Mike, you are being assigned the letter “I.” The “I” stands for INTENSITY. I am giving you this letter for obvious reasons…you are a very intense player. Sometimes you are a bit too intense (like the time you kicked the Scripps player), but for the most part you use your intensity in a positive manner.

Your responsibility will be delegated mostly to on the field activities. I have always felt that defense controls the tempo of practices and games. Most often, when we are having bad practices, it is because we are not picking up the tempo on defense. People get complacent and soon everyone is simply going through the motions. Bad practices give rise to bad games. You beat teams on Monday thru Thursday, not on Friday

I want you to always keep players focused during practice and games. I f you see a teammate who is not practicing or playing with full intensity, give him some encouragement. You will not need to scream at or berate your teammates. I simply want you to give them some verbal encouragement. More importantly, you will lead by example. By always practicing and playing with great intensity, your teammates will know that you aren’t asking them to do something that you yourself aren’t doing.

Remember that it is important to be intense, but always under control. Too often you see teams hurt by players who are so intense that they lose control of themselves. We can’t afford to have dumb penalties or player ejections stemming from actions that are direct result of playing out of control. You’ll be perfect for this job. So don’t be surprised if sometime during practice or a game I go to you to let you know that we need to pick it up.