With football practices just a couple of days old, the Pace High School Vikings are not only trying to shake the doldrums of summer and install new schemes, they are also undergoing somewhat of a culture change under first-year head coach Danny Pardo.
The message is one of accountability and expectations.
“I feel that these kids never really got to understand what people really wanted out of them and now, they seem to catch on a bit more to what we want,” he said. “We push it quite a bit and demand a lot of them and expect them to know that there is a consequence to everything and I think they’re buying into everything.”
And so far, Pardo is having no problem getting his Vikings to buy in as it has shown in attendance and overall effort during the week.
“They’re here an hour before (practice) and we’re supposed to start at 4:30 p.m., but by 4:15 they’re all lined up,” Pardo said. “The enthusiasm is there a little more and I think they were ready for something new and I’m glad they are catching on and running with it. I came in last year late as a head coach. We went against each other and I demanded certain things and I think it’s going to catch on.”
On the field, Pardo calls the first couple of days of practice a down time before the players begin to compete against one another.
So far, it has been all about conditioning and installing new schemes on both sides of the ball.
While senior defensive end Elimelek Acuna said that not everyone was in peak condition physically upon returning, that didn’t diminish the team effort.
“The first day back was a lot of conditioning, I have to be up front,” Acuna said. “Not everyone was back in shape, but you know what, that’s what we’re here for, to work. I see a lot of potential in my teammates. I know them, I believe in them and I know we’re going to get there. Every day, we come out, we’re executing the drills and we’re getting a bit better.”
Senior quarterback Randy Aguilar is another eager Viking to get back on the field, especially after Pace fell a game short of the postseason a year ago.
Beginning to right the wrong from last season, however, starts with the fundamentals, conditioning and learning new terms.
“(Missing the playoffs) really motivates us a lot, especially me — everybody hates losing,” Aguilar said. “We just have to use that to help motivate us more so that we can get into the playoffs. It’s very exciting but there are a lot of drills, a lot of fundamentals we have to get through first. We have new plays, new coaches and we all just have to get into a rhythm and just go with it.
“It’s going to involve more working, to keep lifting — more of everything.”
For Pardo, this week’s goal is the same one the Vikings will have all season: Don’t be outworked.
“One thing I push is competitiveness — they have to compete and I don’t care if it’s against each other,” Pardo said. “Winning is the No. 1 thing on my mind. Our motto since I’ve gotten here — and it has always been mine — is don’t get outworked. That goes for coaches and players. The other team may beat us because they have more talent, but not because they outworked us.”