We sat down with the current Head Coach of the BUAFL champion Portsmouth Destroyers Russ Hewitt to talk about his coaching philosophy, how he feels about the multi tier debate and if his Destroyers compare with the other team he coaches with, the London Warriors.
DBL: How is this season shaping up compared to last year?
The University season, is so much fun... you have to be so organised, to not waste a second of Practice time. I have to say my staff, put so much time in over the summer, to ensure we are efficient come August.
The difference in this year and the past years is based around the history of the Programme!
It’s been well publicised that we went from zero to National Champs in 5 years, so last year motivation was based around what we call ‘Football Nightmares’
The Hurt of losses, or injury, or simply under achieving.... just one growing pain after another ... anyone of those ‘Football Nightmares’ would give you a desire to put in extra work, to correct the wrongs!
Our last regular season losses was a heart breaking 3-0 loss to Solent Uni (Away in Dec 2009) which turned out to be conference decider. Then our last home loss was also 3-0 the previous season (to Brighton – Jan 2009). That result dropped us to 4-3 after a 4-1 start... and technically closed the Playoff door, in our third season.
This year, we have a different breed of Athlete than previous recruitment classes... still the same raw rookies every other team gets, but individuals that really want to represent the University and continue the work we have put in, to become a Champion.
