The Sports Grouch

At the end of the 1st half, a Clemson pass rusher hit Joe Burrow hard and took him down.

It was a legal tackle. But you could see Burrow, the LSU quarterback, was dealing with a lot of pain.

Football isn’t for sissies.

That hit might have put you or me in the hospital.

But Burrow not only came onto the field for the 2nd half, he picked Clemson’s vaunted defense apart.

The change begins

It says a lot about the determination of an ex-Ohio State bench warmer who transferred to LSU to help a visionary coach change its football strategy.

That change began on humid Saturdays last June, Wall Street Journal writer Laine Higgins reported.

The Tigers’ offense got a radical makeover, abandoning their habit of running it through the middle. They would now spread the field with a passing offense and Iron Curtain pass defense.

Amazingly, the bench warmer blossomed into 1 of college football’s most prolific, accurate passers with receivers who could run deep routes and snatch the ball from defenders.

A sense of purpose

As a graduate student transfer, Burrow said he came to LSU feeling like “a true freshman” who needed time to nail routes and timing with his receivers.

He convinced his teammates to come in for player-led practices on Saturdays.

Players set their alarms for 6 am and voluntarily practiced twice a day.

That’s a remarkable sense of purpose even for top caliber college players.

“I think that’s one of the things that goes unnoticed, unsaid, how many Saturdays they spent working out on their own,” LSU head coach Ed Orgeron said.

A team in sync

In those extra summer practices, Burrow created a groove with his receivers.

He learned which routes they ran best and his receivers appreciated his ability to put the ball in the same spot play after play while fooling defenses, even talented ones like Clemson’s.

Burrow was so in sync with LSU’s wideouts they reached a 76.2% completion rate. He ultimately threw an NCAA-record 60 touchdowns, passed 5,671 yards and finished with an unprecedented 201.78 passer efficiency rating.

Burrow won the Heisman Trophy by the largest voting margin in history despite starting the season with 200-1 long shot odds.

What winners do

Think about what it took for Burrow and his teammates to get up at 6 am on muggy Louisiana summer mornings and go out for punishing practices.

High school and college coaches need to think about recruiting and encouraging players with this kind of determination and will to win.

They are a rare breed.

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