Making the move from high school to college is a big jump for any incoming freshman - and may be even more so for those who receive athletic scholarships. Not only do student-athletes have to get accustomed to class schedules, finding their way around campus and meeting new people, but they also have to learn how to play for a new coach under a new system with new teammates.
To make this process a smooth transition, many athletes redshirt their first year so they can use the extra time to prepare to take the field against older, more experienced players - which is how USA Football 2009 Junior National Team members Noel Grigsby and Nick Zachery are spending their first year at school.
Grigsby, now a wide receiver at San Jose State, and Zachery, a safety at Indiana University, are both looking at their redshirt experiences with an open mind.
"I think redshirting was the best thing for me," said Zachery, who helped Team USA earn a gold medal at this summer's inaugural International Federation of American Football Junior World Championship (JWC). "It helps me get used to the speed, get bigger and stronger and get the defense down. That way I can be ready to play when I get the chance."
The U.S. team was led by 10 of the country's top high school coaches, with Chuck Kyle of Cleveland St. Ignatius at the helm, and featured players who were committed to top football programs all across the country - including the likes of Ohio State and Virginia Tech. With all this talent on the field, going head-to-head with their own teammates to learn new offensive and defensive schemes proved to be very beneficial in preparing the players for the JWC and beyond.
"Playing for Team USA was a wonderful thing," said Grigsby, who hails from Los Angeles. "We had two-a-days earlier. I was able to adjust faster to playing football and college life. Also, the competition at [the JWC] was pretty fierce; I was able to adjust more and adjust easier (to San Jose State)."
For the 45 members of Team USA, the JWC offered them their first real look at the speed and size of the players they would soon be facing at their respective college programs. Training camp for the JWC opened for the American squad on June 14 and gave the players less than two weeks to prepare for France, the Junior National Team's first-round opponent. After handing Team France a hearty defeat, Team USA went on to win its next two games en route to the championship.
"It taught me some new defenses that I'd never played before, so I got to run that," Zachery said. "The receivers that we had and went up against were really quick, so it helped me get used to the speed that I would be seeing in college. So that really helped me out."
And although being out on the field making the big plays down the stretch is what Grigsby and Zachery would like to be doing, neither has looked at his redshirt season in a negative light. Actually, it has been quite a learning experience for them both. The extra time has given both players the opportunity to adjust to the speed of the game, become stronger in the weight room and really focus on learning the playbook. With a full year under their belts at the start of the 2010 season, both Grigsby and Zachery will be one step ahead.
"Next year, I should be ready to go," Grigsby said. "You have to be more prepared at this level. You have to practice more. It's a different level of competition ... You have to focus and make sure you know everything."
