One thing that is a constant regardless of a team’s record in any sport is effort. Effort is something that does not get shown on stat sheets; it is something that only the player can know they gave. The 2025 Ayala Varsity football team is a prime example of this. No matter how you put it, a final record of zero wins and ten losses is very unfortunate, especially for a team with the talent of Ayala’s. But many things happened this season that aren’t necessarily known or understood by outsiders.
Before the season began, the previous head coach of the team, as well as the rest of the coaching staff, either got new jobs at different schools, or stepped down as coaches. So, an entire staff overhaul occurred; however, it wasn’t a smooth transition. Soon-to-be Head Coach Terrance Smith would have to go through some obstacles to get the job, and many players tried to raise awareness on campus and attend district board meetings to voice their concerns. Once all was resolved, the Bulldogs were set to begin preparing for the season to come. But it wasn’t all easy; they had to learn a new offense and defense, because with new coaches came a “new system.”
“The transitioning period from our playbooks from the years before now was definitely difficult for the offense more than the defense. I think that overall, towards the end of the season, we started to pick it up more and really put together our play call understanding,” said senior Captain Dakota Bostek.
Bostek has been with the team all four years of his high school career. Usually, assuming there are no changes to a coaching staff, when an athlete comes in as a freshman, they learn the base concepts of the team’s offense and defense, and as the years progress and they eventually take the leap to varsity, more “wrinkles” of the playbooks are thrown in, and there are more complex concepts to be learned. So, many players, such as Bostek, who had been learning the previous ones, had to start completely fresh. But leaders try not to let that affect them.
“I’ll commend Dakota for taking that leadership role that a lot of those other seniors before us did. Personally, I kwanted to build a connection with everybody at all the other levels, making sure they feel like part of the team. So, whether you were a junior, sophomore, or a senior, I always tried to make friends with people, and I think that was the best way to keep the team together,” said senior starter Brayden Caviel.
Typically, seniors are supposed to lead by example and set the foundations for the underclassmen, not only through their play but through their actions and attitude. Usually, a senior is expected to be more “talented” or “physically adapted” than an underclassman, but also to be more responsible, trustworthy, and reliable. Many upperclassmen had to step up and play both offense and defense this year.
“You don’t understand how tiring it is until you’re really out there. And I think what I did best I just keep pushing during practice. You have to go one hundred percent to keep your body conditioned and get used to the environment of playing on the field in that manner,” said Caviel.
Playing both ways does put a lot of strain on a person, especially if they also play special teams—even for those in pristine condition, it can be a lot.
“It all comes down to how quickly you can memorize and retain the information being fed to you in such a short amount of time. And then at the end of the day, the quicker you’re able to adapt, the faster you’re able to play the game,” said senior starter Dillon Gordon.
But it wasn’t just upperclassmen stepping up; many underclassmen got varsity starts for the first time due to injuries, personnel, or other reasons.
“Working with a younger group of guys, some of the guys that we played this year needed to really get their fundamentals down, and for them to have to take such a big jump to understand new play designs and all those things showed on our offense. Defensively, I think we struggled, maybe just getting beaten, and little things like blowing coverages and just not understanding our assignments,” said Bostek.
Understanding that with all the new moving pieces this season entailed, and considering that there would be a time of struggle and growth before things really clicked, is what matters. It may be hard to find resolutions in a zero-win season, but every Bulldog who had an opportunity to play this year gave their effort, and restructuring takes time; the “core” of the current roster is young. They will have their first entire offseason together and only continue to get better from here.
