Meet the Champ of S135!
Meet the Rockne D2 Champion for Season 135!
Texas A&M-Commerce (LSC) 19-0 Coach: Akua29
Victory: 37-7 over Ferris St.
Editor Note:
It's been a lot of fun to post articles and have you all enjoy reading them.
This has become my favorite world because of all of you and how involved we have become. The divisions are filling up, great coaches are taking on rebuilds and I can only imagine what a competitive and fun world this will be in a few seasons.
If you are new to Rockne D2 and you struggle, stick it out and see where it goes. If you need help, ask a fellow coach, post on the forums or on your coaching board. We play to have fun and no matter if you win or lose, let's have fun!
I wasn't sure how I would continue the "Meet the Champ" series, but JoeyDefone stepped up and wanted to continue the new tradition! It took us a little while to complete it, but we hope you all enjoy it.
THANK YOU JoeyDefone! Without further ado, the tradition will continue... ... ...
(crowd applause)
The award ceremony finishes and through the crowd, head coach akua29 is spotted making his way toward the exit.
Joeydefone: Coach Akua! Coach Akua! Can I have a few minutes of your time for an interview with the Rockne Game-Plan?
Akua29:
Oh hey Joey! I thought I saw you over there with the media members. Sure, how much time do you need?
Joeydefone: Coach I know your busy, how about 10 minutes?
Akua29: Sounds great, ask away!
Joeydefone: First off, I wanted to congratulate you on the perfect season, culminating in the National Championship. Well Done Sir! How does it feel to be the champ?
Akua29:
There is some strong competition here and it's tough to keep your head up when you get knocked out each season in the semi-finals. I kept at it though and now it's like the monkey is finally off my back.
Joeydefone:
Tell us a little about yourself.
Akua29:
I'd like to think I'm just normal middle-aged guy who loves football and family. I played sports and rode motorcycles growing up, love music, video games and great food. I have 4 wonderful children and a loving wife, I could not be any happier.
Joeydefone:
Did you have a sports Idol growing up?
Akua29:
Steve Largent. I admired his accomplishments he made while not being the most gifted wide receiver in the NFL. His talent made him good, but spirit and dedication to his craft made him great.
He gave everyone motivation and it felt like he represented us, our city. As a young boy, I remember when he took that monster hit from Mike Harden, it was like a bully in the playground knocked him out. How would he respond?
It's a great watch if you never saw it. The best moment of redemption that I can remember.
Joeydefone:
I remember that growing up, that was quite a tackle. So, what are your favorite hobbies (other than GD)?
Akua29:
I spend a lot of time with my family, so my hobbies tend to be whatever they have already planned. Right now, it's been fixing to sell my home next year. I enjoy bike riding with my son and we try to go out for a couple hours a week to spend time together. I listen to music at work and sometimes I can get on my Xbox One or PS4 and knock some gaming out. Right now, I started up Destiny 2 and I've been having a good time.
Joeydefone:
What do you do for work?
Akua29:
I work in the auto industry for about 15 years and in retail for 25.. It's a good living but long hours, late nights and probably not ideal for most people. Still, the people I work with is what makes it enjoyable and every deal can feel new.
Joeydefone:
Describe your National Championship run using only the name of a song.
Akua29:
Hmm, so many to choose from. I'd probably have to go with "I Wish" by Skee-Lo. It felt like the last 4 seasons, that's all I did was wish that some part of my team was better or I could just get over the hump.
I Wish (Skee-Lo)
Joeydefone:
Where did Akua29 come from? Sounds like an Anime TV show to me.
Akua29:
was struggling to find a name that had something to do with God or Gods for a character I was using in an online game. All the common names were taken, so my girlfriend at the time mentioned a few names and Akua was one of them. I guess it was the name for some hawaiian gods? She was into that with her background. I just wanted a name that worked when I wanted to used it! It grew on me and I started to like it.
