To the First-Team, All-Conference defensive end:
We loved watching you play this season. The improvement you made from game 1 to game 11 was simply magnificent. It really was. You came off a successful sophomore campaign only to get better and better as the days grew shorter and shorter. But there's still a lot of work to do. The weight room, Bongo's speed and agility program, and your work at camps this upcoming summer are, quite frankly, givens. But you've also got to remember to keep eating. I want your stomach to look less like Jonah's and more like mine. You've also got stop sleeping. No, really. You need to do whatever it takes to break that bad habit of leaving your feet. You can't make a play if you're on the ground. But the most important thing you've got to do is make sure you get every real man from the classes of 2013 and 2014 into the weight room and on Bongo's program with you. Every day. I'm actually serious about this one. Leaders get their teammates into the weight room. And, while they're there, leaders make sure everyone is working and not screwing around. Leaders also recruit new teammates. Leaders tell these men, would you rather look like this. Or like THIS! You've got to be a leader. Who knows? Maybe next year at this time you become the first Lincoln team in years to get to Level 3 and beyond. So much can happen in just one 9 month period. Oh yes, only 9 months. Your homework is due August 6, 2012.
