Miami Central has one of the toughest schedules in the country this year. Aside from teams like Booker T. and Northwestern that they play every year, they also have games against nationally ranked teams in St. Thomas, Cardinal Gibbons, and St. Johns from Washington DC. The man challenged with keeping his team fresh through so many huge games is head coach Roland Smith.
“Well, we gonna do what we do. As a coach, you know, you kind of know your team. You kind of know your kids. You kind of know the kids’ bodies, the fatigue. You know when to rest them, when to push them. We just gonna do what we normally do. Practice and prepare week in and week out and treat every game like its the championship game like we do every year. We respect the opponents that we playing, but I know when they see Central Rockets they gonna respect us too and they have to prepare for a gauntlet team like us. We are not worrying about these others teams. We are just worrying about Miami Central and if we can execute our game plan week in and week out, we should be fine.”
With so many huge games on the schedule, you have to wonder if Miami Central will overlook the few teams that they play that aren’t nationally ranked.
“We never do that. We will never overlook an opponent, because whoever we play we are going to get that team’s best effort. We can’t afford to overlook anybody because when we do that, we could end up in a dog fight. We are just trying to worry about Miami Central. We are just trying to make sure that we do a good job as a coaching staff of breaking down the film of the opponent that we are going to play and taking advantages of the weaknesses that we see when we scout them throughout the week.”
Coach Smith is practicing what he is preaching. Believe it or not, there has been no future scouting or game-planning going on by the Miami Central staff since they are so focused on the task at hand.
“We can’t go that far because we can’t look that far ahead. We will deal with that when we have to deal with that. We stay focused on the team that we are going to play week one. We can’t afford to overlook anybody with the schedule that we have.”
Despite the brutal schedule his team is about to endure, Coach Smith is confident and excited about the 2018 Central Rockets.
“I’m excited about this season. I’m excited about this team. I’m excited about the young men that are a part of this program. I’m excited about this coaching staff. We are just hungry to go out there and compete.”
From spring to fall, Coach Smith has seen many improvements in his team. The most important of these, however, may be conditioning, since the schedule is so physically demanding.
“Just conditioning. Getting the guys in shape. Just remembering how the guys first came in. A lot of the guys came into camp in shape. We had a couple of guys that needed a little extra pushing, but by the time we got through with them, they are in shape. Now, we are going to try to continue to get them in shape.”
Miami Central has a very talented team including one of the top defensive backs in the 2020 class, Miami commit Henry Gray.
“Henry is a special player. He is not only a good football player, but a good student, and a good student of the game too. He’s a kid that’s always trying to learn and always trying to be a sponge. We are very excited to see what he will be able to bring to the table in our program. We are very excited to work with Henry for two years to get him developed and ready for when he leaves us to be a very successful football player and young man when he leaves our program.”
One of the most anticipated games in South Florida this season is when Miami Central takes on St. Thomas Aquinas in a cross-county matchup. Coach Smith, like many of the fans, is hoping that the game gets moved from St. Thomas to a bigger venue.
“Well I would love for it to be moved to a bigger venue. As of right now it is at Piccolo (Stadium), but not only will our fans be there, but also all of Dade County and Broward County will want to be there. If anybody can help us out, commissioners, anything to get us to a bigger venue… It needs to be in a bigger venue so everyone can see it because people have been waiting for that game for the longest time.”
“Well, we gonna do what we do. As a coach, you know, you kind of know your team. You kind of know your kids. You kind of know the kids’ bodies, the fatigue. You know when to rest them, when to push them. We just gonna do what we normally do. Practice and prepare week in and week out and treat every game like its the championship game like we do every year. We respect the opponents that we playing, but I know when they see Central Rockets they gonna respect us too and they have to prepare for a gauntlet team like us. We are not worrying about these others teams. We are just worrying about Miami Central and if we can execute our game plan week in and week out, we should be fine.”
With so many huge games on the schedule, you have to wonder if Miami Central will overlook the few teams that they play that aren’t nationally ranked.
“We never do that. We will never overlook an opponent, because whoever we play we are going to get that team’s best effort. We can’t afford to overlook anybody because when we do that, we could end up in a dog fight. We are just trying to worry about Miami Central. We are just trying to make sure that we do a good job as a coaching staff of breaking down the film of the opponent that we are going to play and taking advantages of the weaknesses that we see when we scout them throughout the week.”
Coach Smith is practicing what he is preaching. Believe it or not, there has been no future scouting or game-planning going on by the Miami Central staff since they are so focused on the task at hand.
“We can’t go that far because we can’t look that far ahead. We will deal with that when we have to deal with that. We stay focused on the team that we are going to play week one. We can’t afford to overlook anybody with the schedule that we have.”
Despite the brutal schedule his team is about to endure, Coach Smith is confident and excited about the 2018 Central Rockets.
“I’m excited about this season. I’m excited about this team. I’m excited about the young men that are a part of this program. I’m excited about this coaching staff. We are just hungry to go out there and compete.”
From spring to fall, Coach Smith has seen many improvements in his team. The most important of these, however, may be conditioning, since the schedule is so physically demanding.
“Just conditioning. Getting the guys in shape. Just remembering how the guys first came in. A lot of the guys came into camp in shape. We had a couple of guys that needed a little extra pushing, but by the time we got through with them, they are in shape. Now, we are going to try to continue to get them in shape.”
Miami Central has a very talented team including one of the top defensive backs in the 2020 class, Miami commit Henry Gray.
“Henry is a special player. He is not only a good football player, but a good student, and a good student of the game too. He’s a kid that’s always trying to learn and always trying to be a sponge. We are very excited to see what he will be able to bring to the table in our program. We are very excited to work with Henry for two years to get him developed and ready for when he leaves us to be a very successful football player and young man when he leaves our program.”
One of the most anticipated games in South Florida this season is when Miami Central takes on St. Thomas Aquinas in a cross-county matchup. Coach Smith, like many of the fans, is hoping that the game gets moved from St. Thomas to a bigger venue.
“Well I would love for it to be moved to a bigger venue. As of right now it is at Piccolo (Stadium), but not only will our fans be there, but also all of Dade County and Broward County will want to be there. If anybody can help us out, commissioners, anything to get us to a bigger venue… It needs to be in a bigger venue so everyone can see it because people have been waiting for that game for the longest time.”
