CARMEL, IN. — When the 2018 season ended the Carmel Greyhounds were at Lucas Oil Stadium trying to identify the license plate of the Black and Gold Big Body Chevy that side swiped them on their way to win the Class 6A state title. It left a bad taste in their mouths and they wanted to use that loss as motivation for the 2019 season.
On Wednesday I had the pleasure and honor of speaking with Coach John Hebert about how they approached the offseason knowing that they were so close to winning it all a year ago. He said, “This was the best offseason I’ve been apart of as a coach.” He went on to say, “Everybody was all-in to prepare for the upcoming season. We had 6am workouts in February and there was 100 percent participation.” WHAT!!!? In the snow bruh? That’s incredible and it says so much about what the kids want to accomplish this year!!! Actions speak louder than words.
Talk about boyz buying in!!!! Hebert continued to say that “When we won the state title in 2016 we had 3 losses in the first five games. We allowed those losses to motivate us. We’re not looking for perfection. We’re looking to get better.”
The Greyhounds return 16 starters from that state championship appearance and you better believe that they’re hungry to redeem themselves. Senior wide receiver Zach Gish kept using the term “Carpe Diem” last year and the whole team just adopted it as their motto. It’s a Latin aphorism, usually translated “seize the day,” taken from Book 1 of the Roman poet Horace’s work “Odes.” The Greyhounds interpret it as “Seize the Moment!” It’s used to urge them to make the most of the present time and give little thought to the future. That’s blazin’ HOT isn’t it!!! That’s a well read kid isn’t he?
During that title game last season Carmel missed a ton of opportunities and Warren Central was so good that they were able to take advantage of them all. This year Carmel’s veteran team, starting with one of the best defensive tackles in all of America, Cole Brevard, will give boyz problems from the time they get off of the bus. Some teams might even think about staying on the bus once they hear cats using the term Carpe Diem! I had to say again. It’s HOT!!!
Brevard, a Penn State commit, makes the engine run smoothly and the radio sound better. According to Coach Hebert, “He’s our best player but he doesn’t hold himself above the other guys. Everybody loves him and he loves everybody else. He’s a kid that pays close attention to detail and loves to accept coaching.”
When your best player is that humble you can’t help but have a great team rolling with him. It seems like cats like running back Dylan Downing and outside linebacker Ty Wise have been at Carmel for 10 years because they’ve caused so many opponents problems in the past. I know opposing teams will be like, “They’re still there bruh? C’mon Maaaaan!!!!”
The great thing about this Carmel team is that they’ve got a ton of leadership and crazy experience coming back and it’s going to be great to see. It’s going to be hard keep the hunger in their belly down. In my Bart Scott voice, “Can’t Wait” to see these young thunder cats kick it off!!! They open on the road in Louisville against national power Trinity. Stop me when I start lyin’!
