All Eyes on Me
by TRENTOL66 | 5 years ago | 2 Comments
All Eyes on Me
Saturday March 7th, 2015 was an early start for Coach Tholstrup. It was the annual faux celebration of St. Patty’s day, dubbed, “Fake Patty’s Day” in his college home of Manhattan, Kansas. The annual celebration falls before the real celebration because students are generally on spring break during actual St. Patrick’s Day. Everyone generally wakes up around 6 am, throws on their $12 green shirt they purchased the night before, and starts drinking before the bars open at 8 am. However, Trent was up for a different reason, a Super Bowl matchup between his Broncos and Adel’s Seahawks. Adel was also up early for his own reasons, a trip with his buddies to Las Vegas. Adel didn’t want to take his Xbox with him, so the early start time was agreed upon. Trent trudged up the steps of his basement apartment to the living room where his 3 roommates greeted him with an ice-cold Keystone Light and his controller, the two things that fueled him during Madden games. Trent flipped on his 47’ Samsung and settled down to play what would be his only Super Bowl appearance.
Coach Trent came to the RedZone with outstanding accolades. He had spent 4 years building up a Power Option running program at Kansas A&T. He then moved on to North Dakota Tech where he had multiple undefeated West Coast Style teams that were discounted by the top critiques and never given a fair shake. After having success at Boise State and his alma mater, Kansas State, (and a discontinue of the EA NCAA Franchise), Trent was ready for Madden, and the NFL. He was having fun and loving what he was doing. However, the NFL would be a challenge that even the most successful college coaches struggle to transition to.
Some would chalk up Coach T’s early success to the confidence era. Some, to the nonexistent 3+1 rule. In the beginning, things were fun for the coach. The Broncos teams were loaded with talent and contracts never were an issue. Teambuilding was always a challenge with the little cap room that the Broncos had after retaining all their top talent, but Trent always found a way to make it work. Trent struggled mightily in his first season. Throwing a then record, 42 interceptions in a single season with Peyton Manning. But once the Broncos moved on from Peyton, it was Kirk Cousins time to shine. Kirk led the Broncos to a Super Bowl and was famously snubbed for MVP. The next cycle, it was more of the same. Trent struggled mightily with Peyton, throwing Int after Int but then came along a protégé QB.
Evan Hart was considered the #1 QB ever generated in RedZone history. His two A+ abilities along with an A for the 3rd, he was a lock to go pick #1. The Broncos tried everything to land him but were unsuccessful. This however, ended up working out in their favor. All the way down at pick 21, the Broncos were able to draft Christopher French from LSU. “Joe Burrow, before Joe Burrow” some would now say. Christopher took the Broncos to numerous playoff appearances. The Broncos tried but came up short to make it back to the big game. After that it was all downhill. With stops in Minnesota, Green Bay and Denver, Coach has yet to find his successes of early. Two-win, three-win, four-win seasons are now the norm when playoffs use to be a guarantee.
The atmosphere during Coach’s games has changed tremendously. In the beginning, roommates and friends would gather in the masses to sit around and watch Coach play. They would “armchair QB” Coach T’s performance and tell him which plays to call next or which button he should have thrown to. Now, Trent plays in silence. Other than the occasional dog growl, or his wife’s phone conversation, there is no noise. He stumbles out of his chair each week, within 3 minutes of kickoff, plugs his 20’ monitor into the wall, grabs the HDMI port out of his 65’ TV, and plugs it into the small monitor. He quickly spends his 200 scouting points, with no method to the madness, selects two gold practice drills, simulates them and then informs his opponent of his readiness. The games seem like a chore to coach. The success, nonexistent. Are these the last legs of the coach?
We don’t believe so. But Coach needs to focus up. No more excuses. No more complacency. No more mediocracy. Coach needs to get back to the basics and find the fun in the game. The teambuilding, the comradery of the league, the media contributions, the mock drafts. It all needs to find its way back into Coach’s life.
The outcome wasn’t in Coach T’s favor that day, as the Broncos fell to Adel’s Seahawks, and coach has been looking in the rearview ever since thinking what could have been. With pitiful performances which included stops in Minnesota, Green Bay, and Denver, it’s time to start looking forward. So maybe what fueled Trent’s fine was that “all eyes on me” mentality, that there were people sitting inches away, watching his every move, hoping for his success. With a new daughter coming into his life shortly, maybe that fire can be lit one more time and he starts to gain a new crowd in his living room.
*All statistics used in this story are subject to review.