Angry and tired.
Those two words kept flashing across Robert Steeples’ phone when he asked his De Smet football players to express their feelings in a recent group text.
“That really stung me because here we are with young men I’ve come to know as possessing boundless energy and boundless resiliency … and at 14, 15, 16 years old to be using the word tired,” said Steeples, who in his fourth year as De Smet’s head coach led the Spartans to the Class 6 state championship last fall. “That’s when I realized they’re watching us adults and they want to help.