Texas A&M-Commerce football team found ways to have fun

  Texas A&M University-Commerce’s football program found a unique way to cope with the pressures of the pandemic.

  The Lions scheduled a fun day on Wednesdays while practicing for the upcoming 2021 season.

  “It was a tough year on all of us,” said Lions football coach David Bailiff at a recent Lone Star Conference press conference. “And our team actually voted not to play. But they all voted to come back. And so you talk about as hard as it was not playing we did have a routine. And I think at times mentally that was easier on us because we knew what to expect Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and we actually made every Wednesday a mental health day.

  “In other words no football. You saw the suicide rates were up in the military because of COVID so Wednesday we did cornhole at the stadium. We turned the big screen on and watched the Lakers game. We had karaoke. It was like battle of the bands karaoke. So we had to try to inject some fun in it because there was nothing fun about last year.”

  Bailiff said the Lions’ coaching staff found a way “to take a tough situation and try to make it a little better for them.”

  The Lions, who sat out the 2020 season because of the pandemic, have been picked to win the Lone Star Conference title this season. They return many of the players from the 2019 team that went 11-3 and advanced three rounds in the NCAA Division II playoffs.

  Bailiff, who joined the Lions in 2018, said previous head coach Colby Carthel left the program in really good shape before heading off to Stephen F. Austin. Carthel led the Lions to the NCAA Division II national championship in 2017.

  “He gave me the keys to a Porsche,” said Bailiff. “When I took over at Texas State and Rice, they were down programs. You know you really had to build those. This one I knew we really had to build on the momentum that Colby had already done. And I think we did that. I think Colby left a lot of good players that we added to it.”

  Bailiff said it helps to have the support from university president Dr. Mark Rudin and athletic director Tim McMurray.

  “They’re serious about their football in Commerce,” said Bailiff. “And they’ve been good for a numbers of years because I think there’s tremendous synergy with our athletic director and our president.

  “When you have a president that wants to win and wants it done the right way, you have an athletic director that does everything he can to give you the tools you need to win and you have these type of young men and who are unbelievable in the locker room you know it gives you a chance.”

  The Lions are to open the 2021 season on Sept. 2 at Colorado State-Pueblo and then will head to Globe Life Park in Arlington on Sept. 11 to play LSC rival Midwestern State.