Washington Wolfpack Playbook: Week 1

Washington comes into their very first week ready to rock and roll. Always with Coach JR Wells, it’s high energy all the time. With his signature Wolfpack howl, he’s got the team pumped and ready to go heading into their first game. 

“We're all alike, you know, we're locked in. That's really where we are. Of course, I fire off on all cylinders, you know, I'm high energy, but that was kind of the conversation that's been going through this week,” Coach Wells shared. “They’re dialed in. Preparation is the key to what we're doing, and we feel like what we're going to produce or show on the field is just that - how well we have been preparing through camp and gelling and meshing with the guys.”

Opponent Change

After spending some of the early parts of training camp doing prep work for Billings, there was a bit of a switch for Washington. Changes in the teams and schedules for AF1 necessitated that they switch their week one opponent to SW Kansas Storm. 

Some might see the switch from a league champion in the Outlaws, to the Storm as a blessing, but Coach Wells knows that every team in this league is dangerous. 

“They're a very great team. They just came off of a great win against a very great team in Nashville,” he said. “We have got to understand that this game can go either way, and Nashville is a very tough team, you know, and to see what Southwest did to them just edifies how tough the league is.”

Also, while Billings may be seen as the bigger threat across the AF1, Wells notes that SW Kansas has plenty of advantages as well. However, that’s not going to stop them from coming in and implementing their brand of football. 

“Southwest, they're a week ahead of us, right? They had week zero, so they started camping before us,” Wells said. “They got a lot of money up under their belt, but at the same time, in the between time, this is football, and we're ready to rock and roll.”

Washington’s game with SW Kansas can be seen on EvergreenNOW! this Sunday at 7pm EST.