MARC VERRILLI (PP1) AND NASER HANNOON (B1) are two freshmen who won’t be playing in any of Drake’s football games this year, but still play a vital role on the team. Photo: Tyler O'Neil
To an outsider, no position on the football team is as undefined as one obscure spot: the freshman.
At times, it may even seem like the cheerleaders are more visible than the first-years.
But the football team doesn’t look at it that way.
“Four or five of them play each year,” Head Coach Chris Creighton said of freshmen. And the others? “Their role is to get better.”
The way Drake football betters the freshmen prepares the whole team.
Safety Marc Verrilli (PP1) is one of those freshman who is red-shirting this season.
The red-shirted players don’t get a chance to play in any real games, but they improve their play by improving the whole team.
Red-shirted players form their own vital “scout teams.” The scout defense, offense and special teams study hard each week off the field to become carbon copies of that week’s opponents – this week that meant emulating Valparaiso.
“As the scout team we give our varsity team the Valparaiso defense,” Verrilli said.
In high school, Verilli went out and made the varsity team his freshman year of high school. He then played all four years and “got thrown in the starting role” with little effort. But he said he is not disappointed by his lack of playing time.
“Everyone’s a lot stronger than me, for one,” he said.
“Unlike high school, I’m at a place where I’ve got to earn my starting role and get that spot again and that’s OK.”
Well, certainly some first-years have to be disappointed they aren’t getting playing time.
“No, it’s not discouraging at all,” Naser Hannoon (B1) said.
Hannoon is a linebacker from West Des Moines. His team won state during his senior year at Valley High School. Now, he stands red-shirted on the sidelines, and that’s how it seems to be for first-years everywhere.
“It’s a process,” Hannoon said. “I’m just trying to help the team right now. Two of my friends at Iowa and Michigan State got full-rides and they are also red-shirting.”
Like anything in life, football teaches the players that they have to pay their dues with a respectable sense of duty. The first-year football players do just that.
Creighton played at Kenyon College for four years and has been coaching since 1991.
“I was a backup quarterback for two years, so I can relate to guys who aren’t out there playing,” he said.
Creighton believes first-year players’ roles on the scout teams and their continued improvement is just as important as anything else.
“I don’t think that freshman year is all that frustrating, they’ll be totally different people and players for the waiting,” Creighton said.
This isn’t to say that the guys necessarily enjoy the wait.
“On the sidelines, everyone’s into it and everyone wants to get in,” Hannoon said. “You can feel it.”
In the locker rooms, Hannoon said he just tries to absorb as much as he can.
“I see the tempo, the rhythm and the atmosphere and see how those guys handle it,” Hannoon said. “Then once I get my chance to play and perform, I’ll probably do the same thing as them.”
This shared anticipation creates strong camaraderie among the freshmen, while they bond with the upperclassmen over the experience as well.
“They understand where we’re at because they were in our position five years ago,” Hannoon said.
Not playing in the games does not separate the first-years from their older teammates. Verrilli said that the football players are able to bond together – even the red-shirt freshmen.
“We all sit together (at Hubble), no matter if you’re a freshman or a senior,” Verrilli said.
The coaches has also noticed the team’s ability to bond across years.
“We really like our freshman class and really like how our upperclassmen lead those guys,” Creighton said. “It’s not two different teams, we’re all in this together.”
Like a savings bond or a rare playing card, the waiting first-years go through adds to their value.
“It’s kind of delayed gratification,” Creighton said. “It will mean more to them when they get to play at 20 than the potential frustration of not getting to play at 18. The upperclassmen believe so strongly that we’re a family that they want to bring the first-years into the fold right away.”
Now that is teamwork.
