Seniors, team comes together after leadership challenge course
Jabari Dean doesn’t like heights.
The 6-foot-2, 280-pound defensive linemen sweated and hyperventilated as he ascended up a 30-foot “Confidence Pole.” Once he reached the top, he couldn’t stand up.
Seventeen Central Michigan football seniors and the team’s leadership council, which consists of representatives from each class voted on by their peers, traveled to Eagle Village in Hersey for a team bonding experience.
Players worked their way through self-challenging exercises such as an obstacles course where Dean was forced to overcome his fear of heights.
Senior receiver Jesse Kroll said Dean overcame his fear, and Dean said it was a challenge he needed to face.
“It was just a good experience,” he said. “It’s something I’ll never forget and it’s something I can look back on in the future.”
Throughout the years, this senior class has seen its fair share of adversity.
It has witnessed a head coaching change, grieved the deaths of one teammate and one former teammate, and is in the midst of a six-year Mid-American Conference Championship drought.
Bonamego said he expects his senior class to lead the way, and that now is the group’s time to shine.
“I think that has to be part of the culture – that (the seniors) set the standard,” Bonamego said. “The standard is always set by the veterans in the group. We can talk to (players) as coaches and we can yell at them if we have to. It’s a little bit different when it comes from one of your peers.”
Senior safety Tony Annese said the trip helped players step outside of their comfort zones and forced the team to communicate through the obstacle course and drills, ultimately bringing them closer.
“It definitely helped us out because a lot of guys who aren’t comfortable leading had to lead,” he said. “It improved our leadership as a group.”
As the seniors' time in Chippewa uniforms winds down, they are doing their part to set an example for younger players.
Dean said he gives feedback to the younger defensive linemen when they are on the sideline.
Annese was pressed into leading first-year starting cornerback now a redshirt junior Josh Cox and junior Amari Coleman in the secondary in 2015. He said he is continuing to do his part in helping the younger players on the roster overcome adversity and to develop.
“Some of them are going to have to play early and know their role and others are going to have to redshirt,” Annese said. “It’s a process. It’s a business in college and you’ve got understand things are going to go up-and-down. You’ve got to always stay confident and humble.”
With all the senior class has had to overcome, Dean said he has learned a lot from Bonamego and former coach Dan Enos. He has embraced the maturation process since stepping on campus as an 18-year-old freshman in 2012, the year in which he was named CMU’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.
“I think this senior class is going to be remembered by the hard work that we put in, the dedication we have for the program and just our love for CMU,” he said.
Although this group of seniors has had their fair share of obstacles, Annese said he feels the team is primed for a special season.
“We’ve had a lot of things to deal with and overcome,” he said. “I think we’ve done a good job of overcoming it. I feel we’re closer than ever right now. All our seniors are really close. I think this is our year.”
