Quirks of a football coach

Frank+Scelfo%2C+football+head+coach%2C+poses+with+some+players+at+%E2%80%9CHot+August+Night%E2%80%9D+in+downtown+Hammond.+

Don Lawrence

Frank Scelfo, football head coach, poses with some players at “Hot August Night” in downtown Hammond.

Annie Goodman, Editor-in-Chief

Everyone has their quirks, and the football coaching staff is not immune to this.

“Every coach has their sayings,” said Chason Virgil, a junior quarterback. “Coach Stevens is just always real laid-back, real calm and collected. We’ve never seen coach Stevens yell. Coach Spurlock: he don’t really say much.”

As head coach, Frank Scelfo has implicated a few phrases into practices that stand out in players’ minds.

One of these phrases, displayed on a PowerPoint slide, is “Special Announcement.”

“We go to team meetings, and the words ‘special announcement’ comes up on the screen,” said Jake Ingraffia, a senior wide receiver. “It’ll be an announcement, something happened, maybe a guy got a scholarship. Just something fun.”

Virgil candidly explained this amusing addition to the practice itinerary.

“Sometimes they ain’t that special,” said Virgil.

Another phrase, often used to wrap up practice, is “celebrate the number.”

“You know you’re either about to run or you’re about to break practice down and go home,” said Kyle Strickland, a senior offensive lineman.

According to Virgil, the number being celebrated indicates the amount of sprints the players must run before they can end practice.

“We all hope that the number is zero,” said Virgil. “It’s always a happy ending but ‘celebrate the number’ means we celebrate whether we gotta run two sprints or three sprints or have the time zero.”

The celebration aspect of this number is that the players must clap regardless of what the number is.

“You gotta clap when you hear ‘celebrate the number,’” said Alfred Beverly, a junior offensive lineman. “You gotta celebrate the number.”

Of the phrases mentioned by the players, Frank Scelfo had a different phrase in mind.

“I probably say ‘Let’s go’ a lot,” said Frank Scelfo.

Fitting his laid-back image, Scelfo is portrayed by his claim to not get stressed or nervous. Scelfo discussed how easily he can fall asleep.

“I could probably fall asleep anywhere I wanted to, really quick,” said Frank Scelfo.

Frank Scelfo’s wife also chimed in on her husband’s peculiarities.

“He hates being late,” said Holly Scelfo. “We can’t be late for church. We can’t be late for a restaurant. We can’t be late for a game.”

In addition to these habits, the players explained how Frank Scelfo will turn his hat around backwards and do a little dance when he is feeling the music at practice.

However, Virgil, Beverly and Strickland, in unison, stated that the funniest coach among the staff is, in fact, coach Garret Chachere.

The players are appreciative of the diverse personalities of the coaching staff and how accepting they all are.

“They all got their ways, and we feed off their energies,” said Virgil. “It’s like all their personalities come together in this melting pot to make this great team personality that fits every person on our team. We can be ourselves, and the coaches understand that.”