Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said he wants to turn the page to the 2018 season after the Birds ring ceremony on June 15th. He talked about all of the celebrating that has continued after the Birds stunned the football world and upset the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
I understand what Pederson is doing. He’s talking to his football team and telling them that it’s time to turn the page. It’s time to get focused on preparing for the 2018 season. The coach is trying to coax his players into the making this change but he can’t go inside them and turn the page. They must do it.
A player has to do this inside his heart and his mind. A coach can’t force a player make the change regardless of how much he yells and screams. The player has to decide and agree on his own to turn the page.
Pederson knows it’s time to get started preparing for 2018. He knows that the emotional preparation will be very important because football is played best when the team is emotionally invested in the game they’re getting ready to play.
I can remember times when I was playing that I had to reach inside and get myself ready to practice or play. It takes some time to get emotionally invested before a game or season. You can’t just turn the switch. You get emotionally invested in a season or a game when you begin putting in the hours of sweat and film study to prepare for it.
