King of Your Turf

Those of you who have climbed a mountain—even by a steady trail where no ropes or crampons were required—know it is an exhilarating experience.  Slowly but surely, one snowy peak after another emerges from behind the slopes until you are standing with a vista beyond description.  It is breathtaking.  In that one moment, there is no place you’d rather be and no other feeling you’d rather have.  That, coaches, is Zone FEEL at its best, and it is the type of Zone FEEL you must own on the football field—at all times.  You must be the emotional king of your turf, just as though you are standing looking at empowering vistas from a mountain top. Although I played high school football, my best experiences of owning my turf came from competing in the martial arts.  At competitions, very much unlike the vocal and physical pre-game rituals of football, we sat quietly and waited for