Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: #B1GCats Create Camaraderie
8/15/2015 10:06:00 AM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
They are most-assuredly teammates, and share both a common bond and a common goal. But make no mistake about. "There's always a small hate between the D-line and the O-line," says defensive tackle C.J. Robbins.
"There's always a rivalry between the offensive line and the defensive line," agrees offensive guard Shane Mertz. "If there isn't, you have a major problem on your team."
Last January, early in the offseason, head coach Pat Fitzgerald delivered a message to his defensive line and his defensive backs. These were the two most-experienced position groups on his team, groups rife with skilled veterans, and here he told them, "Our team has got to have your personality, and you two have to take over."
"They're tough mentally and physically," he more recently said when asked to define that personality. "They've got great chemistry within their groups. I think the groups love football. And I think we've got some veterans there who've seen what it's like to be knocking on the door to a Big Ten championship, and then have been part of the last two years."
Last season, when it broke from a huddle, the defensive line shouted, "Bad Boys." This was in homage to the Detroit Pistons of the late '80s and early '90s, those Pistons of Isaiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn who terrorized the NBA and (not unimportantly) won a pair of titles. "Just the mentality they had, that no one was better than them and they were going to out-physical people. We tried to adapt that mentality," Robbins will explain. "No one is tougher than us. Even if you get beat on the play, you're more physical than the person across from you. Being one of the older groups on the team, having the experience, we have the personality of, 'We know what's going on on the field. We know what we're doing. We're sure of ourselves.' Same as the DBs. The DBs got (call themselves) The Sky Team. It's just about swag. That mentality of confidence and playing hard and no one's better than you. That's the personality Coach Fitz was talking about."
But, still, this fall the D-line has dropped that Bad Boy persona. Now its members view themselves as The Savage Patch Kids. "Savage boys," Robbins says here, "is the mentality of just being savage on the field, going all out like (Texans') J.J. Watt or Jadeveon Clowney, being someone who's mean on the field, someone no one can block. The savage is what we're focusing on."
Last January, after delivering his message to his DBs and D-line, Pat Fitzgerald made another announcement. In the competitions that characterize their offseason, they would intermingle with their offensive counterparts. So now, in the weight room; in juke-out drills; in tugs-of-war; in reverse tugs-of-war with harness straps on; in those runs they took while carrying 50-pound bags of sand-- in these drills and more, the DBs would be competing against and/or teammates of wide receivers and the same would be true for the D-linemen and O-linemen. "I wanted the DBs and the D-line to kick the O-line and wide receivers' butts every rep, and then I wanted that personalty to take over those two groups," he will say when asked the motivation behind this intermingling. "Then I think sometimes when you go against your own position group, sometimes it falls a little bit into a brother-in-law mentality. But when you go against a guy from the other side of the ball, it's ultra-competitive everyday."
And did the O-line and receivers get tougher?
"I don't think they had a choice," Fitzgerald says. "I think it was one of those situations where, when you put people together, it's either going to pull you up or pull you down. I think it definitely pulled them up."
Now it is August and the 'Cats have just concluded a practice under a sun insistent enough to suck the marrow from a soul. So C.J. Robbins is drenched, is drained here, but still he can smile when asked about intermingling with those guys he regards with small hate. "It was actually a lot of fun. The D-line and the O-line had a really good time with it," he then says. "The D-line is really competitive (among itself). It's very, very stiff competition. Then the O-line has its competition (among itself). So when you put us together, it was always, 'You can't let the O-line outdo you.' 'You can't let the D-line outdo you.' It created a great competition."
"We think in the past the D-line has always had a tough mentality, and any chance we have to intermingle with them can only make everyone better," Mertz soon adds. "Plus it builds camaraderie. Working with the D-line allowed us to see the other side of the ball from a different perspective than we were used to. So from a learning standpoint, from a chemistry standpoint, I was all for it. Anytime I have a chance to learn from someone I go against on a daily basis is great for me."
"We knew the DBs and the D-line would be ready for this camp," wide receiver Miles Shuler finally says. "So we had a big load on us. We knew we had to come out and compete. So it brought us together. It brought up our competition level. And that's another thing. If you don't have a good practice, you're going to hear about it in the locker room from other players. 'Hey, I got you today.' Or, 'You've got to make sure your level of play is up there.' Our DBs and our D-line are a strong corps of our team. They're veteran groups. They stepped up a lot this off-season, and Coach Fitz just wanted us to come with them."
Now, after their summer of intermingling, Shane Mertz often finds himself going up against C.J. Robbins in practice. "We're talking after most every play," Mertz says. "'How was that move? Does that move work well? What did I do wrong on that play?' Things like that. The more camaraderie, the more communication we can have across the ball will just make us stronger."
Now, after their summer of intermingling, Miles Shuler talks daily with safety Traveon Henry about focus and mindset. "He's got a lot of character. He brings everyone together," Shuler says. "I call him 'Pop' because he's so old. He has a lot of wisdom."
Now, after their season of intermingling, this scene plays out as that practice under the searing sun winds down. The DBs, who have concluded their labors, jog down the field to urge on the O-linemen, who are going through their final drill of the day. "That's why I did it," Pat Fitzgerald says as he looks on.
"That's why I did it."
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook and check us out on Instagram. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!
