"NO NO NO NO. GET OFF THE FIELD!!" a coach yells at a player who didn't pay attention when his replacement came on to spell him.
"C'mon guy!! We TALKED about that!" another coach offers, in the same way grandma OFFERS cough syrup.
Head Coach Jeff Chudy is entering his 13th season at the helm of one of California's most storied community college football programs, and he has experienced great successes like winning three National Northern Conference Championships, qualifying for three Southern California Championship Games as well as advancing to the State Championship games a couple of times.
"I like this group, I'm excited," Chudy said, even though his secondary had gotten beat several times on busted Cover 2 schemes that made Antelope Valley's quarterback and receivers shine, "Our coaches are coaching them hard, and we have guys that work hard. What I'm really looking forward to is seeing what happens out of my field of vision...and away from the ball. It's a guy finishing the play until it's whistled dead...even though the ballcarrier is on the other side of the field? Is he grinding and working? Or is he loafing around because he knows I can't see him right then?"
Just as Coach Chudy begins to sound like he might have no logic behind his desire to see a young person struggle in the heat other than to "keep him in his place", his voice softens as if to tell you something he feels sensitive over.
"The thing is...I can't tell you how great our effort or hustle was...and that's what I'm looking for on the backside of plays. Because the one thing our guys can control on every play is their effort; that's the one thing they can control. I don't want to see guys just loafing around...not on plays, and not in their lives."
Coach Chudy can be be branded "old school" by those who don't pay as close attention as the man himself. They take his stern bearing on the field, coupled with BC's traditional uniforms- free of both professional-style choices likee nameplates across the shoulders, or loud patterns and aggressive coloring favored by other teams across the country, and you might think he's another career football man who isn't thinking outside of his carefully constructed emotional and intellectual walls.
Chudy began his playing career at Taft College's now defunct program before transferring to Fresno only to have his playing career prematurely ended by a knee injury. He returned to Taft and controlled what he could; his effort.
After five years of intense-effort testing in Kern County's natural outdoor crucible of heat, dust, and long summers that reach deep into Thanksgiving, his belief was confirmed in the form of two State Championship trophies in 1990; one for football and the other for Track & Field.
"Hard work and effort are things that require no talent; it takes a lot of heart and mental toughness," Chudy said.
Exhibiting "mental toughness" doesn't necessarily mean holding fast to old ideas in difficult times. It can also be measured by how one bears the physical pain of changing circumstances on the way to better times.
If Chudy and his staff have shown anything in the years since the 2012 State Championship game, it's a willingness to improvise and depart from "THE PLAN"...but not at first sign of trouble. But rather when the plan's contingencies have been exhausted to the extreme and sticking to it would be strictly for sentimental reasons instead of the greater good. From the unorthodox calls and trick plays that punctuated a six-game win streak to finish the season (after a 1-4 start) that put BC in the Western State Bowl where they beat Chaffey College in 2014...to the staff's decision to activate Redshirt Freshman QB Dalton Gallis-in part, observers believe-to mitigate the impact of a thin offensive line on a less mobile QB than Gallis.
Now it appears the Renegades may be starting the season with another departure from tradition...an offensive playbook that would have looked odd to many of the Hall of Famers who've decscended the hill from the Clerou Fieldhouse into Memorial Stadium's nearly seventy year old confines over the decades. This is not your grandfather's BC football team...and it's probably not your father's Renegades either.
"The game is evolving, and we are trying to get our best eleven players on the field every play...whether that's offense or defense. Each play is it's own unique moment, and you take it one play at a time with your best eleven out there...and that's what we are trying to focus on; making sure those eleven are organized to take the most advantage of their unique skills while still working as a cohesive unit in pursuit of a singular goal," Chudy explained, "We are fortunate to have a lot of speed, and we have to utilize it; and I'm not going to say we are just gonna "chuck'n duck it" fifty times a game. We will try to have a balanced attack that makes them cover the field; if they aren't recognizing our looks and respecting them properly by putting enough guys in the box, we've got to run downhilll. When they gang up, we've got to throw to the edges and we are lucky to have guys who can take that five yard catch and turn it into a big gain."
At this point, Chudy is goaded for names, and specifically for those names to be assigned to the downhill rushing role or the pass-catching tailback role he had just described, but he predictably demures...before unpredictably explaining why.
"There are folks who will watch practice, and try to make predictions, but I just want these young folks to keep working. Keep getting better. Keep adapting to circumstances on the field that maybe significantly different than the ones they played under in high schoool. And if we go giving too much security and praise now, maybe we deny them the pleasure and opportunity of continuing to adapt and correct mistakes and reaching an even higher ceiling; that's why I don't like getting into that. I don't want any part of standing between them and the best version of themselves. Again, the only thing they can control is how much hard work and effort they are willing to expend."
The Renegades open their season on the road this weekend against Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. It'll be the first regular season game played on the Hancock Campus's new stadium. Previous games were played at Righetti Field.
If you'd like to watch the game but aren't interested in the drive to Santa Maria, take the BC Rooter bus. Call 661.395.4266b to reserve your seat today.
