John Sullivan
Here’s another bye week special to enjoy while we all sit around and “heal-up” for next week’s tilt vs. Bethel and ensuing playoff run through the NCAA. St. John’s University senior staff writer John Sullivan penned the following story for the award winning SJUCSB The Record during week four of the 2007 season. We hope you enjoy John’s inside look at “Too Tough Thursdays”!
There is nothing worse for the first team defense than to be shown up by the scout team offense. John Soma, former Johnnie running back and scout team player, wanted to rile up the Johnnie defense back in 1998, so he wore a spandex blue running suit to practice.
“It started off as a joke and then the rest of the scout team started dressing up,” said Soma, an athletic director at Woodbury High School.
“Eventually it morphed into the defense,” he added.
Johnnie football has been developing a new definition of “football practice” since head coach John Gagliardi began his illustrious career at St. John’s. In practice, they don’t wear full pads, tackle or have hitting drills. The Johnnies win with a punishing defense, a potent offense, and of course, a laid-back approach.
It might not be a surprise to learn the Johnnie defense has a tradition every Thursday to make sure the players are enjoying practice and keeping it low key.
During the 1998 season, the defense mimicked Soma’s approach and dressed in black and orange tights for Halloween — the practice tradition began.
Jersey over the shoulder pads, arm bands, and black Sharpie tattoos on the biceps are commonly displayed by the defense on Thursday practices.
“It’s kind of funny for the first two plays,” pre-season All-American Nick Gunderson said. “But after that we concentrate on what we have to do.”
Last year, cornerback Shawn Schoenberg dressed up as Lance Armstrong and biked around the track before practice. He also wore a flannel jacket one week. This year, sophomore linebacker Josh Rose wore a collared T-shirt and popped the collar. Junior defensive tackle Joe Luke wore a Superman cape. These are all ways for the defense to lighten up and keep practice from becoming mundane.
“Sometimes guys go over the edge with their outfits, but most of the time it allows us to let the inner beast out and have a little fun at practice,” defensive end Michael Schumacher said. “It brings a little X-factor to practice.”
The defense knows that the game Saturday is the center of attention and so far Too Tough Thursday hasn’t deterred any players from focusing on the real issue.
“It doesn’t affect our preparation of the game at all,” assistant defensive coach Brandon Novak said. “If it did impact their focus we wouldn’t allow them to continue it.
“It helps the players stay loose and keep them laid back.”
The offense doesn’t have a comparable practice and they are fine keeping it that way.
“We are tough enough,” senior running back Mike Patnode said with a smile. “We don’t have to do anything.
“It would make things a little more interesting down at our end, but when we get too laid back, we start to make more mistakes.”
Whether Too Tough Thursday helps or not, the Johnnies defense has discovered how to control the offensive line and keep their opponents from scoring. The first team defense has only allowed 17 points in the first three games.
The defense is well aware that the real test of toughness isn’t Thursday at practice — it’s Saturday when the Johnnies defense takes the field.
“Too Tough Thursday is just a prequel to the weekend,” Schumacher said. “It helps us accelerate our performance and get our motors going for game day.”
