TEXAS sized turnaround
It was mid-October, and Richard Whitaker was sick to his stomach.
Couldn’t sleep.
Wringing hands with frustration.
The Sandcrabs Head Coach knew this team was better than its 0-7 record.
But injuries, turnovers, untimely penalties, and a handful of other repeating miscues had turned the 2022 season into Murphy’s Law with a pigskin.
Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong.
Obsessed about what could have been and what should have been, the longtime head coach did his best to not reveal his stress to his players.
Instead, Whitaker kept reminding the Sandcrabs that good things were going to happen to this team.
Maybe not this year, he said, perhaps even somewhere later in life.
A reward was coming for the manner in which the players didn’t quit when they easily could have, he said.
Roughly a month later, it feels like the payoff has revealed itself.
The Sandcrabs have won four straight, including an upset of Alice in the first round of the playoffs.
And they’re not done yet.
“I’m so proud of this group of kids and how they’ve handled this year,” Whitaker said. “They’re so deserving of what’s happening to them right now. When we walked off the field at Floresville, tied for the second spot in district, and knew we were in the playoffs, I told the kids there would be nobody in this dressing room putting pressure on them. We would have fun and coach hard. I knew they’re going to play hard, and we’re going to focus on ourselves.”
Having fun and turning it loose was the recipe in the 35-26 win over the Coyotes last week.
Up next, the Sandcrabs will play another talented squad, Canyon Lake, tomorrow night in Floresville. It’s probably fitting that the Crabs have a chance to extend their season in the same stadium where they clinched the playoffs.
“We’re just so grateful to have more opportunities to coach a wonderful group of kids who are having a lot of fun right now,” Whitaker said.
If you know Coach Whitaker, you know he has an encyclopedic memory of games he’s been part of. He recalls specific plays, good or bad, across games dating back three decades.
So the question has to be asked: has he ever seen a team experience such a turnaround?
He chuckles when he says, “not as bad as 0-7.”
“One of the best years I had was down in Kingsville when we started 1-4,” Whitaker recalled. “People kind of wrote us off at that point. We were trying to figure out who to play where, made some mistakes against some good teams. But the kids never panicked; the coaches never panicked. Then we hit our stride, won four straight, and lost to Calallen in a heckuva 10-point game to end the district season. So there have been some years similar, but I’d never experienced an ‘0-fer’ season. I don’t think I’d ever had a year where we lost more than three straight. So that was a different feeling.”
Again, Whitaker pointed to the resolve of the 2022 Sandcrabs as the reason for the turnaround.
“Outside, it may have seemed like the worst thing in the world, but inside these walls, it never felt like that,” Whitaker said. “The kids, the coaches, I mean, we were upset that we were losing, but our kids were excited about the opportunities ahead of them. We preached every day that good things were coming. We knew that the Good Lord had a plan for us – didn’t know exactly what it was, but we stayed the course.
“The panic was outside, not in here. We felt like we had a chance to be good. We just needed to tweak some things, cut down on mistakes, and felt like things that weren’t going our way would start going our way. And it did.”
When Whitaker looks at his team now, he sees a confident group that is having fun.
And that can be a very dangerous thing for opponents in Calhoun’s playoff bracket.
“I’ve been on the flip side before,” Whitaker said. “I’ve been on Alice’s side, having your season end when you didn’t think it would. I’ve been on Canyon Lake’s side. And … I wouldn’t want to play Calhoun right now. I’m not saying we’re going to win every game, but I’m just telling you right now: Calhoun is a team that is having a lot of fun – I know that because I’m here – and they have a lot of confidence. That can be a deadly combination.”
After the bi-district win over Alice, players reminded Whitaker about the tangible momentos from this season.
“We got into the playoffs after all the stuff we’ve been through. That was the first goal,” he said. “The second thing, at that point, we hang a [playoff banner] on the fence [at the stadium]. Now, the next thing is to put a ball in the trophy case. Well, you can’t do that unless you win a championship. So the kids after the game Friday said ‘Coach, now we can put a ball in the trophy case.’
“The next thing is, let’s play for a while. Let’s put a few balls in there. Why not? Keep winning and having fun.”
For Whitaker and his group of resilient Sandcrabs, they hope the fun continues in Floresville and it did.