It is football season again in Fulshear, Texas! With a new season comes new players, countless expectations, and renewed hopes for a postseason run for the Chargers. However, the start of a new season means getting the players ready for game time while building strength and morale. Coach Codutti, the coach for the Fulshear Football Team, knows how to balance both.

“It is all self-sustaining, if you build a good culture, both of those kind of go hand in hand,” Codutti says. “I think that if you do a good job of selling yourself and truly caring about kids, both of those things happen together.”

Codutti has also set up an exercise schedule for his players, and it doesn’t vary much as the year progresses. As a matter of fact, the offseason is where most of the lifting takes place.

“We lift heavy during the season, but when the offseason happens, there is a lot more volume of lifting in the offseason and a lot more discipline,” he said.

“It’s being taught in the weight room, but for the most part, we’re always working out, always going at it. We don’t run long distances, we run sprints, and we do everything for quick bursts, so really nothing changes. We just do less of it during the season because we get a lot of work on the field.”

Even though players do lift during the offseason, players still need time to get refreshed and become engaged with the plan; because of everyone getting used to the football atmosphere again. But Codutti has found ways to get players to buy into the program and philosophy.

“We’re a family, so it makes it fun. We play hard; we’ve taken football players to multiple movies, we have dinners, the kids go hang out at the coaches’ houses and stuff as groups. So I think that’s something that really helps build that comradery, and that’s when the kids really buy into who we are.”

But, even with all of the exercises and activities planned out, people can change. And coaching styles do change as coaches become more experienced; Codutti would be the first to admit it.

“Absolutely, I think that everybody grows. You are always growing. If you don’t change and grow and get better at what you do, then you’re failing, and I think that goes for everything.

“I can say that I am not the same person I was 2 years ago, or 5 years ago, hopefully we get better by the day.”

For the Chargers, they ARE getting better. They opened the year with 3 straight victories with scores of 71-41, 77-18, and 53-50. Hopefully the team will continue this hot streak and push towards a playoff spot. But, if one thing is for certain, it’s that Coach Codutti will make sure the players know that they are representing a town, a school, and most importantly, a community.