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Gold and Black: That would seem, then, to potentially improve the football IQ perspective. That's something that would seem you'd need to be better at. Hazell: "You have to be a smart football player, and you've got to know the game. Because if you are a good player and not a great player, that will help you immensely, having a jump on things." Q: How do you go about improving that? Hazell: "Watching film is part of it. I think you've got to be able to get into coaches' minds a little bit and say, 'What's that guy thinking? Why are we doing it this way?' I think all those things are good for the program. Also, when you get out on the field in the offseason, think about 'If I'm a defensive back, OK, how many routes can he run from that split? What are the top three routes he can run from that split as a receiver? Those kind of things (are important) so I can cheat that route because I think that's what's coming.' That makes you a good player. Or, I'm a receiver, and a guy likes to stay in his pedal longer. 'How do I break that guy down? Do I go on his edge or do I go right down the middle on him, based on the route?' It's not just, 'I've got a curl route, 12 yards, quarterback is throwing …' It's not just that. That's not what makes you a good football player. I think it's all the other little things that make you a really good football player." Gold and Black: The 'A Players Must Get As' is the standard, if we think you're this, you need to be this. Overall on your team, did you have guys perform to the level you thought they should consistently? Or was that part of one of the problems this season. Hazell: "You certainly had guys, but that's the problem: This is a team sport. You've got to have almost all the guys perform at that level every single week. That's the reality of it. You can have three or four guys on the offense perform at their level, you're still not going to be successful." Gold and Black: Before the year, you mentioned one of the ways you define success is if the guys will leave it all out there, if they'll give every fiber of what they have. Was the season successful in that way? Hazell: "In that respect, I'd say absolutely not. Did they play hard? Yes. Can we play even harder? Absolutely. I don't question their want-to. I never questioned that. I think they come out of the locker room, just dying to give f everything they had. I really do. I believe that in this team. But there comes that point in time where something happens where you've still got to give it all, I'm not so sure. That all falls on me. I've got to make sure that no matter what the situation is, good, bad or indifferent, that you're just going as hard as you possibly can to give us a chance." Gold and Black: What did you enjoy about the season? Hazell: "The challenge, week in and week out. I think you always enjoy that as a coach. As hard as that is, at some point in time, that's something you really do enjoy. You come back in here on a Sunday or a Monday and you turn the film on and, 'OK, what are the ways we can get our guys to play as well or better than their guys?' That's the fun part of the job." Q: What went right this year? Hazell: "I think you saw some young guys emerge toward the end of the season and start to play with more confidence, start to believe in some of the things we're Ziccarelli Builders, Inc. Construction Planners and Contractors Commercial & Industrial General Contractor LEED Certified Projects Augie Ziccarelli, CEM 1981 One Overlook Point, Lincolnshire, IL 60069 zicbuilders.com Phone: 847.913.1000 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 3 17