SAN ANTONIO -- Distance learning for high schools doesn’t stop with the classroom, as coaches can still hold virtual practices to keep their players sharp and prepared for the fall. 

What You Need To Know


  • No in-person spring football practice available in Texas

  • One coach putting players through the paces via Zoom

  • Players find the system gives them motivation for the fall

On a Thursday morning, Sandra Day O’Connor High School head coach David Malesky sits in his garage with half a dozen empty coolers stacked behind his head that won’t see action for the foreseeable future. 

“Why are we reading tempo? What’s the whole purpose of us reading tempo?" David Malesky quizzes his players. 

Spring football is happening, but it doesn’t look the same. So coaches are getting creative and teaching via Zoom. 

“You know I’m not sitting here talking about the Pythagorean theorem, which some kids might get lost in," Malesky said. "This is football. They chose to be here. They want to be here.”

“All this - it’s just motivating me to be ready for the next season," said rising O'Connor senior Gavin Mack. 

This practice is mostly about X’s and O’s.

 “It gives us an opportunity for these guys to kind of give them some more detailed information about the position they’re playing," Malesky said. 

But sitting in front of a laptop or phone isn’t going to help anyone get in shape to take the field. Position coaches have been assigning at-home workouts since distance learning began. 

In coming weeks, Malesky says he plans to start watching his players on video and critiquing them. 

“At some point we’re going to get started again and we’re going to know real quick the guys that paid attention," Malesky said. "We’re going to know the guys that put in the workouts.”

“Usually, every day, I lift and run," Mack said. "And then I’ll, uh, every other day I’ll have like a ladder I can do football drills on.”

For the players, it’s not just about missing out on actual practice, but also the chance to build up team bonding for next season. 

“From, like, the last couple years, those are, like, my favorite memories I’ve had," Mack said. 

“What gives me comfort is everybody in the state of Texas is going to fall under the same parameters so nobody’s going to have an advantage, uh, because they got to do more stuff," Malesky said.