SE: Schoen Ready to Lead K-State WRs with ‘Prizefighter Day’ Approach
Aug 12, 2019 | Football, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Ben Newman, a motivational speaker/performance coach, introduced K-State football — its coaches, players and fans — to "Win the Dang Day" and "Pound the Stone," inspiring quotes built on short-term focuses for long-term goals.
K-State senior receiver Dalton Schoen, however, connected with a different Newman-inspired mantra this offseason: Create Your Prizefighter Day. For Schoen, this mindset boils down to one word: Intentionality.
"I try to take that mindset that I'm going to be intentional about how I approach every single day, because this is my last ride. I want to make the most of it," he said. "I don't want to have any regrets at the end of the season."
Enter his Prizefighter Day.
"Having that list of things that you are going to do every single day and going out and doing it," Schoen said. "For me, every day there are so many things I could be doing, and there's a lot of easy stuff I could be doing to make myself a better player."
The Overland Park native said his Prizefighter Day includes everything from getting up for early-morning voluntary workouts; staying up on his academic work (he graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and is pursuing his master's in data analytics); watching extra film with K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson; investing time with the younger receivers, whether it be watching or doing something outside of football; and spending time with his faith.
"(Newman) said one thing that I really liked, 'Those things are easy to do, but they are easier not to do. It's easy to just skip them,'" Schoen said.
Schoen's Prizefighter Day is the latest step in his evolution at K-State.
A former walk-on, Schoen said he "hoped" his career would include a role on special teams when he first got on campus.
"I came here as a huge K-State fan and was, like, I want to help this team however I can," he said. "For my first two years, that was being a scout team guy."
Schoen broke out as a redshirt sophomore with 23 catches and 470 yards to tie for 11th nationally for yards per catch in 2017. Last season, he started every game and ranked second on the team in catches (32) and yards (520).
"I still just took the same approach," he said. "I just wanted to do whatever I can to help this team win, whether that's getting the ball, whether that's blocking downfield, I just wanted to do whatever I could to help this team be successful."
This season, that mindset does not change. Schoen's responsibilities and expectations, however, do.
K-State only returns 61 of its 166 receptions from a year ago. Schoen accounted for 52 percent of those. He also had two of the five returning receiving touchdowns from last year. In K-State's receiving room, he's the only senior and one of only two upperclassmen.
"Being a senior, my role is I have to step up and I need to be that guy in the receivers room, a leader for the offense," he said, "and it all still comes back to, 'Do whatever I can to help our team be successful.'"
Mostly, that's meant growing as a leader.
"I've always been someone who leads by example, just because I know I go out and do those things in workouts and I can set that example, but I've never really been super vocal about it," Schoen said. "That's something Coach (Chris Klieman) challenged me with, is to step up and be more vocal. He pointed out that I am well respected on the team, a leader on the team, given my background from walk-on to scholarship and the way I approach things…my work ethic. So, kind of parlaying that into being more vocal has been big for me.
"I think the receivers have done a great job of following me and giving me that lead, because it's impossible to lead if nobody follows."
Once an overlooked recruit out of Blue Valley Northwest and an unproven starter for K-State, Schoen said he looks forward to leading a group of receivers in a similar situation this season. Everyone, he added, seems to have embraced his own Prizefighter Day.
"I think that's definitely a mindset that we have because a lot of guys are a lot like me: Under looked, never really had an opportunity," he said. "But now we're getting that opportunity, so we just have to go and make the most of it. I think we are all guys who play with a little bit of a chip on our shoulders because we haven't really been looked at like the high recruits.
"We've had to fight and grind for everything we've got."
Ben Newman, a motivational speaker/performance coach, introduced K-State football — its coaches, players and fans — to "Win the Dang Day" and "Pound the Stone," inspiring quotes built on short-term focuses for long-term goals.
K-State senior receiver Dalton Schoen, however, connected with a different Newman-inspired mantra this offseason: Create Your Prizefighter Day. For Schoen, this mindset boils down to one word: Intentionality.
"I try to take that mindset that I'm going to be intentional about how I approach every single day, because this is my last ride. I want to make the most of it," he said. "I don't want to have any regrets at the end of the season."
Enter his Prizefighter Day.
"Having that list of things that you are going to do every single day and going out and doing it," Schoen said. "For me, every day there are so many things I could be doing, and there's a lot of easy stuff I could be doing to make myself a better player."
The Overland Park native said his Prizefighter Day includes everything from getting up for early-morning voluntary workouts; staying up on his academic work (he graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and is pursuing his master's in data analytics); watching extra film with K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson; investing time with the younger receivers, whether it be watching or doing something outside of football; and spending time with his faith.
"(Newman) said one thing that I really liked, 'Those things are easy to do, but they are easier not to do. It's easy to just skip them,'" Schoen said.
Schoen's Prizefighter Day is the latest step in his evolution at K-State.
A former walk-on, Schoen said he "hoped" his career would include a role on special teams when he first got on campus.
"I came here as a huge K-State fan and was, like, I want to help this team however I can," he said. "For my first two years, that was being a scout team guy."
Schoen broke out as a redshirt sophomore with 23 catches and 470 yards to tie for 11th nationally for yards per catch in 2017. Last season, he started every game and ranked second on the team in catches (32) and yards (520).
"I still just took the same approach," he said. "I just wanted to do whatever I can to help this team win, whether that's getting the ball, whether that's blocking downfield, I just wanted to do whatever I could to help this team be successful."
This season, that mindset does not change. Schoen's responsibilities and expectations, however, do.
K-State only returns 61 of its 166 receptions from a year ago. Schoen accounted for 52 percent of those. He also had two of the five returning receiving touchdowns from last year. In K-State's receiving room, he's the only senior and one of only two upperclassmen.
"Being a senior, my role is I have to step up and I need to be that guy in the receivers room, a leader for the offense," he said, "and it all still comes back to, 'Do whatever I can to help our team be successful.'"
Mostly, that's meant growing as a leader.
"I've always been someone who leads by example, just because I know I go out and do those things in workouts and I can set that example, but I've never really been super vocal about it," Schoen said. "That's something Coach (Chris Klieman) challenged me with, is to step up and be more vocal. He pointed out that I am well respected on the team, a leader on the team, given my background from walk-on to scholarship and the way I approach things…my work ethic. So, kind of parlaying that into being more vocal has been big for me.
"I think the receivers have done a great job of following me and giving me that lead, because it's impossible to lead if nobody follows."
Once an overlooked recruit out of Blue Valley Northwest and an unproven starter for K-State, Schoen said he looks forward to leading a group of receivers in a similar situation this season. Everyone, he added, seems to have embraced his own Prizefighter Day.
"I think that's definitely a mindset that we have because a lot of guys are a lot like me: Under looked, never really had an opportunity," he said. "But now we're getting that opportunity, so we just have to go and make the most of it. I think we are all guys who play with a little bit of a chip on our shoulders because we haven't really been looked at like the high recruits.
"We've had to fight and grind for everything we've got."
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