Did the players get the message? "Yes, sir"

By Rex Kirts

South's football players received a new message Wednesday. And they responded in a manner appreciated by new coach Kirk Kennedy, with "Yes, sir," and "No, sir."
A new kind of discipline is in.
The Panthers heard a lot of words such as accountability and responsibility and Kennedy's concepts thereof. In the audience were his revamped coaching staff, last year's players and some players who didn't play last year. There were even some who never played football before.
Kennedy is a forceful presence, and that's the way his football teams play. They run the ball and play defense. And they win championships. His last seven teams at Lowell won sectionals, and his 2005 team won the class 4A state title. Two others were state runnersup.
"WE WON'T OVERWHELM people with Xs and Os. We'll win with the way we play the game," he said. "We will out-hit, out-execute and out-last them. We're gonna be tougher.
"You can do a lot with effort. We'll work hard on talent, but talent alone won't win ball games."
The beauty of the Panthers, especially offensively, will be in their simplicity, he said, "It's not what we do, it's how we do it. A lot of football today is too cute. Football is still blocking and tackling."
Kennedy said he doesn't like losing, but his version of losing doesn't always show up on the scorboard. "If we do everything we can we'll win," he said. "The most important indication of success is how did we work, how did we prepare. The scoreboard is irrelevant. Your effort is relevant.
"We will not lose. If we do everything we can, we'll win."
THE PANTHERS will be expected to work a lot. Kennedy hasn't been pleased that several players not in another sport haven't been doing much.
And he was definitely displeased that some haven't doing much in the classroom.
"You do your (classroom) work when you're supposed to do it," he said. "You are competing for your future right now!"
Kennedy has also heard enough excuses and explanations about this and that.
"EXCUSES AND EXPLANATIONS - not gonna happen!" he said. "Excuses and explanations will get you beat every time.
"We're going to organize this programa to be successful. We're building for now. We expect to win now."
The new coach told the players they should set high goals, to have a plan. "Think big," he said. "The plan we had a Lowell worked. The plan worked because we had efficient execution.
"Expectations. Accountability."
He talked a lot about personal conduct and appearance. He expects the players to dress up on Friday's.
"THE CORNERSTONES of this program are gonna be character and toughness," he stated.
Toughness on the field means to do things right mentally and physically. "Give attention to details. Do things right.
"There will be accountability and responsibility. And there WILL be good team chemistry."
Kennedy stressed the importance of operating as a group. He is not about individualism, such as wearing earrings and pants hanging down past the rear end.
He closed, saying, "We've got to out-work our opponents. That's our niche. We're not going to let non-talent be an excuse."
A new day has dawned on Panther football.