Tuesday

Rushing walked onto the practice field Tuesday without a Resurrection play-sheet. He didn’t need it.

“Notice how he has no paper with him,” athletic director Craig Beesley said. “Watch him when we go over defense. He doesn’t have a sheet for any of Resurrection’s plays, but he’s memorized all of it.”

This is something Beesley has grown accustomed to seeing. In fact, before Beesley stepped down to concentrate on being athletic director and head baseball coach at Cathedral, Beesley knew Rushing was the right man to replace him as head football coach.

“I can remember one time we went to meet with some college coaches, and the coaches asked Ron if he had anything to write with so he could take notes,” Beesley said. “He said he didn’t need to write anything down, and I looked at him like he was crazy. The next day at practice he ran everything they talked about without missing a beat.”

After practice concluded, Rushing walked over to Tate’s youth league football practice that was taking place a few feet away from Cathedral’s.

“Where do you want me, Coach?” Rushing asked youth league coach John Ward Junkin.

Rushing lined up at nose guard across from Tate at center, smiling.

“Remember O-I-L,” said Rushing to the offensive line. “If I’m ‘on’ your head, block me. If I’m not, look ‘inside.’ If nobody’s there, look for the ‘linebacker’ over you first and inside of you second.”

The base level in Rushing’s voice dropped at Tate’s practice, playfully teaching the 11-year-old group the basic fundamentals.

After Tate’s practice, Rushing returned home with his family at 8:15 p.m.

Wednesday

A play-sheet accompanied Rushing at Wednesday’s practice.

With his team practicing in helmets and “shells,” as Rushing put it, Cathedral ran 25 plays from Rushing’s sheet. The plays ran by the team are the same ones Rushing eventually called Friday night.

After rehearsing all 25 plays, the Green Wave huddled up around Rushing to be dismissed.

“I’m ready to take the next step,” Rushing said to his players. “I don’t want to be a team that wins eight or nine games every year and goes to the playoffs. I want to win a state championship.”

Unfortunately for Rushing, the players’ dismissal signaled the beginning of his next task — painting the field.

After the four-hour job was completed, Rushing called it a day around 10 p.m., joining Kappi at home, after she had put the kids to bed.

Thursday

There’s fast and then there’s Ron Rushing fast.

Offensive coordinator Brett Hinson found this out the hard way.

“I remember when I came in early last year, and he let me watch a 7-on-7 and says, ‘It’s easy, just watch,’” Hinson said. “Halfway through, I didn’t know what was going on.”

Rushing’s up-tempo offense takes some time to learn with all of the little nuances and key words that are applied, but once it stuck, Hinson found it’s easy to operate under.

“Now, anytime I watch college football or the NFL, I see them doing the same thing we do,” Hinson said. “Once it makes sense, it’s easier to go fast.”

The Green Wave “go fast” through all of its plays over and over again until practice concludes an hour later.

Rushing sends his team home to rest and focus for the game that’s hyped as the biggest of the regular season.

Friday

Silence. Nothing but focus.

From the time school lets out to the time the Green Wave football team takes the field for stretches, not a single word is said by a team member.

“It’s all about focus, and we’re a fast-starting team because of it,” said Rushing, who has his team eat a meal together and watch a movie in silence before getting dressed and taking the field.