From an outsider’s perspective, a one-win football season does not seem encouraging.

Shelbyville head coach Brian Glesing understands a 1-6 season was not the goal. He also understands the Golden Bears’ program is not a one-year fix.

“I don’t think anybody is satisfied,” said Glesing. “I think we are pleased with the progress that we’ve made in establishing a lot of the foundation and all of the things behind the scenes that go into a football program. We are trying to establish great habits for our kids, good work habits that we take with them into the next year and the next year and the following years.”

Shelbyville was 7-3 in 2017 in Pat Parks’ final season as head coach. A three-year run under his successor, Michael Clevenger, netted just one win.

With a history of rebuilding struggling programs, Glesing was hired. He immediately stripped the program down of any past notions and set a new standard.

“The expectations of behavior, attitude, effort and character have all been established,” said Glesing. “They are all there. As far as disciplinary problems, we didn’t have hardly any. The kids now understand what to expect in the football program. All of that stuff has been established.

“It took us awhile to get to that point. It took us a season to get there, but as far as how we practice, how we do offseason conditioning, how we do offseason stuff, how we do film study … there are a lot of things that our kids are starting to figure out. They understand what it takes now. I think that’s a big deal. The foundation is laid. Now, we have to start building the framework.”

Year two for Glesing will commence with QB1 in place. Sophomore Eli Chappelow played both junior varsity and varsity quarters this past season and led the JV squad to an unbeaten record.

In varsity games, Chappelow completed 22 of 38 pass attempts for 292 yards and two touchdowns.

“We had to alter it to get some kids some JV quarters and follow the rules,” said Glesing. “Our best players were playing Friday nights and Monday nights. You can’t sustain that. That’s not how you do it. We did it for a purpose – to get our kids some success but you can’t run a program like that year in and year out.”

Cael Lux was Shelbyville’s leading rusher as a junior. He carried the ball 107 times for 478 yards and four touchdowns.

The second- and third-leading rushers, Jordan Marcum and Axel Conover, also will be returning as will the two leading receivers in Jackson Parker and Alex Macharia.

“With our returning players now and our younger kids coming up, we have somebody to model. We didn’t have anyone to model last year,” said Glesing. “No offense to our seniors but they were rookies just as much as our freshmen and sophomores were. Everyone was a rookie.

“When you put in a play or a technique or something, you say, ‘Let’s watch a senior do it.’ Well our seniors were learning along with our freshmen. Now our younger kids can model stuff the upperclassmen are doing.”

Glesing is after numbers right now – more overall numbers in the program and greater numbers in terms of strength and conditioning.

“We’re trying to get more kids to play. Football ain’t easy,” he said. “It’s not all rainbows and unicorns all the time. Its hard work and drudgery, putting on the pads when its 100 degrees out. It’s getting dirty, getting knocked down and getting back up. It’s a lot of work. When you are building a program and the kids haven’t done that, it’s hard to get that turned. You have to find the ones that do it for you and they start getting those younger kids to follow them. Then it starts snowballing. We’re just not there yet.”

The program will focus on strength and conditioning this offseason then start installing the offensive system for rising freshmen in the spring.

“There will be a major emphasis on strength and conditioning and developing athletes,” said Glesing. “We have to get faster, we have to get stronger, and we have to get bigger.

“In the spring, we will start with some of our younger kids with an offensive install. With our middle school kids we will have 4-5 sessions like a mini-camp then our high school guys will have team activities in April.”

Glesing kept all the training in-house last summer because there was too much to change and install.

“I would like to do maybe one (7-on-7) or a scrimmage,” said Glesing. “We are still at the point where the kids have to buy-in. I want to see it a little bit longer before we start doing some of that stuff. It might happen. I will know more in the spring.”

Shelbyville has little flexibility when it comes to adjusting its schedule with seven of the nine regular season games coming against Hoosier Heritage Conference schools – two of which have won state titles in the last three seasons.

There will be a change to the 2022 schedule with Richmond dropping off. The Golden Bears defeated the Red Devils, 22-16, on Aug. 27 to end a two-plus season losing streak.

Shelbyville will open the season on Aug. 19, 2022, when Greensburg visits McKeand Stadium.

The Golden Bears will then face Rushville in week two. The programs have been consistent preseason scrimmage partners for several years but have not met in the regular season since Aug. 31, 2012.

“It becomes easier when you are winning because you see the results even though you are getting the same thing out of it,” said Glesing. “It’s a struggle. It’s one of the hardest things to do. I’ve done it a few times, to build a football culture and build a football program in the mold that you want it with attitude, character and effort. Right now, our kids work hard. From April on, our kids worked just as hard as the other schools. Right now, we’re just behind athletically. You can’t lie about that but we’re getting there.”