The 29 was used later when setting up an email account when I was the age of 29. The two just stuck together.
Joeydefone:
I know from this site that you are a Seattle guy, and it looks like your team is built much like the great Seattle Seahawks teams of 2013-2015. Power running, shut down defense, and Time of Posession being huge factors in your success. Even the National Championship game played out much like SB48 when the demolished the Denver Broncos. Is that by design?
Akua29:
Funny, I did make reference to a friend about building my team around that idea. The low yardage allowed and low scores did look similar. We even Bevelled it in the CC by only putting up 20 points to win 20-5, thankfully the defense pulled us through it.
Joeydefone:
Going with a run heavy offense bucks the trend of the league, but obviously can work. When did you decide that was going to be your calling card?
Akua29:
I wouldn't say that I'm dedicated to the run but I do find it important for my play style. When I returned to the game, I have had a hard time understanding how to implement it at first. From observations, it appeared that more pass heavy teams were winning. So, I tried to mimic the heavy pass idea but found that just turned into a scoring fest with me losing.
I reached out to Pete_61 a few months ago to try and understand the newer game engine. I wanted to make some ideas work but I needed to understand the engine more. I can't thank him enough for the amount of time he spent exchanging emails and helping me get a better grasp. I took his input and went to work right away making tweaks here and there that fit what style I wanted to try. It's been working for me so far *knocks on wood*, but I'm always trying to modify it.
Joeydefone:
So you reach out to other coaches for help from time to time? Have you had good luck with people being receptive to open discourse on tips and tricks?
Akua29:
The coaches that I have reached out too in the past have been very helpful. I think most coaches will be open to help if you contact them. I remember Coach_K helped game plan for a playoff game back in 2006-2007 and it made an impact on my game planning development Recently when I returned to the game, Mojolad and Pete_61 gave me some solid advice to connect the missing pieces.
Joeydefone:
Any coaches (you dont HAVE to name names, though it might be juicy if you did) that were completely against talking to you about the game?
Akua29:
Tempting... that would be juicy and good for ratings! (haha) I have been fortunate to have the good communications that I have had with other coaches. Most coaches will take the time to offer some help.
Joeydefone: A quick aside about the site...
Joeydefone: You are the architect and Administrator of this site which is a great place for GD fans to come and get info on the league, any upcoming plans or things you would love to do with the Rockne Gameplan?
Akua29: It was my hope to get the community more involved since Rockne had such a large population. I remembered playing in D3 Camp back in the days, the division was alive and very competitive with great coaches. I think everybody loved the old D3 at one point, so this versions D2 is the next best thing.
What I would like to do,
1. Create a coaching poll type of system where coaches can go and rank fellow teams.
2. Large articles are pretty time consuming, I'll probably go to more frequent smaller articles. The Game of the night series by omcs1981 was the best addition last season. It had everyone engaged all season and focused on a lot of different teams, not just the best teams.
3. I want to make some pages where you can quickly find a series of blogs, past performance history and/or interviews.
Rockne D2 currently has 64 coaches and recruiting is going to be crazy this year. I would like to see us get over 70 and have most of the conferences with 5 or more coaches.
Joeydefone: About recruiting, the way I see it, every team is only as good as their recruit class 4 or 5 years prior. I noticed that you have a string of five straight number one classes under your belt?
Akua29: Without the talent, it's a tough climb to the top. I think you have to start there and almost make it into a mini-game. I find it to be one of the more entertaining parts of the game and it's fun to see how you finish. Streaks don't last forever though and the recruit distribution has been favoring up until now. This season is a challenge, because the talent I need is really spread out and the competition will be high.
Joeydefone: Your 5th year Seniors, especially Mathew Hall, were the backbone of this team. When you signed him five years ago, did you have a feeling he was going to be as dominant as he was?
Akua29:
Hall turned out better than I expected because he his WE was a bit low but he was high potential. I used my general 10 point rule in recruiting but had hopes he would grow if I gave him good play time. I had to wait until his 3rd season finished to see, then I knew he was going to be a special guy when he was a senior.
