Learning Lessons Early and Often
Young corners ready for prom and progress
Mike Brohard
The possibility exists to enjoy the folly of youth while moving into a more adult future.
You can learn about pass coverage and go to prom. One can learn how to use their eyes properly, kind of like a dad watching his daughter’s date fumble through the process of pinning a corsage to her dress. In both instances, make sure your hand placement is perfect.
Trent Matthews has a trio of true freshman corners in his Colorado State room, early enrollees who felt they had learned what they needed as preps and wanted to get a jump on the competition. They want to play, the sooner the better. In total, Jim Mora’s football roster has 16 early enrollees who could still be in high school.
Justin Lewis and Thomas Cook Jr., were both eager to get to Fort Collins, and both are excited to head back for prom. Each will wear black, not only their favorite color, but what also makes them look their best.
“It’s gonna pop, too.” Cook said. “Especially with my car.”
It’s easier to do in a tuxedo, particularly arriving in a Corvette, than in press coverage during one-one-one drills with some experienced wideouts.
In the end, both create memories.
“It was number 12 … Makai (Johnson). Yeah. He beat me on the fade route,” Lewis said. “I was playing press man, and he got me. That was my first time getting beat out here. I came back and ran the next play, and I won my 1v1 rep on a dig. So I handled that well.”
Kallen Martinez is also in the room with them, guys Matthews vetted from day one so when the topic of an early arrival came up, he’d know which way he leaned. As a coach, you appreciate the enthusiasm of a young player wanting to come as soon as possible and jump into the action. The boomerang effect is real if a player isn’t mentally ready to handle the heat, of joining a team where everyone is just as good and most of them are better – bigger, stronger, more experienced.
Matthews has to coach them hard, all with a firm arm around their shoulder, understanding there’s a lot coming at them all at once and taking it all in while learning one of the toughest positions on the field.
“I want to give credit to them. All of them are passing all their classes,” Matthews said. “They're on time to everything. For the most part, the big thing that I have to do really is 70% off the field. I mean, they’ve got prom, they got senior pitchers, they're trying to still get acclimated to being a college student, how to write the right emails, how to approach a midterm, all of those things.
“I've been through it, and all of these coaches have been through it. So my job right now is to just give them every inch, every time, anything that I've been through to help them, guide them, and help them when they're doing wrong or whatever it takes to be able to get them where they need to be and take one step at a time.”
The time on the field for them has been the easiest part. Both Cook and Lewis feel they were instructed well in high school, with the techniques being taught at Colorado State similar if not exactly what they were raised to do.
The mentality it takes to play corner – a corner is going to get beat from time to time – was something also ingrained in them. Win some, lose some, it’s always the next play that matters. If only it were all that simple.
You really need to have a routine, or it will be bad for you, you know?Justin Lewis
Dorm life. New town. Harder classes. More expectations. Longer hours. Lessons to be learned all over the place, some the hard way.
“I for sure learned time management. Like, time management was a thing that I struggled with my first two weeks here,” Cook said. “But I learned how to go to sleep later, wake up earlier, and just make sure I have a routine, a routine every day.”
Lewis listens and nods. Can’t disagree with a thing his teammate is saying. Then he grins. And so does Cook.
They both learned the same lesson the same way.
“I mean, he's not lying. You really need to have a routine, or it will be bad for you, you know?" Lewis said. “We’ve got people falling asleep in the meetings and getting kicked out, stuff like that. So if you don't set a routine, wake up at a certain time, go to bed at a certain time, you know, stretch at a certain time, you're going to be messed up.
“I had to learn the hard way, yeah. So, both of us had to learn the hard way from falling asleep in a meeting.”
Once. That’s all it took.
No matter what it is that’s being thrown at them, Matthews’ approach on the field is to take it as it comes, learn and move on so as to build a strong foundation, one which should keep them balanced in every situation.
“The big thing is I started from the ground. You know, I take their skillsets and allow them to do what they do well,” Matthews said. “Then that's where my coaching takes a part. The big thing, what they do well is using their hands and good feet. But now we just gotta be more technical, being able to just have our eyes. We talk about feet, eyes and hands every day. So if they can do those three things consistently when they're fatigued and when they're not, that's the difference between high school and college.
“So we do it in pre-practice. We do it in indy. And then we do it after practice as well. So if we can do all of those things and do it early, OK, we win early.”
Which was the reason they are both in camp, not in a biology class. It wasn’t a decision taken lightly, acquiring feedback from coaches and families. When it’s time to move on, you do so.
They both want to play. Whether they will or not this season is partly up to them. The way they learn and play will determine the path, but so will older, more experienced players in front of them. They understand how it works.
They also know they can’t prove themselves if they aren’t here.
“I was so excited, ready to get out of high school, you know, new life,” Cook said. “Come to college, you know, dorm life, football, stuff like that. But, you know, the nervousness comes from being somewhere new and in a new environment.”
And a bunch of new teammates, because neither of them considers themselves to be a people-person. Back home, be it in California or Texas, their circles were pretty tight.
What has helped are the Aggie Wednesdays, where the players take the time to learn their teammates, talk about home, families, likes and dislikes. It’s helped them both open up and expand their comfort zone.
“I would say that I learned how to really bond with people. You know, having to meet all these new players and coming up with new teammates, because when I was in high school, I really had no friends,” Lewis said. “It was just me and my girlfriend and, two of my homies. So, coming here, I have to be cool with everybody. So, that's very different.”
They have the right coach to help them break down walls. They’ve seen Matthews’ name on the wall; the first indication he was a pretty decent player. During recruiting and sense, they’ve come to know him as a good person first.
Matthews’ personality is always on display and always has been. He’s a welcomer, and a natural leader, which became clear in his freshman season as a Ram. People gravitate to him.
Then it was teammates. Now it’s his players.
“He's so energetic. He really tries to bond and connect with each person, like each one of his players,” Cook said. “Playing for him is so easy because he's going to be funny. He's going to make us laugh, but he's also going to be hard on us when he needs to. So, it's very easy to play under him.”
Easier yet with eyes wide open.
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