GREENBELT, Md. >> We hear a lot about leadership in sports and the military. And in the most militaristic of sports, football, it is considered indispensable, although often undefinable.
Fearlessness, playing hurt, encouraging teammates, making big plays, performing consistently without mistakes, putting in extra work … all are considered forms of leadership in football. Things that are often difficult if not impossible to quantify, but you often know it when you see it.
Leadership is always a theme with the academy teams, and it is also one with this year’s University of Hawaii squad, which plays at Navy on Saturday.
After last Saturday’s 47-10 loss at Utah State — which dropped UH to 0-8 — I asked coach Norm Chow if he felt the team is getting enough leadership from among the players.
“We need, we always ask for senior leadership and we don’t have very vocal seniors,” Chow answered. “We need ’em. That’s just part of our makeup and we just have to find the leadership. This is their football team. We keep telling our seniors this is the team you will remember, the friendships you make that will last a lifetime. And we don’t have anybody that seems to step up.”
Only five of the 24 players listed on the two-deep depth chart for offense and seven of the 22 for defense are seniors. And one of those seven, a player universally considered a leader — tackle Saui Matagiese — is out for this game with a knee injury.
Two seniors, quarterback Sean Schroeder and defensive end Tavita Woodard, said they try to lead by example.
“Maybe we need more vocal leaders,” Schroeder said.
Said Woodard: “Vocal stuff helps, but we just need to be consistent, do our things right and just lead by example. Off the field, on the field, everything, that’s where our leadership kind of falls in.”
Junior defensive lineman Beau Yap said a player doesn’t have to be a senior to lead. “Everyone can be leaders, even freshmen. Everybody’s got to get each other up and get after it,” he said.
For Navy, though, it can be awkward for underclassmen to project leadership because of the institution’s military structure that demands upperclassmen are respected as superior officers.
“It’s so class-based, and chain of command is huge. Sometimes a freshman is a great natural leader, a great locker-room guy,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “So you want them to lead, but you’ve got to make sure they don’t step over the line. Some freshmen earn respect and stuff they say gets listened to because they work hard. You try to leave class rank off the field. If you’re a freshman and you mess up, you get yelled at. If you’re a senior and you mess up you get yelled at.”
Just by the very fact that he chose to attend an academy often makes a Navy football player a leader.
“They’re remarkable people. When you come here, you recognize you’re coming for more than yourself. You’re coming for the education, to become a leader of men and women when you’re done and to serve the country. There’s a selflessness that plays perfectly into football,” Niumatalolo said.
Leadership often translates into discipline — the kind where a team can go an entire game without a penalty or turnover and compete to the end against a more physically-gifted team.
That’s what Navy did against Notre Dame last week. But the Midshipmen still lost. As valuable as leadership is, it isn’t the only thing in football.
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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as @dave_reardon.