Joeydefone: Game Planning is obviously a huge part of GD as well. How much time do you spend game planning?
Akua29:
It depends on how long I have been with the team and if I have a feel for how the players produce. Stronger teams that I'm familiar with usually require less game planning until the big games. The weaker teams or if I just take over, I tend to experiment more.
A big game takes as long as needed for me to figure out what they are stronger and weaker against. If the team is great everywhere, it takes me less time. I do have some set up schemes that I tweak based on the matches but I leave open a custom plan for when needed.
Joeydefone:
Do you tend to guard against strengths, try to exploit weaknesses or a little of both?
Akua29:
It's a bit of both. I try to play field position and limit explosive plays. Then it's about not making mistakes by giving up penalties, making bad play calls and subbing in the wrong package at certain times.
The battle really comes before the game, with developing talent just to make it a game. If I have the advantage, then I try to guard against their strengths and play my game. If I'm at a disadvantage, then I look to exploit their weakness in talent or formation they are using.
Joeydefone:
I'm sure you will be a favorite of the pundits moving into season 136, Do you plan on staying with A&M for a while? Can I take over next season lol?
Akua29:
It's tough to repeat and even more difficult when you lose 20 seniors. I did plan on staying with A&M for a bit because I invested about 8 months already, but one day I may consider doing a total rebuild.
Joeydefone:
Can I take over next season lol?
Akua29:
No... and No. I want you to enjoy your first season in D2 Rockne with a big warm Texas welcome for my new rival when we play!
Joeydefone:
Nice, I'm sure I will enjoy that...
Joeydefone:
But hey, since I'm your conference mate this upcoming season at Angelo State, why don't you give me an honest take on my team as it sits today?
Akua29:
Angelo St. has been my biggest rival since I joined Rockne D2. Your team is in good shape to build it back up and I hope that you do. Once you figure out how you want to build your team, I would utilize that RB you have in Friedman. Jawz recruited that guy as part of a really solid class. His 65 Core and 66 WE as a junior is going to be a stud after this year is over. Then I would probably work on spacing your players to graduate the way it works best for you.
(pause)
Joeydefone: Sorry, I was still writing info that down. Ok, what about our conference (which is stacked with players) for the upcoming season?
Akua29:
Well first, the LSC is already a competitive place to recruit out of with a ton of competition coming from all directions. We are now up to six coaches and as the new coaches build their programs, it's going to be even tougher. I wish someone would of grabbed SE Oklahoma-Durant, it was human coached and a great spot to be in.
Munchnugget is building an out of the box team at Tarleton St with his all run attack. He is just a couple tweaks away from making a big playoff run. I hope he does it with 15 OL and an all rush attack. I only won 20-5 last season against him and it's become a mixed bag when we meet up.
Jawz is a really good coach that will blow up the scene very soon. Had he not left Angelo St. to do a full rebuild at Central Oklahoma, he would of been breathing down my neck already. Put Central Oklahoma on the radar for the future! With him on the other side of the bracket, he is going to give Tarleton St. a run.
Pete_61 is a legend. If he is looking to stay and do a rebuild, it won't take him long and I'm sure the entire division took notice when he moved up. Personally, I was really excited when I saw him move up and welcome it with open arms. As a fellow coach, I don't think we improve our abilities unless we are pushed by others. I think his presence is going to push not only the conference, but the division up.
Heelboy at Abilene Christian signed his class fast last season so I'm thinking he will continue to grow as he gets more comfortable with the area and do good things in the future.
Joeydefone:
I look forward to at the very least giving you a little heartburn during the upcoming recruitment cycle. Feel free to take it easy on me haha, and congratulations again coach, or should I say champ.
Akua29:
Huge thanks to you for doing this and the Rockne Community for being so involved. Joey, if you need any advice or help, the door is always open.