I’m supposed to be doing. I have to know what the DBs are doing, the linemen. I have to know every assignment because I know they’re looking to me out there, and I don’t want to leave any of my teammates out to dry.”
For junior Daniel Stills, a transfer from Ocoee High, his role is to lead by example. Given Stills is new to the program but plays a vital role all over the field for the Lions, how he’s bought into the expectations Walker and his staff have set has been crucial in helping usher in this new era of Foundation football.
“This is really Daniel’s first introduction into playing in actual games on the varsity level,” Walker said. “He was part of Ocoee’s team but didn’t see the field much, so him coming here and playing in every phase of the game for us is a big change for him. I think he’s handled it well, as far as going out there and making plays for us. … After a few weeks, I think he has a better understanding and a better grasp of the idea of Ironman football. Like we’re expecting him to not take any plays off when he’s out there. We have to be full throttle every single down. Now that he’s seen what that looks like, he’s taking he’s really understood why we ask and expect certain things and he’s responded so well in practice. He’s more spruced up, he’s hustling, and overall, his preparation has amped up because now he knows he needs to get to the next level in order to be able to last the whole game in the way we expect him to play.”
Although Stills needed to gain a bit of perspective when it came to what was being asked of him on the football field, with the help of coaches and teammates his transition into this much bigger role has been a smooth one and now he can focus on the opportunity he has to show off his skills on the gridiron — and hopefully earn a chance to play at the next level.
“I feel like my teammates and my coaches have allowed me to mature and find myself as a player and as a leader,” Stills said. “It has come with its challenges, but it’s been a good transition so far, and I’ve learned what it takes to meet the expectations that my team has of me. Meeting those expectations has been really exciting, honestly, because of the opportunity I have to play so much. Personally, I always felt like I had the ability to play anywhere on the field — offense, defense, special teams, whatever is needed. So the expectation I had for myself has always been to go out there and play to the best of my abilities for my team and for myself.
“My goal is to win games but also to play at the next level, so to do that, every game, every practice, I am trying to take one step forward and be a better teammate, a better player and overall be the best I can be,” he said.
Since before the onset of the season, Walker has been bullish on his group of players but always understood that it would be a process because of the bunch’s inexperience.
But, as Stills, Cubero, Huntley, Phillips and others continue to develop as players and leaders, Walker expects their next-man-up mentality to spread to the rest of the team, and for Foundation football to find its identity.
“As the season goes along, being that we’re young, the experience we gain after each game, each practice is going to be really important to our growth,” Walker said. “I’d say there will be a significant jump around our fourth game, and it all will look a lot smoother than what it has been these first few weeks.”
