High Hopes for SMC Football Program
Image of Santa Monica College coach Kelly Ledwith calling the next play before players go on to the field. (Saturday 11/09/2019 Photo Kevin Tidmore The Corsair)
As the Fall 2020 semester comes to a close, Santa Monica College’s football team, the Corsairs, are gearing up for the Spring Semester. COVID-19 led to a cancellation of the 2020-2021 season, which forced the team to move practices, meetings, and communication online.
Head Coach Kelly Ledwith has recorded and posted the Corsairs’ weekly team meetings online to accommodate players who work and attend other classes. However, he admits that going virtual has made it hard to get the team together since they can’t practice in-person on a regular basis. In addition, the incoming freshmen and returning players haven’t met in-person or played together. Despite the challenges, Ledwith is optimistic that they’ve made the most of the extended off-season.
The team has even made some changes defensively and offensively that Ledwith feels will benefit the players next year. The defense will now be “a 4-3 or a 4-2 team with four-down defensive linemen,” said Ledwith. “We think it will help us with the personnel we have [and] feature some of the guys in their skill sets better. Also, it'll provide a very similar look at practice for what we normally see throughout the season.”
On the offensive side, the team will continue with the run-pass option type plays that were successful last season. “[We’re] continuing to build out the different types of formations we used to help create some different mismatches for our players,” Ledwith said. “We've got some really good skilled players coming back.”
He also mentioned that the freshmen will be a large group next season, creating the foundation of the team. He’s confident that their strength in numbers, combined with the leadership of over 65 returning players, is a recipe for a strong team.
Sophomore defensive back, Kason “Drilla” Robertson, shares a similar opinion. “We [have] the right amount of guys returning to help mold the young guys coming in,” he said. He is originally from Cleveland and aspires to attend the University of Southern California or the University of California, Los Angeles.
Robertson spoke about the challenges COVID-19 imposes on the team. The players are socially distant, working, virtually attending classes, and not able to play football. Robertson is also working multiple jobs to support himself during the pandemic. Overall he is thankful to have the team as a strong support system that provides supplies and resources to a lot of the players, and finds ways to combat the precarious circumstances of the pandemic.
“We have a group chat,” said Robertson. “We video call each other and talk about some defensive stuff. We might joke and laugh about some stuff, you know what I'm saying. [We’re] just doing a lot of team bonding.” He mentions that bonding sessions have allowed them time to assess and sort out the mistakes they made last season.
“A lot of immature stuff goes on in the locker room sometimes and it can be poison to a team,” said Robertson. “We’re just trying to figure out everything that stopped us from being a champion contender team… But for me, winning a championship is where I want to be and where we're trying to be.”
Robertson also said the team’s new defensive coordinator means serious business and will help improve the team’s performance on the field.
Of course, this all depends on whether the Corsairs will have a chance to play next season. According to Coach Ledwith, the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) confirmed their COVID-19 plan to reduce the number of games by 30% and let each district and its local health department decide if it’s safe for the teams to play. They are also eliminating “state-level championships to reduce the amount of cross-regional travel,” said Ledwith.
“At the junior college level, athletics is run through classes. You can't play on the football team unless you're in the football class,” Ledwith said. So although LA County has approved team playing to continue, they have not approved in-person athletic classes that junior colleges require their athletes to take. This means that junior colleges, including SMC, cannot continue their athletics.
Ledwith believes SMC is expected to decide sometime before mid-December if football will restart in the Spring. In the meantime, the Corsairs continue to prepare for a strong season whether they play in the Spring or the Fall of 2021