Trails of dust particles swirl in the air, kicked up by the fury of their feet. Divots and indentations mark where they made their cuts.
Fourteen years ago they came here, to this desolate field at a high school in the heart of Maryland with one goal in mind: mastering the art of football.
Eight individuals, the founding fathers, per se. Two of them would become coaches, one at UNM. Another couple reached the pinnacle of football — the NFL.
Here is where J.B. Gerald, player and UNM coach, was molded, formed like salt water taffy — tugged to the brink of the human threshold.
Under the name The Stable, in the direst conditions, Gerald and the seven others worked tirelessly, chiseling themselves from mere geldings into thoroughbreds.
There’s not much to look at. The occasional patch of grass, like parsley, dresses up a barren field, which doubles as a baseball diamond. Without the help of cleats, running on this powdery surface is nightmarish, just slightly better than standing barefoot on shards of shattered glass.
Nonetheless, in this sanctuary, they gathered like monks in a monastery, completely tuned into their own channel, unaffected by outside influences.
For seven hours they’d run drill after drill in the blazing sun and cramp-inducing humidity, neither of which were able to sap their enthusiasm. Just eight guys looking to improve, partaking in a boys-to-men transformation.
“Those guys (I trained with) were better than some of the guys that I was playing against (at Colgate),” said Gerald, now the Lobos’ wide receivers coach.
Here is where he learned. UNM is where he’ll teach, looking to instill the same types of skills that made him successful.
Gerald, the technique freak, wasn’t the most physically gifted athlete. Moreover, he wasn’t that big for a wide receiver. Only 5 feet 10 inches tall, he was an anomaly, the antithesis of an imposing, long-limbed pass catcher. Thus he relied on technique like platform shoes to make up for his physical limitations.
“The biggest thing that The Stable taught me is that technique will take you pretty far,” Gerald said.
He’d repeat drills, over and over, like scribbling the same sentence on a chalkboard, until it became muscle memory. Route definition, proper positioning of the hands, knowing assignments, being aware of everything around you — those were the fundamentals Gerald strove to perfect, and the ones his stable of receivers will pick up at the University.
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“A lot of people have athleticism and can run fast and jump high,” Gerald said. “But the great players are the guys that master the little things.”
First off, it’s about staying one step ahead: “Studying your opponent, knowing what your opponent is going to do before he does it,” Gerald said.
It’s the position where patience isn’t a virtue. It’s the difference between a 10-yard gain and a touchdown, where the amount of concentration needed to haul in a pass is proportional to the amount of concentration it took to split the atom.
“Being a wide receiver is a lifestyle,” Gerald said. “Right now, they don’t know what it takes to get to that level of mastery. I tell these guys, ‘Don’t watch those (pros) in the sense of mimic what they do.
Understand that they’re masters at their craft, and it takes a lot of work to get to that level.’”
Above all, though, is higher-brain function. Why? Because Gerald, the scholar, is just as qualified — if not more so — to be a college professor than a college coach.
Gerald has his master’s degree. He needs only to complete his dissertation to receive his Ph.D. from Penn State in educational leadership, which, depending on how his things go, he plans to finish when he’s done coaching.
And principally, being a wide receiver requires you to outwit your opponent. It’s more Cranium than chess match, requiring equal parts aggression and read-and-react. UNM’s receivers must be savvy student-athletes, both with the playbook and the textbook. They must know when to break off routes and when to continue down the field. Know how to shed pesky, bump-and-run coverage and find the soft underbelly of the defense when teams employ zone coverage.
“It takes a lot of thought process,” said Lobo wideout Roland Bruno. “From the minute I line up until the middle of my route.”
And with thinking comes knowledge, which down the road leads to mastery.
Still, while Gerald stresses mastery, he understands, from a coaching standpoint, he has much to learn. After a poor showing from his receivers on Thursday, Gerald was confronted by head coach Locksley, who chewed Gerald’s hide.
But it’s a common thread he shares with his receivers. They’re being tutored to run like horses, to form their own stable. Gerald, on the other hand, has progressed. He’s now the trainer, guiding his horses toward the finish line — but he still has to answer to the owner, Locksley.
“He’s the head coach, and I have to get my guys playing,” Gerald said on Friday. “That’s the extent of it. It’s not a big deal at all. I love the guy. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve been around.”
But he wouldn’t have had an opportunity to coach with Locksley if it wasn’t for The Stable. So he is forever grateful.
And it’s why he regularly goes back to his old stomping grounds, along with the seven other original members. In fact, he just visited in June, taking the time to fly back and talk to the kids who have taken up the saddle. Under the same name.
Their legacy endures.
“People see us and they’re like, ‘God, y’all still friends?’” he said. “I love those guys. Those guys are closer to me than some of my own family.”
