Letter from AFM

Before St. Thomas Aquinas’ trip to Ohio to play in the annual Kirk Herbstreit event last season, Head Coach George Smith wanted to be prepared. So he flew to Columbus and walked through his team’s itinerary – from the moment they would land right through game time – and checked out everything from bus arrangements to the pregame menu. His preparation paid off as Aquinas routed Upper Arlington, 52-7. Smith is planning another scouting mission prior to the Raiders’ trip to Dallas in September to take on Skyline. Very few details are ever overlooked by Coach Smith. That tends to be the case with most coaches who have averaged over ten wins per year in 30+ years of coaching. But Smith has other principles that have guided him in his legendary career at Aquinas. He shares these principles in this month’s cover story, which is our first in a series of