Raymond Partsch III, Special to the American Press

C.J. Semien had done it hundreds of times before.

Yet, that didn’t stop the McNeese State junior defensive lineman and former Barbe High Buccaneer from being overcome with emotion by the simplest of actions — strapping on his football helmet for practice.

“Just being able to put on my helmet and walk out for practice … it was very emotional,” Semien said. “There I was practicing with my teammates again and we were practicing on my old high school field. A field and stadium that were damaged by the storms. I can’t express how good it felt to be able to do that again.”

That emotion is prevalent amongst the Cowboys who are slowly returning to a sense of normalcy — as normal as life can be for a football team that has had to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and two major hurricanes.

“It has been a blessing,” senior offensive lineman and former Welsh star Caleb Gary said. “You don’t get that feeling everyday. We are blessed to be able to be back.”

Coming home, coming together

For months after the devastation of Hurricanes Laura and Delta, the McNeese football team was scattered throughout the state, Texas and Mississippi. Any communication between players and coaches was done primarily remotely with virtual meetings and by coaches sending workout plans via email.

Even though the Cowboys were finding ways to be in shape, sometimes even working out with water jugs or boxes, first-year McNeese head coach Frank Wilson said he could feel that his team needed to come home.

“It became even more urgent to get them back here and give them that stability,” Wilson said. “Consistency with the fundamentals of things is something that we take for granted. We knew that our guys needed to be back here in Lake Charles.”

“It was a really low feeling,” senior defensive back Cory McCoy said. “You still keep in contact over the phone but it wasn’t the same. We just have to keep the faith that everything was going to be normal again and that we would all be together.”

With assistance from university and local officials, Wilson was able to have his team return home to Lake Charles on Nov. 15.

“It was phenomenal,” Wilson said of that first day back as a team. “As they walked through the doors there at Burton Coliseum it was pure jubilation. Your heart began to race. You had on a mask but you wanted to hug so you didn’t know how to react. You just grabbed them because you missed them. It was like reuniting with your family.”

“You realize how much you miss football, how much you miss being around your brothers and coaches,” McCoy added.

After going through COVID-19 protocols, the majority of the team moved into their new living quarters — the Residence Inn which is 96 percent filled to capacity with Cowboys players and coaches.

Wilson says having the majority of team in one location has helped create a bubble environment for the program. The players are tested once a week, have daily temperature tests, practice social distancing and are required to wear face masks.

The hotel is also where the team receives its medical and recovery treatment, while the SEED Center on campus is where the players work daily on their academics, and Barbe High School is where the team practices and lifts weights.

“We are so fortunate and grateful for our community, for Barbe High School and our school board for allowing us to use their facilities amidst this devastating time,” Wilson said. “They welcomed us with open arms.”

Making sure to give thanks

McNeese had only been back together for little more than a week when the Thanksgiving holiday arrived. With COVID-19 restricting travel for some of the players, Wilson opted to host Thanksgiving dinner at his house for the entire team.

Wilson had tables and chairs spread out on his grounds, including the field next to his home, and provided his players with a feast that included smoked turkey, fried turkey, cornbread and rice dressing, green beans, sweet potatoes and mac and cheese.

“We did it right,” laughed Wilson. “There favorite part were the buttered dinner rolls.”

For Wilson, having his team over for Thanksgiving was making sure they all had perspective.

“We just wanted to be thankful,” Wilson said. “You can easily lose sight because of all that has happened in 2020 but yet we are still here, we are standing and we are together. It was important for us to sit down and break bread and give thanks.”

“It was a really good experience,” senior punter Bailey Raborn said. “We are still new to this coaching staff so that helped us get to know them better, meet their families, sit down and have a fantastic meal.”

“It was good to have that camaraderie with my teammates,” Gary said. “That was the first time we ever did that as a team. The support he gave to our team means a lot. To get together as a football family was amazing.”

In the weeks since, the team has fallen back into an offseason routine.

Players work on academics and workouts from 7 a.m. to noon every weekday, with workouts done in three separate waves between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. At 11 a.m., the team goes through a correction walk-through before breaking for lunch. After that, the team conducts meetings on the game field at Barbe starting at 2 p.m.

McNeese opted not to take part in any full contact drills this fall so as not to put players at risk after not practicing for months. Instead, McNeese will begin full-contact drills when the team returns to campus from its holiday break on Jan. 4.

The light and somewhat restrictive workload is not the typical football operations for McNeese or any other program, but for those young men who suit up for the Cowboys, it means everything.

“We are behind everyone else in our conference,” Raborn said. “We are a new team and a team with a whole new coaching staff. But we don’t care about any of that. We are going to do our best and ball out. We are still going to play McNeese football and put on show for our fans.”

“We had to go through two hurricanes and a pandemic together,” Semien said. “We have learned a lot about ourselves due to these circumstance. I think it has made us stronger.”First-year McNeese State head football coach Frank Wilson instructs his players during a recent practice. The Cowboys have regrouped after two major hurricanes and coping with COVID-19 protocols as they prepare for a spring football season. The team has been living together in a local hotel, studying together on campus and practicing together at Barbe High School.

Rick Hickman / American Press