Senior Speech - “those Who Stay Will Be Champions!”

Senior Speech

“Those who stay will be champions!”

My how time has flown by. Seems like just the other day Coach Fleck accepted the job and we all where watching the press conference wondering, “What does rowing a boat have to with a bronco?”

Year 1- The dirty water years.  Immediately after coach was hired, is when the foundation was built. Its crazy to think that only 3 of us on the team where here for that winter conditioning. Its really hard to describe what that time was like. The closest comparison is probably, hell. The foundation built on sweat, blood, tears, and lots of time spent in the pit. 5 am starts to workouts. Things just kept getting worse and worse. Anything and everything that could go wrong did. A lot of resistance and unwillingness to change. Needless to say, it seemed as if we where more apart of the ROTC program, then training to be football players. We lost a lot of guys during that time. It was by far the hardest thing that I have ever been through. But in the back of our minds, we knew that we had to make something of ourselves. And the only way to do that, is hard work.  

1-11: Lets all be honest, for those who where at the UMASS game, we should’ve been 0-12. We were by far the worst team in college football. Its not just that we couldn’t catch a break, but it seemed as if we were our own worst opponent. Turnovers, blown assignments, and a lack of HOW. We where the laughingstock of the school and the mid-American conference. “Sink the boat was in full effect by everyone.” The players and commitment toward the culture was in question. Once again, we lost a lot of guys after that season. Some people just could not handle it, the losing, the constant demand for change. We could not see it, and none of us probably knew it. But what we were going through, was molding us.

Year 2- The turnaround.  Coming off the worst season in program history, there was literally nowhere to go but up. Bringing in the #1 recruiting class in the MAC, blended together with a bunch of guys who didn’t know what it took to win. So, we learned together. The core of this team spent this whole season learning what it took to win ball games. The games we lost, we should of won, but at the time we were just learning what it was like to compete. Not truly a belief yet that we could play and beat anybody. Then Ball State. Down 21 at half. Coach fleck came into the locker with only these few words, “When are you going to stop being average.” Coming back to win that game, gave us the confidence and belief that we could maybe make something out of our season. We ended up going 8-5. Going to our 6th bowl game in program history. Losing to a tough air force team-taught us a lot though. We were not ready, but by god we were getting closer.

Year 3- Season of nevers. Expectations had risen, but we had to play champions. Something I don’t think we all really grasped at the time, but getting to play against big time opponents really gave us a perspective on how far we still had to come to be champions. Michigan State, Ohio State, Georgia Southern. Going 1-3 to start the season really put our backs against the wall. Lost some disappointing games later in the season to keep us from one of goals, the MAC championship. But a win late in the season verse a ranked Toledo, changed the outcome for our bowl game significantly. If we were going to have to play in Detroit, is was going to be the MAC championship or nothing.  We beet our first ranked opponent in program history. Went to the Bahamas for a bowl game. Swam with dolphins, enjoyed spectacular weather, danced with bohemians, and won!

Year 4- Legacy. Prior to the season coach Fleck asked us, seniors, to get in front of the team and tell them about our experience here at WMU, and what the program has meant to us. When I got up and spoke, I talked of leaving a legacy. Honestly, I wasn’t really sure what all the would entail, but I knew after all we had been through as a senior class, that we had to do something special. It was time. It was time for this community, university, and football program to be mentioned among the elite programs in college football. Amazing how far we’d come in just 3 short years. 3 years prior coach fleck gave us a sheet of paper and asked us to right down who we thought of when we thought of the elite of the elite in college football. Only 3 out of the 105 put down Western. Times had changed though, and the pressure was on. After beating Northwestern week #1, everybody was calling for an undefeated season. I think I speak for all the seniors, after that 1-11 season, you don’t take for granted just getting one win! We truly took things as a 1 game season. Our past had taught us how to focus on the process, not the results. Getting better each day. But the problem was that we blinked. We blinked and became MAC champs. We blinked and were 13-0. We blinked and were ranked #14 in the country. Blinked again, and were going a new years 6 bowl. Now as seniors, we sit up here at this table reminiscing of the time we had here. The memories and experiences that will last us a lifetime. I don’t know what all we all will take from this season. Whether it’s the wins. The records broken. The new standard set. But there is one thing I know for sure, these # seniors are family.