Photo by: Jeremy Enlow
Captain Jack: Academic All-America adjusts to online learning
4/3/2020 10:42:00 AM | Football
ABILENE – This past December linebacker Jack Gibbens joined an illustrious group of Wildcat gridiron stars as he became 15th student-athlete in program history to be named Academic All-America.
An accounting major from Bulverde, Texas, Gibbens has maintained a 4.0 GPA since his arrival on campus three years ago, but now he and his classmates are all scattered across the globe engaged in online classrooms due to the deadly spread of the Coronavirus.
Gibbens, the student, is currently enrolled in 12.0 credit hours, learning about income taxes, auditing, financial statements, and strategic management. While Gibbens, the athlete, remains motivated to have a strong senior season by finding time to eat well, exercise and lift, and watch tape. He's determined for he and his teammates to pick up right where they left off a month ago to avoid a steep learning curve in the fall.
As much of the nation enters its fourth week of this pandemic and self-quarantine, Gibbens sounds to be in a positive and productive state of mind. He's staying fit in mind and body, finding time for a little bit of everything to remain balanced, and is optimistic about what the Wildcats are bringing to the field in 2020.
ACUSports.com spoke to Gibbens by phone Thursday. Here are the highlights of our conversation.
Q: How did it feel for you and your family when you were named Academic All-America?
A: "It was awesome. I felt humbled and honored to be part of that list with all those other schools and players. My teammates and I know how hard it is to be a student-athlete and the amount of work you have to put into it academically and physically.
"Growing up, academics is something I've always taken a lot of pride in from high school and now into college, and it felt good to be validated for all that hard work in the classroom while also playing sports. It's nice to get rewarded and be recognized."
Q: What are your keys to classroom success?
A: "The biggest thing is going to class and paying attention. Students lose the chance to learn the material the first time, and then they're trying to cram before an exam, because either they're not going to class or they're getting distracted. It's important to be intentional in classroom and learn things the first time, so you don't have to work so hard to study."
"Time management is also big deal for all student-athletes. We don't have much time to study, so it's important to manage and budget our schedules to maximize efficiency, and use the time we do have to get more work done."
Q: Do you now find yourself in a position of academic mentor to your teammates?
A: "I'll try to give time management advice to the younger guys and incoming freshmen, and the guys in my position group (linebacker) because it can be hard to figure out as they move from high school to college. It's a very different environment at this level in which kids can struggle because they don't have someone telling them when to or how to study."
"I offer advice to anyone who asks for it, and it's usually the younger guys who are looking for tips on how to better budget their time or what classes they should be taking."
Q: Now that you and everyone else is outside a physical classroom, how are you adjusting to online learning?
A: "I keep harping on time management, but it's a bigger factor now because we don't really have a set schedule or anything we're supposed to do at a certain time, and so it's become easier to push work off to the side.
"Trying to get into a consistent routine is important, so I'm scheduling when I wake-up, eat breakfast, work-out, do homework, so I can get into a rhythm of doing the same thing each day. This is definitely helping me stay on top of things, and I feel like I'm being productive instead of sitting around because there's not much we can do while were under a 'shelter-in-place' advisory.
"I'm also taking advantage of all the resources our professors are offering: video lectures and readings from textbooks, review materials are all helping out a lot."
Q: How are you balancing your schedule now that you're on your own?
A: "I wake up daily between 8:30 and 9 a.m., eat breakfast, lift and run, come back home to eat lunch, and work on any homework I have for that day. Then I'll take some time to relax, eat dinner and then watch football film or cutups so I can stay on track and be ready for the fall season. I'll finish up any more homework afterward and hang out with my family before bed.
Q: What is it like practicing your linebacker techniques, and knowing if you're doing things correctly, if you're on your own?
A: "Being in the program for three years, I know all the type of individual drill work we would be doing so I work on that, critique myself and make sure that I stay in habit. The biggest thing right now is staying prepared mentally and keeping the playbook and all the run fits fresh right now.
"We need to keep everything fresh in our minds because if we're taking off 3-4 months from football and then try to come back it's definitely going to feel new and there will be a big learning curve. Instead, we need to jump right back in to where we left off."
Q: What does it mean to be a team captain and on leadership council?
A: "What I think about as a leader is I can't have a bad day. Whatever I have going on outside of football and the facility, I have to put that aside and set the standard every day through my actions and then hold other people accountable to that standard.
"I can't take a day where I decide I'm going to coast or be at the back of the pack and just get through it. In this position, people are looking to me and how I work and prepare each and every day, and so I challenge myself not to have a bad day while always setting the standard of pushing the team forward. I'm here to hold everyone accountable, challenging them to either follow me or surpass me, and even push me further. Setting the standard every day is what I'm trying to do as a team captain."
Q: Who else did you see as an emerging team leader during this spring semester?
A: "Kade Parmelly is a returning captain and a great leader for us, in addition (Iowa transfer quarterback) Peyton Mansell and center Nico Russolillo. On the defensive side, I'd say Koy Richardson has really stepped up as guys have graduated. He's taken on a huge leadership role.
Q: As a veteran and returning starter, what were your impressions from the 2020 Wildcats in the short time you were able to be together on the field?
A: "This past season we lost a bunch of seniors who helped establish this program and got it going in the right direction, but we still have a lot of guys here who are talented, can play, and who are hungry. We have a lot of young guys, and guys who have transferred here that feel like they still have something to prove.
