Comanche football's 'Midnight Madness' deemed success

The first Midnight Madness for the Comanche football team went off without a hitch late Sunday night as hundreds attended the inaugural event which featured competitions, vendors, free food and games leading up to the first football practice of the season.

The party started around 9 p.m. At 11:45 p.m., a spirit line formed at the teepee in the south endzone with cheerleaders and the band entertaining the crowd until the stroke of midnight when the 2023 version of the Comanche Indians sprinted out from the teepee onto the field for their first official practice of the season.

“I was real pleased with last night,” said head coach Gary Robinson, who helped bring the inaugural event to fruition. “Everything from the booster club, the organization, everything. The crowd was big and there was a ton of support. I loved that they had bounce houses out there and free hamburgers and hot dogs. They had a punt, pass and kick competition. It’s only going to get bigger and better.”

The new head coach emphasizes intensity and it was evident at the first practice as the team and coaches displayed high energy despite the late hour.

“The players were a little amped up, of course, with the first practice being under the lights, so their adrenaline was flowing,” Robinson said. “But, the way they were practicing last night if we can get that out of them when it’s 105 degrees outside and there’s no one in the bleachers watching, then the future is going to be bright here.”

The team is enthusiastic, but not unrealistic. They realize they are a young team with a lot to learn.

“We talked last night before we went out that we only have one senior on this football team, but we got a bunch of good, good, young talent,” Robinson said. “I told them we are here to weather the storm. We’re going to win some games. I can’t tell you when, where, or how many, but the thing that we are going to do, I can guarantee you, we’re going to fight to the very end no matter the circumstances. The entire team’s back next year and next year we’re gonna start making some noise. So, that was the message that we sent last night.”

And there will be some growing pains with players getting to know a new coach, his expectations and learning a new system, but that is expected.

“I think the number one thing we have to work on right now besides the obvious ‘x’s’ and ‘o’s’ and terminology and stuff like that, is to get the kids to understand the intensity level it takes to consistently win on Friday nights,” Robinson said. “The intensity level it takes every day in practice. I tell them, ‘All gas, no brakes.’ We cannot let our foot off the gas one second, especially being so young and trying to get a program rolling and turned around to where it needs to be.”

And that intensity level applies to everyone on the team.

“I’ve even had to get on the coaches,” Robinson said. “We cannot let our foot off the gas pedal coaching as well. The coaches have to bring it every single practice, you can’t be unfocused. You can’t be lazy. You gotta roll. You gotta get after it. Because the team will eventually take on the personality of the coaches.”

Having a high intensity, though, does not mean it cannot be fun.

“I’m having a great time because the kids are so coachable,” Robinson said. “They want to win. They want to be coached. They want someone to come in here and show them that intensity level. There are going to be mental breakdowns whenever you are dealing with all the freshmen that we have and that have never played a Friday night football game. But, they want to win, and they want that good, hard coaching. I love coaching these kids. There’s not one problem out there. They all work hard and get after it. And that’s all you can ask as a coach is for your kids to give 100 percent, 100 percent of the time.”