Five Questions With
Saginaw High Coach Don Durrett
Q: After being away from the sidelines for as long as you have been, how does it feel to be back?
A: “It feels great to be back coaching, but after this first practice, I’m pretty tired. Just haven’t been up talking, walking, and demonstrating for so long, but overall a great first day.”
Q: With Saginaw High having quite a few sub-par years over the past decade, how do you get the Trojans back on the path of winning?
A: “You got to get the kids believing in our format and our teachings. They need to be committed, is what we want for the kids. They need to want to come to practice every day and be committed to getting better and helping their team win at all levels. To me, I’m a person who believes in repetition. You have to get your reps in over, over, and over good things happen.”
Q: The cupboard isn’t bare with this year’s team, and you have a talented group returning. How do you take that group of kids and move them to the next level?
A: “You can have a lot of good athletes, but you also need a lot of hard workers that want to get better. It’s that mixture of good athletes and hard workers that make a good team.”
Q: When people talk to you about all of the kids you have sent to college and to the National Football League and want to know what they have to do to get to that level, what is your advice to them?
A: “Once you show them and tell them to believe and show them a little love, Hard Love I call it, the kids come to practice and they start to show commitment to the team. When they are sore, they still will come. When they are hurting, they still show up and give it all they have for the team. It’s a “we” thing and not an “I.” When you get the “I ” thing out of their head, good things happen.”
Q; Talk a little bit about Keyon Addison and his importance to the the team this season.
A: “Keyon has had a great summer. He is a hard worker. He will play on both sides of the ball. He is going to be playing on defense at the next level. You put Keyon on a team’s best receiver and he will lock him down. It’s going to be important for him to be in good condition, because he will be playing on both sides of the football.”