"Everyone kind of has a chip on their shoulder, and I really like the way we were attacking each day and the competitiveness that we had within our own team. That's all going to be huge for us when we get back to work later this year.
An accounting major from Bulverde, Texas, Gibbens has maintained a 4.0 GPA since his arrival on campus three years ago, but now he and his classmates are all scattered across the globe engaged in online classrooms due to the deadly spread of the Coronavirus.
Gibbens, the student, is currently enrolled in 12.0 credit hours, learning about income taxes, auditing, financial statements, and strategic management. While Gibbens, the athlete, remains motivated to have a strong senior season by finding time to eat well, exercise and lift, and watch tape. He's determined for he and his teammates to pick up right where they left off a month ago to avoid a steep learning curve in the fall.
As much of the nation enters its fourth week of this pandemic and self-quarantine, Gibbens sounds to be in a positive and productive state of mind. He's staying fit in mind and body, finding time for a little bit of everything to remain balanced, and is optimistic about what the Wildcats are bringing to the field in 2020.
ACUSports.com spoke to Gibbens by phone Thursday. Here are the highlights of our conversation.
Q: How did it feel for you and your family when you were named Academic All-America?
A: "It was awesome. I felt humbled and honored to be part of that list with all those other schools and players. My teammates and I know how hard it is to be a student-athlete and the amount of work you have to put into it academically and physically.
"Growing up, academics is something I've always taken a lot of pride in from high school and now into college, and it felt good to be validated for all that hard work in the classroom while also playing sports. It's nice to get rewarded and be recognized."
Q: What are your keys to classroom success?
A: "The biggest thing is going to class and paying attention. Students lose the chance to learn the material the first time, and then they're trying to cram before an exam, because either they're not going to class or they're getting distracted. It's important to be intentional in classroom and learn things the first time, so you don't have to work so hard to study."
"Time management is also big deal for all student-athletes. We don't have much time to study, so it's important to manage and budget our schedules to maximize efficiency, and use the time we do have to get more work done."
Q: Do you now find yourself in a position of academic mentor to your teammates?
A: "I'll try to give time management advice to the younger guys and incoming freshmen, and the guys in my position group (linebacker) because it can be hard to figure out as they move from high school to college. It's a very different environment at this level in which kids can struggle because they don't have someone telling them when to or how to study."
"I offer advice to anyone who asks for it, and it's usually the younger guys who are looking for tips on how to better budget their time or what classes they should be taking."
Q: Now that you and everyone else is outside a physical classroom, how are you adjusting to online learning?
A: "I keep harping on time management, but it's a bigger factor now because we don't really have a set schedule or anything we're supposed to do at a certain time, and so it's become easier to push work off to the side.
"Trying to get into a consistent routine is important, so I'm scheduling when I wake-up, eat breakfast, work-out, do homework, so I can get into a rhythm of doing the same thing each day. This is definitely helping me stay on top of things, and I feel like I'm being productive instead of sitting around because there's not much we can do while were under a 'shelter-in-place' advisory.
"I'm also taking advantage of all the resources our professors are offering: video lectures and readings from textbooks, review materials are all helping out a lot."
Q: How are you balancing your schedule now that you're on your own?
A: "I wake up daily between 8:30 and 9 a.m., eat breakfast, lift and run, come back home to eat lunch, and work on any homework I have for that day. Then I'll take some time to relax, eat dinner and then watch football film or cutups so I can stay on track and be ready for the fall season. I'll finish up any more homework afterward and hang out with my family before bed.
Q: What is it like practicing your linebacker techniques, and knowing if you're doing things correctly, if you're on your own?
A: "Being in the program for three years, I know all the type of individual drill work we would be doing so I work on that, critique myself and make sure that I stay in habit. The biggest thing right now is staying prepared mentally and keeping the playbook and all the run fits fresh right now.
"We need to keep everything fresh in our minds because if we're taking off 3-4 months from football and then try to come back it's definitely going to feel new and there will be a big learning curve. Instead, we need to jump right back in to where we left off."
Q: What does it mean to be a team captain and on leadership council?
A: "What I think about as a leader is I can't have a bad day. Whatever I have going on outside of football and the facility, I have to put that aside and set the standard every day through my actions and then hold other people accountable to that standard.
"I can't take a day where I decide I'm going to coast or be at the back of the pack and just get through it. In this position, people are looking to me and how I work and prepare each and every day, and so I challenge myself not to have a bad day while always setting the standard of pushing the team forward. I'm here to hold everyone accountable, challenging them to either follow me or surpass me, and even push me further. Setting the standard every day is what I'm trying to do as a team captain."
Q: Who else did you see as an emerging team leader during this spring semester?
A: "Kade Parmelly is a returning captain and a great leader for us, in addition (Iowa transfer quarterback) Peyton Mansell and center Nico Russolillo. On the defensive side, I'd say Koy Richardson has really stepped up as guys have graduated. He's taken on a huge leadership role.
Q: As a veteran and returning starter, what were your impressions from the 2020 Wildcats in the short time you were able to be together on the field?
A: "This past season we lost a bunch of seniors who helped establish this program and got it going in the right direction, but we still have a lot of guys here who are talented, can play, and who are hungry. We have a lot of young guys, and guys who have transferred here that feel like they still have something to prove.
"Everyone kind of has a chip on their shoulder, and I really like the way we were attacking each day and the competitiveness that we had within our own team. That's all going to be huge for us when we get back to work later this year.
Players Mentioned
LB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
CB
/ Football
OL
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