BEAVERCREEK — Even after Friday’s season-opening 40-3 loss, Beavercreek football coach Marcus Colvin could still manage a smile.
Was he OK with his team giving up an 84-yard TD run to Xenia on the game’s first play?
Nope.
Was Colvin happy his team allowed 512 yards while managing just 57?
Not a chance.
Did he like how his team handled the “big game” atmosphere?
Doubtful.
But Colvin — in his first year as the Beavers football coach after a successful run at Chaminade-Julienne — was as upbeat as possible because despite the 37-point loss, he knows the real score.
“I understand what I’ve walked into,” Colvin said of being tasked with reviving a program that has gone 6-40 since starting out 5-0 in 2017. “It’s going to be a battle for us to get back. It’s not going to happen overnight. I have to understand that and be patient. Love my kids. I haven’t lost any faith in these young men. I haven’t lost any faith in this community and what I believe we still can do here.”
Colvin admitted that there is “a long way to go.” But while he wants the Beavers to be better at football, better at tackles, “all those things,” he needs his team to win the battle between the ears first.
“A lot of this year has to deal with character,” Colvin said. “We’ve got to really grow up in terms of character and how we play the game with controlled emotion. And responding when adversity strikes. I just don’t think we did that today. I thought they tried to play hard. I thought they tried to hang in there. We just didn’t control the character part of the game. It got to us. The game got big. (Xenia is) a good football team. They’ve got the momentum. We just didn’t get it back. Just a credit to them. That’s the disappointment in me as the coach.”
But Colvin got over that pretty quickly and his contagious personality likely spread to his team instantaneously.
“I’m excited to coach them,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of notes on what we need to get better at. You walk away and just understand that it’s bigger than just what’s happening on this field. I want them to be winners but they have to grow in their character to do that. It’s not just going to happen. It’s going to just take moments like this for us to learn and grow. I accept it man. I really accept what happened and the challenge that’s ahead of us. We’ve got nine more games to get better. I’m excited to get ready to go to Franklin (Friday) and see if we can be better from week one to week two.”
Colvin also was excited for his former protege, Xenia coach Maurice Harden, who spent several years as an assistant to Colvin at C-J.
“I’m super proud of him,” Colvin said. “Would have loved to have gotten the victory over him. But man, that’s my guy. He knows that. I love Coach Mo.”
