USA Football's Junior National Team offensive and defensive coordinators can't believe they are working with some of the most talented players in the country. Offensive coordinator Gary Swenson, of West Des Moines Valley High School, and defensive coordinator Steve Specht, of Cincinnati St. Xavier, are hard at work teaching these gifted young men their respective schemes this week.
All members of Team USA - both players and coaches - knew coming to Canton, Ohio, for the upcoming IFAF Junior World Championship and learning new schemes in just two short weeks would not be easy. Players on both sides of the ball have been studying and practicing these new schemes all week in an effort to prepare for the team's first game against Team France on June 27 at 8 p.m.
"It's always difficult to learn a new offense quickly," said Swenson, who led Valley to a 14-0 record and a state championship in 2008. "The terminology is new, everything is new. We're getting the installation done this week."
What makes learning this offense even more difficult is that Team USA's defense is so darn good. Swenson said, "We are taking baby steps against an unbelievably good defense. It puts pressure on us to perform in practice."
Team USA's defense looks so good that even Specht is somewhat surprised with how fast the defensive guys have picked up his plan.
"When you get kids from all over, you wonder how long it will take for them to fit the puzzle, so to speak," Specht said. "I would say that we are way ahead of the learning curve. We could add more. This is a talent-loaded team and a talent-loaded defense. It will be tough for anyone to move the ball on us."
Team USA's offense has thrown quite a variety of plays for the defense to practice against. Specht said, "Coach Swenson does a lot of different things, so we've been able to see a lot this week."
Once this first week of introductions and learning is over, the team will then begin to focus on its French opponent.
Both coordinators agreed that most of the team's focus has been simply on getting better and coming together in general, not necessarily on focusing for one opposing team over another. Both also acknowledged the luxury of having such skilled players to work with against anything an opponent could throw at them.
A plus to working with such a talented group of players is that everyone will play and it makes the difference between the first and second teams very minimal. The difference between the two is so small that the coordinators have not even started determining which players will hold starting positions.
"Everyone will play," Swenson said. "No one came here to stand on the sideline. We will have more of a rotation system."
