Players can talk a lot about why something happened, their opinion on a disjointed team, or an unfortunate result of a game, but due to the fact that those opinions are often heavily biased, sometimes hearing the thoughts of someone higher up on the ladder can give a more uninfluenced view of the topic at hand.

Sports are almost always controversial, meaning that there are commonly opposing perspectives on each result, each game, and each player. Sometimes, when an audience thinks a player performed poorly, the coach really admires the fact that the player tried something new. All in all, a result of a game or season is rarely agreed upon, in terms of being “bad” or “good”, among a large group of people. For every player and every team, there are times when things just don’t come together, and that is perfectly normal. Similarly, Fossil Ridge’s football program didn’t quite have the year they wanted to; although the team’s season came to an end with a (2-7) record, Head Coach Zak Bigelow believes that the season may prove to be more beneficial, and definitely more insightful, than it would’ve been if they had won every game.

Successful programs, universities, businesses, etc. all have one thing in common, and that is a clear and defined set of goals. In previous articles, Bigelow has mentioned his coaching philosophy and personal goals, but time has a way of changing things. In an interview Bigelow stated, “ Coming into the program my goals were always the same: to make this a great experience for the athletes, and to teach them how to become great young men. I thought that I was building a strong program, but during the transition from last year to this year, even after having so much success last season, when I showed up in June, 2 months before the start of the season, I didn’t see any changes.” After having such a powerhouse of a team during the 2016-2017 season, it was undeniable that after losing such a strong group of seniors, the team would struggle a bit to bounce back. “After redirecting our focus, we are now really building a culture that is centered around teaching kids about living in the hard, and handling adversity. So while we were more successful on the field last year, I feel like in regard to the wholesome development of young student athletes, we were more successful this year.” Fossil’s coaching staff changed the direction of the program this year, and as with almost everything, it takes time to adjust to new things. With that said, even though the new changes slowed the team down, it most certainly didn’t stop them. 

As mentioned earlier, the SaberCats had one of the most successful seasons in the history of Fossil Ridge football last year. The Cat’s not only broke a school record, for having a 3-0 record coming out of the gates for the first time, but were also crowned city champs after taking down Collins, Rocky, and Poudre. However, the records aren’t the only difference between the two seasons; Bigelow commented, “One the biggest things is that we are just extremely young. It’s not that we couldn’t have overcome that, it’s just extremely frustrating from my perspective as a coach to have reached such a high and then hit such a low. And as a coach, when the team loses it’s your fault, and I take the failures of the team very personally. No great sailor was ever born out of calm seas, and so for me to become a great coach, I have to go through trials and tribulations.”