Whether you played a full or shortened season in the fall, or the spring, there's no denying that this season just felt different in a lot of different ways.
As much as we all tried to be mentally tough and make football during a pandemic as normal as possible, we're all also probably a bit guilty of chalking some of the bad things that came our way like injuries, unforgiving situations, or our record at the end of the year up to COVID reasons beyond our control.
While some of that may be true, Penn State hockey coach Guy Gadowsky had an interesting perspective when he was by Nittany Lion reporter Ben Jones asked about shortcomings he felt like he had this year as a coach, and how he balanced those feelings with the "it's a pandemic" crutch as well as what he can improve on moving forward.
His answer is something that I think will speak to a lot of coaches.
"I pouted for a long time and threw a lot of those experiences in the pandemic bucket saying 'that's what it is,' but the truth is after you sit and look at it, I could have been a lot more innovative, I could have figured things out to achieve what we had to achieve to coach the right way, and I didn't."
"And I think (director of hockey operations) Alex Dawes, a pretty smart guy, said 'looking at all the issues that we had the one thing that would be the biggest negative is we don't learn from this.'"
"I think he's right and I think there was a long time when I just put issues in the pandemic bucket and I was pouting, but I have learned a lot."
For starters, Gadowsky shared that you have to be intentional each year about the things that build your program and you can't expect them to just carry over.
"The second thing, and you've heard this and it sounds cliche, but it's not: team continuity and culture is just massive. Coaching isn't just about X's and O's and systems and concepts, it's about the team, and it's a really good reminder."
"So know that I was pouting, but we're done pouting and now we're learning."
If you're humble enough, I think we can all look back at our seasons and agree with a lot of that. Surely, some more than others.
See Gadowsky's full comments below, and stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.