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CARBONDALE, Ill. — Sports broadcaster and inspirational speaker Rachel Baribeau returned to the Southern Illinois campus on Wednesday night at the invitation of the Saluki Football program.
Her initial meeting with the team last spring was so well-received by players that head coach Nick Hill scheduled a follow-up session with Baribeau, the founder of Changing The Narrative — a non-profit organization she created to show student-athletes “that they have the power to change the narrative and to find their purpose in life outside of their sport.”
“The most important thing we do is equip these guys for life after football,” Hill explained. “Some programs, some people say that, because they feel like they have to say it. I feel like the guys in our program know that’s at the forefront of our program. Changing The Narrative is about men stepping up and treating women the way they should be treated.”
Baribeau spoke to the players about domestic violence in a relatable way, teaching them how to be “kings” and encouraging them to be better citizens and find ways to contribute to a better society.
“She did an awesome job in the spring and it was good for our 40 or so new guys to hear it for the first time,” Hill said. “Our team was excited that she was coming back. She stayed around afterward and our guys talked to her about things that they might not talk to anybody else about. She’s been a great resource for us.”
At the end of our her presentation, Baribeau presented senior linebacker Withney Simon with a Changing The Narrative award, which was voted on by the players. She said he’d have an opportunity to apply for a grant to start his own non-profit organization.
“We sat around as coaches thinking that’s who we would pick and then his teammates voted for him,” Hill said. “Withney is a perfect example of what that award is really about. He came over from Haiti with his parents when he was nine years old, didn’t know a word of English. He’s going to make a difference in people’s lives the rest of his life. We’ve always known that. He’s always talked about starting a not-for-profit and it just was perfect that this will give him that opportunity and jump-start it for him.”
Heavy downpours swept through Saluki Stadium during Practice No. 8 today, to the delight of Hill and the coaching staff, who saw it as an opportunity to prepare the team for adverse weather conditions.
“During the season I guarantee we’ll play in some type of rain game,” Hill said. “We have to have ball security, the quarterback has to know to have a wet-ball drill. As a coach, I’m glad it started pouring down rain. You can create some things that are off the script.”
SIU’s starting offensive line is beginning to take shape, except for the left guard position, where Aaron Harris, ZeVeyon Furcron, Calvin Francis Jr. and Matt Chmielewski are all battling for the same spot. Today, Harris worked with the first team. He also doubles as Southern’s backup center behind Jacob Marnin.
“Aaron is smart enough to do them both,” said offensive line coach Trevor Olson. “I always tell them — make it hard on me, don’t make it easy. I’d rather have about 10 guys that I can roll out there than be searching for a fifth. I feel like I’m in good shape with how they’ve come along.”
Practice started out dry and the first-team offense won the challenge series during what’s called “Winning Time.” The offense started near midfield with 25 seconds left on the game clock and needed a field goal to “win”. QB Sam Straub rifled a pair of sideline completions to WR Matt Quarells and WR Raphael Leonard to move the offense into field goal range, where K Nico Gualdoni split the uprights from 35 yards away.
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