Practicing for the quickly approaching football season has been the furthest thing from Lake Travis High School coach Hank Carter’s mind lately, and rightfully so.
The players, coaches, and everyone associated with the program and school continue to come to grips with the tragic passing of senior Odin Hensley. The veteran coach, who’s also the school’s athletic director, wants to make sure everyone can continue to process their feelings while also beginning to work back into their football routine.
“We’re just trying to listen to what the kids and the adults are telling us,” Carter said. “Everybody’s hurting. So, we do what we can do, and when we run into some struggles, we just need to be there to support each other. If we need to take some time off, we’re gonna do it.”
Still, with the team scheduled to play its first game at Dripping Springs High School on Aug. 27, Carter knows he must bring the Cavaliers together to prepare for the season. He’s still figuring out how best to manage that.
“I’ve heard from a lot of coaches who have been through something similar to this, and the best advice I got was to listen to the kids,” Carter said after a practice on Monday, Aug. 17, the first day the team could practice in full pads based on the UIL’s acclimation roadmap.
Schools must complete 3 days of practice in shells (helmets and shorts) before moving into pads. After the tragedy happened during the first practice Aug. 10, Lake Travis paused all on-field football activities. Lake Travis had a very light, non-contact practice on Aug. 11 and then held an optional practice on Friday, Aug. 14. Another non-padded practice took place on Saturday, which allowed the team to be in full pads for Monday’s practice.
Even though the Cavaliers are back in pads, they are far from full speed ahead.
“We’re back out here again today, and obviously it’s different,” Carter said. “I think it’s good for the kids to be together and try to get back to their routine, although we’re still not back to doing what we normally would.”
Among other things, the intensity isn’t quite there. Typically, Lake Travis’ first day in pads features a full team scrimmage. But not Monday.
“We didn’t have that today,” Carter said. “We were in pads, but we really didn’t get to the full-contact stuff. I’d be lying if I told you we had the same intensity and ferocity that we probably normally would (at this point in preseason). That would be a little bit silly right now.”
Carter will continue to balance what he needs to do to prepare the football team for the season while giving the players, coaches, managers, and trainers the time they need to grieve for Hensley. There’s no blueprint to manage through this scenario, so Carter plans to trust his gut, listen to what his players and coaches tell him, and try not to rush things simply because kickoff is coming.
To that point, Lake Travis cancelled a scrimmage with Waco Midway that had been planned for Thursday. Given the on-field time lost, Carter says the Cavaliers won’t be physically ready for a scrimmage this week. The new 2-week plan will ideally see Lake Travis have a consistent week of practice, finish installing its offensive and defensive playbooks, and get players better conditioned for the physicality required to play a full 48-minute game.
And if the Cavaliers aren’t fully ready by the time they board the buses for the ride to Dripping Springs a week from Friday? So be it.
“To be honest, I probably haven’t given that a lot of thought,” Carter said when asked how game-ready the team would be. “There’s been so many things that are way higher on the priority list, and so it’s really been more of ‘when can we get back on the field and do a little something?’”
Yes, Carter – and everyone in the locker room – wants to win. But he stressed it’s as important, if not more important right now, to make sure everyone has the time and space they need to process the sudden loss of a friend and teammate.
“Obviously nothing’s worse than what Odin’s family has dealt with,” Carter said. “I’m very proud of how the kids have supported one another. We told the team ‘it’s okay to be sad, and if you aren’t sad then you’re probably kidding yourself.’ I’m really proud of how they have made the main thing the main thing.”
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