Photo By Sgt. 1st Class John Healy | The Tarleton State University football team, the Texans, rejoice at the close of a...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas - Last season was hard on the Tarleton State Texans. Despite winning the Lone Star Conference with a record of 5-1, they were passed over for the leagues only playoff bid in favor of West Texas A&M.
Their only chance to redeem themselves was the Heart of Texas Bowl, scheduled to take place in Copperas Cove against Ouachita Baptist University, the leading team from Arkansas. Two days before the game, a freak storm covered northern Texas in a sheet of ice, making travel impossible. The Texans were forced to end what should have been their breakout season on a loss.
The final blow came one month before the 2014 season would start, when Cheryl Spellmeier, the senior football secretary of 16 years and surrogate mother to many of the players, was killed in an automobile accident.
“They all went to the funeral,” said Head Coach Cary Fowler. “They’d called her momma.”
In his fifth year as head coach, Fowler was left with a group of young men shaken by loss and defeat.
“They’re a mentally tough group, to bounce back from what they’ve been through,” said Fowler.
Fowler recognized the need to unify his team, to teach them to fight as one.
There is an old adage beloved by Soldiers that in combat, it isn’t pride or patriotism, glory or any other lofty sentiment that compels you to press on. You do it for the man next to you, because when you’re a million miles from home, that brotherhood is all you have.
This is the passion that Head Football Coach Cary Fowler of Tarleton State University hoped to instill in his team, and Fort Hood would provide the forge to temper their bonds into hardened steel.
Fowler grew up beside Fort Campbell, Kentucky. With family members in the military, he is more than familiar with the military lifestyle.
“I always talk to [the team] about how the United States Military, whatever branch it may be, they all fight for the same thing,” said Fowler. “Everybody has a role, and if one person doesn't do that role, everyone goes down. It's the ultimate comparison between the United States Military and a team sport like football that deals with so many individuals at once.”
One of the issues that Fowler hoped to address is the self-assurance that accompanies many of the players as they transition from their lives as star high school athletes to an even playing field.
“A lot of times when they get to us the think ‘I’m a star’ or this and that and they’re out for self glory,” said Fowler. “What I always tell them is that [the U.S. military] is the greatest fighting machine in the world. They don't do it with an ego, the do it with confidence, and confidence comes from hard work.”
On Monday, The Tarleton State Football team along with their coaches boarded 15 passenger vans and made the drive south to Fort Hood to begin their weeklong training camp.
Shuttled into the barracks of North Fort Hood, the team was greeted by the Soldiers of the Oregon National Guard’s 162nd Infantry Regiment hard at work, weeks away from deployment to Afghanistan. Seeing the 162nd immersed in their mobilization training sent the team into immediate culture shock. Many were simply in awe at the sight of Soldiers openly carrying rifles and machine guns with the nonchalance of experienced veterans.
“My whole mission was leadership and teamwork,” said Fowler. “I took their cell phones away, no TV there, no concept of time, where they have to be accountable and help everybody get where they’re supposed to be.”
The isolation of North Fort Hoods as well as the simplicity of the facilities provided the perfect conditions for developing a sense of camaraderie amongst teammates.
“Really it’s about coming together,” said Robert Hinton, the Texans’ starting center. “It’s simple, it gets us away from distractions. Getting close and getting to know your brothers, and developing leadership skills.”
Establishing communication and building rapport with the other students was one of Hinton’s personal goals for this training camp.
“Its my job to get to know them,” said Hinton. “I’m an older guy. We’ve got thirty-plus freshmen that are new. Some of them can get lost because they don't really get know to each other. We’re all together, but they feel alone.
“That’s what great about this; we’re all here,” said Hinton. “Putting us in a 100-200 man barracks and listening to people snore, I’ve never felt closer to my teammates.”
Guiding the team through their initiation to the military lifestyle was Sgt. 1st Class Bradford Raven, a former drill sergeant currently with 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.
In between practice sessions at the newly constructed Fort Hood Stadium, the team learned basic Army drill and ceremonies, as well as participating in tried and true army team-building exercises such as the Leadership Reaction Course and the Warrior Skills Trainer.
“In my experience, the number one weapon that we have is communication,” said Raven. “All of those activities require a lot of communication between the leader and the follower and vice versa.”
Texans kicker Anthony Landry welcomed the chance to bond with his teammates off the field.
“It’s hard every year, coming from a junior college, all you’re worried about is yourself,” said Landry. “You have to rebuild that trust every year with the new people that come in.”
The fundamentals of leadership tested during the training were not lost on Robert Hinton.
“It took me out of my comfort zone, thinking outside the box,” said Hinton. “It took me somewhere that I need to be because that's what leaderships about. You need to go outside the box.
“As a center I’ve got to make a couple calls. Protections, strengths, combination calls, locking combo calls. You’re recognizing it on instinct. You see it, you go.”
Coach Fowler was particularly impressed with the facilities at the Warrior Skills Training Center.
“I compare the simulator to us preparing for our opponent,” said Fowler. “That's just like us watching video, going out and practicing and trying to create muscle memory and being able to perform at a high level.”
Fowler made sure to drive this point home with his team, reminding them of the realities of the military profession and the importance of staying focused during training.
“We’re using the same training methods to prepare for a game that they use for real life situations where life and death is on the line,” said Fowler. “The only difference is that those bullets are real.”
For the last event of the week, the Tarleton State Texans and Fort Hood invited local children from the surrounding area to Fort Hood Stadium for a chance to practice with the team.
During this final practice, Coach Fowler did fall into his usual role, stalking the field with sharp eyes and interjecting wisdom as necessary. He sat, and he watched.
“They're not the same football team that they were Monday morning,” said Fowler. “I’ve seen them be able to communicate with each other. I’ve seen them have to adapt. I’ve seen our leaders learn how to give commands, but I’ve also seen them learn how to encourage.”
These are precisely the qualities that Fowler was hoping to see, the same qualities that he sees when he looks at the men and women in uniform.
“It’s unselfishness, it’s teamwork, and it’s fighting for your country,” said Fowler.
| Date Taken: | 08.22.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 08.31.2014 15:36 |
| Story ID: | 140865 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Hometown: | FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US |
| Web Views: | 156 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Tarleton State University Texans train at Fort Hood, by SFC John Healy, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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