podcast

Ryan Burton interviews Nate, the starting safety for the St. Francis football team. Nate talks about the improved team camaraderie and off-season activities that have brought them closer together. He mentions changes with the coaches and players, as well as a new workout plan that has made the team stronger but lacking in speed and conditioning. Nate also discusses his personal efforts to improve and his positive experience with his new position coach. He highlights the need for discipline and focus in order to defeat Marion and Indiana Wesleyan. Nate's goals for his senior year include winning the conference and becoming an All-American. Hello, my name is Ryan Burton, and in this podcast we're going to be interviewing Nate, newcomer, the starting safety for the St. Francis football team, who also happens to be my roommate. So, Nate, tell us a little bit about yourself. I'm a junior here at St. Francis. As Ryan said, I play safety. I'm studying business administration, and I'm Ryan's roommate. So, let's get right to it. The past couple of years haven't been great for the St. Francis football team, and what are some things that you've seen this off-season that give you more confidence leading into this next season? I feel like the team camaraderie has improved. I feel like we're doing more stuff in the off-season to be together as a team and just get to know each other off the field, and I feel like that will play an advantage as we go into the season. Just getting to know each other and know each other on a personal level will help us play together on the field. Yeah, I agree. Also, what are some changes that you've noticed with the coaches or the players on this team during the off-season? We're starting to be together, kind of like, as I said, we're going into the coaches' offices. They're opening up their doors for us to be able to communicate and to hang out together as we've kind of done, me and you, just go in and hang out with the guys. We can feel that team camaraderie coming together for sure. Yeah, and also, we've had a change with our workout plan mid-off-season this year, and I just wanted to ask, have you been satisfied with our workout plan this off-season, or is there anything you'd change about it? Yeah, we've kind of talked about this for the most part, been cool with it. We're definitely getting stronger as a team, which we needed, but I think we're lacking in some areas like speed and maybe a little bit of conditioning, but we've done some jump training and stuff, so that'll keep us explosive, but we've definitely gotten stronger as a team, which is something that we need to improve on, so I'm satisfied with it for the most part. And also, what are some things that you've been doing on your own to improve? I stretch in my room. I stay loose, do mobility, I guess meet with my position coach usually once a week and just see where he's at, and he can see where I'm at, and we can just talk well, so just having a better understanding of the game in the off-season has been big for me. And how has it been working with your new position coach, and what are some things you like about him? Yeah, so Coach Sands is my position coach. He's a young guy, but he knows a lot. He's pretty knowledgeable. He's 26 years old, I think, but he has the ability to understand every position. He played linebacker in college, but he knows the defensive back spot. He's taught me a lot already in just helping me understand each position versus just my own position, so having that understanding of other spots and what other people do will help me to do my job. So this is your fourth year here, and this is what number position coach you've had so far? Three? I think three, yeah. Changes quick in college. Yep. And Marion and Indiana Wesleyan have had St. Francis' number since we've been on the team the last few years. What do you think are some changes that have to be made in order to defeat them? I think during those games, we get heightened. Our emotions get heightened. We start to become emotional in the way that we play, and we start to worry about the highs and the lows of the game, and we're not worried about doing our job and winning. We had a lot of personal fouls last year from a couple different players, which kind of screwed us, especially in the Marion game when we got penalties that went our way, but we didn't complain, and then we got a penalty on us. So just being more disciplined as a team will help us get those wins. Yeah, I agree with you. That Marion game last year, it was all going good until our emotions got the best of us and we started losing our focus. And last question for you, going into your senior year, what are some big goals that you've set for yourself? I want a ring, so I want to win the conference, just to have that ring on my finger. And then a personal goal for me is to be an All-American. So that comes with winning as a team, and then those personal accomplishments are a byproduct of that. All right. Thank you very much, Nate.