The season has since come and gone.  Another one in the books as we finished our inaugural 8 man campaign.  The wins and losses weren't what we were looking for but the young men did an incredible job of coming to work and improving throughout the year. 
It was a learning curve for all of us and I can only speak for myself but it was enjoyable with a new game to learn with the different nuances and such.  
We added a new coach to our staff this year, Jeremy Kral.  He coached eight seasons at Mediapolis in their JH program and brought great knowledge and energy to the program this year.  
Our young men need to be commended on how well they finished the season.  We were staring at another loss in our final game but they stayed in the fight and scored with just a bit over a minute left on a play we drew up in the grass.  
I enjoyed another year of WMU football and I hope you did too Wolves nation.  Let's have a phenomenal offseason and improve on this for next year. 
Please check out the new page on the website about the podcast.  I will be releasing podcasts hopefully weekly in order to talk and discuss our mindset change and discipline in improvement.  Share it with your friends and let's get Wolves FB and athletics back to the top!
 For those before us, those of us now, and those that follow, WE ARE WMU!

It's been a long time coming but we are finally here with a game week!  Our young men have had a great summer and preseason camp.  It is time to put our hard work out there and do what we need to do in order to be successful.  
First I'd like to talk about our summer lifting.  Jared Arnold had perfect attendance this summer and he reaped the benefits as well.  Young man improved in his lifts and got quicker as well.  Very proud of him.  We had many other guys that have worked extremely hard and we will see them to be successful out on the gridiron this season. Juniors Daunte Oepping, Christian Gerot, Juanito Piper, and Noah Freeman really put a hurting on the iron this summer as well.  Was very pleased to see those guys improve in their lifts. Sophomore Seth Schurr really made the bar bend as he put up 483 this summer in squat.  That is an all time high since I've been head coach in 2011 and we've been keeping strength records since 2014.  Impressive to see a young man care about working that hard in the weight room and hopefully it pays off for him on the field.  Freshman Noah Sparrow had a dynamite offseason as well with very good attendance and the coaching staff really loves his work ethic as well. 
We did something a little bit different for camp.  We invited the National Guard to our camp and we had camp from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for two days.  We had four practices during that time and three exercises with the National Guard.  We introduced our Standards of Excellence at that time and SFC Jason Wesley really helped drive the message home when he talked about how hard men win battles.  We also had a Simpson College Hall of Famer, former Iowa Barnstormer, former minor league baseball player, former assistant coach, and teammate of Coach McCarty's, Dusty Kain, come and talk to our team about his experience with football.  He talked about being prepared, being a good teammate, and always striving to be the best.  We appreciate both of those groups coming to spend their time with us and help our program improve. 
We talked previously about our Standards of Excellence.  These three standards are ones that will help us improve our lives.  They are: 
1. Be disciplined, be the best version of yourself. 
2. Execute with Excellence. 
3. Serve others. 
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We believe that living to these three standards we will create better people.  And by creating better people, we will become better players. We talk about these standards every day at practice and the goal is that they not only live these standards during football but in their everyday life as well.  
We discussed the idea of better people become better players.  We talked about what it takes to become a Great Wolf.  We came up with: living the standards of excellence, embracing expectations, sweeping the sheds (no job is too small or meaningless for anyone on the team), performing under pressure, following the spearhead (all of us must be on the same page in order to achieve the goals set forth by the team), training with a purpose,  play with a purpose, keeping it real (where we can give feedback to teammates without it being personal but it is so we can improve),  creating our own culture, and leaving a legacy.  We talked about each of those at length and there are a couple that stand out.  With us starting a new era at WMU with 8 man football I am really talking about leaving a legacy.  Everything they do is historical this year.  They are the first and need to set the bar at a high level.  We talked about planting a tree.  You don't plant a tree for the shade now, you plant the tree for the next generation to enjoy the shade.  Just like what we do now is laying the ground work for the next generation of WMU football players. We want to create a culture that student athletes want to be a part of with rituals and traditions that remind these athletes that it is special to be a part of WMU FB. 
We've had two weeks of preseason practice highlighted by a scrimmage with the team to the West.  It was an incredibly beneficial outing for us.  We learned what could work, what won't work, some things that we didn't even realize, and other nuances of the 8 man game we really weren't aware of because we just made the switch.  Afterwards we shared some time together as both teams provided watermelons and we had a tasty treat and fellowship at the end. 
That brings us to this week.  Our young men are seeing that we have to do things in an uncommon fashion in order to produce uncommon results. What we've done in the past two years hasn't worked, so we as coaches and they as players need to step out of our box and do things that will change the results we are getting.  I look forward to this season because it is going to be historical and give our program to be successful and thrive.  
We open up on Friday, August 17th, at Springville.  JV starts at 5:30 with Varsity to follow no earlier than 7:00 p.m.  I hope to see a good following of WMU Wolves Nation on the road to start this journey!
For those before us, those of us now, and those that follow, WE ARE WMU! 

Wolves Nation we are coming close to the end of the school year.  We had graduation this past weekend and said goodbye to our football seniors of the 2017 season.  Good luck in the future to Carter Hinkle, Kaleb Hagge, Jayce Malone, and Kyle Giese.  Thank you for your dedication to the football program and we wish you nothing but the best in your future. 

We are now one week into using Teambuildr as our workout software.  It has been a great week of workouts for those that have attended.  We've been a bit disappointed in some of our guys that have made the decision to not attend but we aren't going to focus on who isn't there.  We are going to make sure that they young men that attend are working their tails off.  And they are.  For example we had 26 Personal Records set on Monday morning.  Our guys are absolutely attacking the iron and we are getting so much better. The coaching staff loves watching the chemistry that is being built by our guys that are there.  Everyone cheering for everyone and getting after it. It has turned into an atmosphere of improvement, excitement, and engagement.  This is going to be an awesome summer with workouts. 

