Written by FBS spring football is in full effect with Powerhouse Clemson hosting its spring game this past Saturday. After a yearlong hiatus due to COVID, it is exciting to see traditional spring football back. The games are a chance for fans to get excited about their teams and get a good early look at how the team is shaping out and filling holes left by players transitioning out of the program. However, the spring plays a key role in the maturation process of a team. It is an important developmental period for teams to cultivate new leaders and iron out kinks before the upcoming season.
A strong college football program has a great spring program. If you examine some of the most successful college football programs, Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State, you will find that they have incredibly comprehensive spring training programs. The reason they are always vying for national title contention is that they focus heavily on player education and development. Alabama’s fourth-quarter program is a great example of this. The fourth-quarter program is infamous not only for how physically demanding but also for how mentally taxing it is. It simulates adversity in a controlled environment, asking players to challenge themselves to improve mentally, physically, and emotionally. It’s about getting players in the right mindset to consistently execute under pressure. The value of this can often be taken for granted over the course of a long season but the mental reps in the spring carry the momentum that allows players to build the positive habits necessary to become a champion in the fall.
The spring is a time for teams to shape identities. Every year players leave the program and new players must step up. As a result, the team identity changes. Roles change and each member of the team is adjusting to their new role. Some players will step into positions of leadership for the first time. There will be growing pains. The spring is a time for new leaders to experiment. Through trial and error, leaders will learn how to respond in difficult situations and get the best out of their teammates. Great coaches are good at supporting their team leaders through this process. They understand when to loosen the reins and allow leaders to grow organically and when to interject with guidance. A team’s identity is shaped by its leaders and the sooner coaches create opportunities for players to step up during spring training, the better.
Spring football is such a small sample size of the college football season, but it may very well be one of the most significant indicators of how successful a team will be in a given year.