It took just one practice for Archbishop Murphy’s second-year football coach, Jerry Jensen, to proclaim: “Year two is better!”
Jensen, who took over for the Wildcats prior to last season — after some last-minute-off-the-field coaching drama — is excited to start year No. 2.
He was out with his team Wednesday morning as football teams across the state opened practice for the 2014 season.
The Archbishop Murphy coach said returning to the program and seeing familiar faces already has the program ahead of where it was at this time last year.
“I think there’s some familiarity between the kids and myself and all the drama that was in our past, I think we’re all moving the same direction and I don’ t know that was the case last year,” Jensen said. “(They know) what to expect from me and what my expectations are. It definitely helps being in the second year.”
In Jensen’s first year the Wildcats finished 3-6. Jensen and Archbishop Murphy, a Class 2A member of the Cascade Conference, plan to improve on that mark in 2014, starting with a game against Garfield, which returns to the 3A Metro League this season.
“We need to play to our potential,” Jensen said. “We need to come out every week and play hard and play fast. If we do that every single week, than we’re going to give ourselves a chance to be successful and that’s what we’re looking for.”
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