As we close out another school year I can't help but look back at the year that was.  Statistically and in the win/loss column we didn't achieve what we wanted.  What we did accomplish was the fact that we are moving this program in the right direction after a dip in success and numbers.  We've developed a culture of improvement and are starting to understand what it takes to be disciplined.  We are opening the door to a new era in starting our 8 man era.  I would love nothing more than for our young men to have success this coming season.  But, we know that the work needs to be put in before we can have success.  If we can adhere to the Standards of Excellence we will put ourselves on the right track to improve and compete.  As stated earlier, I am very excited for our summer and the opportunities we have in order to improve.  
Standards of Excellence: 
1. Be disciplined.  Be the best version of yourself. 
2. Execute with excellence. 
3. Service to others. 

Do what is necessary, when it is necessary, for as long as necessary. 
For those before us, those of us now, and those that follow, WE ARE WMU!
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Happy Tuesday Wolves Nation!  We are in the middle of our testing week and competition week.  We are busy in the weight room with maxing out on bench, squat, and hang clean.  We also have guys that have a big competition week this week with district track and sectional golf.  We are getting max outs done early this week so that our athletes are ready to compete at a high level. Hopefully we have young men that will continue on and participate at the state level.  

Boys sectional golf is here in town on Friday. Football players Graham Hagge, and Noah Freeman are competing with the team this season.  The team is lead by 2x State champ and football alum Kaleb Hagge.  These guys look to get back to state as a team and improve on their previously impressive 3rd place team finish last season. 
Boys district track is on Thursday and there are a few races that have a chance to compete in Des Moines.  Good luck to all the football boys that are competing as well as all the other WMU athletes. 

Our max outs were pretty good this cycle.  Our guys are seeing improvement.  Like everything, with attendance and effort you will see more improvement.  Those guys that didn't have great attendance didn't see that much marked improvement.  Those guys that showed up and did the work that was required of them, saw much improvement.  I was very pleased with most of our guys.  It is a good problem to have when the athletes are upset at only a 10 pound gain.  Most of our guys saw improvement in all three lifts.  Max outs were highlighted by freshman Seth Schurr squatting 430 and sophomore Jared Arnold squatting 400.  Very pleased with these two young men and the way that they attack the weight room.  

We are starting our new cycle with TeamBuildr on Monday.  I look forward to how our kids use this software and the data that we will collect and see how our athletes are training.  Things are looking up as we are closing out the school year and getting ready to attack the summer improvement season. 

Do what is necessary, when it is necessary, for as long as necessary. 
For those before us, those of us now, and those that follow, WE ARE WMU!​

Happy Tuesday Wolves Nation!  It seems like spring has finally sprung!  We didn't even need a coat this morning!  
We've been having great workouts for the athletes that are showing up.  We are at about 15-20 guys each workout.  This is not bad.  There are some guys that are not taking their responsibilities to the team very seriously right now and hopefully they find themselves and start making some better decisions. Those that are in are making incredible gains.  I just watched one of our players repping out what his max was 8 weeks ago.  We are heavy this week, deload next week, max outs then starting on May 14th with our summer workouts.  I think that we are really going to have a great summer this year. Our athletes are working hard and we've invested in them with the purchase of some new equipment and software. We were granted a grant from Walmart and sold apparel and are headed in the right direction. This summer will be awesome! 
As far as spring goes we are having some young men have success in their spring sports.  The track guys are looking strong and always improving.  Our golf guys are winning duals and shooting low.  As a football coach it is exciting to see our players have success in other areas of their lives too. 
Speaking of success we had a group of football players inducted to the National Honor Society. Juanito Piper, Jared Arnold, Noah Freeman, Christian Gerot, and Daunte Oepping were inducted.  It is great to see our young men excel in the classroom and with their character as well.  
We are looking to get schedules out to our team soon.  Looks like practice will be starting on July 30th due to having a week 0 game.  That first game is on August 17th!  It will be here before you know it.  Heck, it is May a week from today!

We were looking at putting themes together for our four home games this fall.  We were thinking that on 8/24/18, our home opener, we would like to call it Veteran night or Patriotic night.  We would like to invite all veterans of the armed forces to join us for pregame, be a part of the tunnel, and be recognized at half time. On 8/31/18 we would like to have Youth Football Night.  All members of the WMU-MS YSF teams are invited to be a part of pregame, the tunnel, and be recognized at halftime as well. On Homecoming, 9/21/18, we would like to have Alumni night!  All alumni of WMU football are welcome up at the gym for pregame, and to be recognized at halftime. Then to finish out the season on 10/12/18, our final home game for the season we would like to have Parent night.  We will invite all parents up to the gym, be a part of the tunnel and be recognized throughout the game and  halftime, especially the senior parents. Please look for the signs and updates as we get closer to the season.  If you know of a local veteran that would like to be apart of these let them know.  We look forward to seeing all members of the WMU community throughout this inaugural season of eight man football. 

We are working on improving our discipline as individuals in the thoughts that if we can improve ourselves we will improve our team.  I have subscribed to the Daily Discipline from the Focus 3 guys Tim and Brian Kight. I have found their content to be very helpful in my teaching, coaching, and personal life.  If you are interested in learning how to live a more disciplined life follow the link to Focus 3. 

Do what is necessary, when it is necessary, for as long as necessary. 
For those before us, those of us now, and those that follow, we are WMU!