North Duplin Mini-Camp

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on August 4, 2017 7:09 AM

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CALYPSO -- The verbiage, which ranged from the familiar to the position-specific to the home-spun comical, reached its zenith as North Duplin concluded its second hour of a three-part mini-camp tour on Wednesday evening at "The Pit."

Following the trail of a wandering middle linebacker, head coach Hugh Martin blew his whistle before taking a different approach in explaining the point of attack to a group of reservists.

"That's the alley," he said, illustrating with an arm extended. "Isn't there an alley in Faison? Can't be more than one or two."

And so it was for the balance of the workout at Ten-Mile Farm -- a pull-no-punches, game-speed rendition of hard work, plain language, and bodies selling out for the green and gold.

To a casual observer, the back-and-forth engagement could have easily qualifed as a blur. But to Martin, who conducts the symphony, and his assistants -- seven of them, to be exact -- it's something much more significant.

"I see quite a few young men who have played four years, who are being great leaders, setting great examples," Martin said of his charges. "Understanding how we have to go about practice and work... and I see young guys following that lead -- and having a good time while they're doing it."

Roger that.

At every turn, it seemed, there was a verbal facsimile of Martin, ready and willing to coach up, extend a hand, celebrate a winning moment or inject a bit of humor into the multi-hour gauntlet.

And while the terminology might ring similar to what is heard at other mini-camps this time of year -- it was the enthusiasm around the words, delivered with remarkable consistency by a multitude of different personalities, that stood out as very different.

And the results speak for themselves.

Constantly undersized and outmanned, the Rebels have used the approach to become experts in class warfare, digging deep enough to lock up a playoff berth in each of the last 16 seasons -- a streak that should remain intact this fall.

"We're ahead of the game on a lot of things because there's recall from last year," Martin noted. "It's good when you can pick up where you left off... although we are re-teaching, so they'll hear it, and know, and get confident with exactly what they've got to do."

Proof that it's not always what is said that truly matters, but rather, how it is presented.