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A commitment to excel
Broad Run thumped Ballou (D.C.) 54-14 in Ashburn Sept. 5 to open the gridiron season 2-0.
Winning football games is becoming a habit for the Spartans, who have not lost a regular season contest since 2006, Mike Burnett's first as the school's head coach.
"We asked for a lot up front in the first year," Burnett said. “That's hard, when you're coming off a lot of losing seasons to ask for commitment and kids aren't seeing why.”
Broad Run compiled a 24-36 record in the six years before Burnett assumed the reins, never winning more than six games in a season in that span.
Starting quarterback Chris Jessop, a third-year varsity player, recalls stepping into a program coming off a one-win season and dealing with a new coach.
"We were willing to try anything," Jessop recalls.
The third-year Burnett, who took a winless Santa Monica (Calif.) High School and made it 8-2 in two years, is now turning around the Broad Run program.
"It's all about Coach Burnett,” says Jessop, who adds that Burnett instilled a dedication to weight-room work and practice intensity that hadn't existed previously. “He brings a winning attitude. It's been that way since he got here."
The Spartans, who went 1-9 in 2005, achieved their first-ever perfect regular season in 2007, acquiring the program's first district title since 1991.
"What I see now is it's easier to ask for commitment from kids," says Burnett, who had a hard workout scheduled 11 hours after the conclusion of the Ballou game. "They see why."
When Burnett speaks of commitment, he's talking about working hard all the time: on the practice field, in the weight room, during drills, in the film room. He wants players who won't balk at getting up early on a Saturday, mere hours after competing on the game field, and putting in a hard morning of practice and conditioning – whether the next game is a week or 10 months away.
"We tell them, 'You've got to put in a lot, you've got to sacrifice a lot, to be good,'” Burnett says. “You can imagine how that went over [at first]. Now, our kids expect it. That's the kind of thing that really builds a program."
Jessop says the players like to joke around with Burnett, but they know when he demands business.
“We don't think twice about getting in the weight room five days a week,” says Jessop, who believes the weight room has helped foster the development of Broad Run's bevy of outstanding athletes.
Burnett wants players, he says, who know they'd better perform when they get their chance, because on a team loaded with play-making ball handlers, there are only so many touches to go around.
"They feel a sense of urgency when their number is called," Burnett says. "That's what I'm most proud of: They really thrive for each other."
With substantial margins of victory in their first two games versus Wakefield and Ballou, the Spartans have had the opportunity to get younger players significant snaps in game situations.
"I think that's why successful programs continue to be successful," Burnett says. "Your starters get great work but are able to stay healthy, then your young kids get more repetitions. You really can't replace Friday night."
The star of last Friday night, Jessop foresees the Spartans continuing success beyond his graduation.
"I can see Broad Run contending for the Dulles District year in and year out,” he predicts.
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