College of the Sequoias is excited to kick off this year’s football season this Saturday with their opening game against Butte College at 11 a.m. in Visalia. The Giants are hoping to improve their 6-5 record from last season with a strong mentality and teamwork.

Starting his third year coaching as a Giant, Travis Burkett plans to strive for the best out of his players and wants to see improvement out of every single one of them throughout the season. Burkett states, “We believe in staying humble and hungry, so you know preparation equals confidence, which will equal success, so we approach it with the mindset and mentality of staying humble and hungry each game. Day by day the guys gain confidence by working hard. Their preparation and hard work build their confidence, and that confidence turns into success. To be champions every day, learn how to be winners by doing winning things, and having winning actions together.”

Burkett says it’s a team effort amongst his players and staff to secure wins on the field. “We have a really good coaching staff here. We recruit really well here. This is such a unique level of football that we’re here to win all these championships. Our assistants and coaches are coaching player leadership more than they ever have. Our coaches are actively building their groups finding their unit leaders amongst the players within their groups.”

Coach Burkett is approaching this year’s season nevertheless the same as he has before. “We always focus on improvement in terms such as the general aspect of what we do. We always strive for excellence and aim toward perfection. That has always been our general philosophy in how we roll so to speak as the kids say it, but our goals never change on the football field. Our goal is to win in descending order at the National State, Norcal, and Central Valley Conference Championship. Then to take care of our rivals so those goals will never change.”

Defensive coordinator Matthew Mendonca has high expectations for this year’s team and is demanding improvement from his defensive players. “We’re focused on daily improvement in fundamentals, techniques, and schemes. One day at a time mentality. We have a very competitive group, and we are not taking anything for granted. Players are working extremely hard and they’re being coached just as hard.”

“We’re constantly trying to provide our players with the latest research in the development category. As always, player competition drives development, and we are very deep at all three levels of our defense.”

For a list of all upcoming football games and other sporting events at COS, go to https://cosgiants.com/landing/index

By: Mikaela Romero