University of Richmond Athletics
Captain's Choice: Leadership A Family Affair For Lauletta
With thousands of eyes and those ever-present television cameras focused on him, Kyle Lauletta will walk to midfield as a Spider captain for the first time when the 2016 season opens at Virginia’s Scott Stadium September 3. By the time he and his five teammates arrive at the familiar orange crossed sabers and block V logo, and long before they ever call heads or tails, the rising redshirt junior All-Conference quarterback figures the most important role of his captaincy will already be well behind him.
“The most important application of our leadership is in the summer,” Lauletta emphatically stated. “We have captains’ practices all summer. We meet with the coaches and have guidelines on what needs to get done, but without the coaches out there, it’s really, really important that we have good leaders. It’s our job to not only be the player, but also be the coach. We need to put in great days in the summer.”
Lauletta anticipates this summer to be different than last year. “No doubt. Naturally with the flow of the game, guys are looking at the quarterback in a game situation, in the huddle, on the sideline for leadership. But last summer I tried to take on that kind of leadership role, but it was like guys weren’t quite buying into me. Not because of what I was saying, but because I wasn’t a proven player.
“This time last year going through the summer, I hadn’t started a game yet. I didn’t naturally have the respect of some of the older guys. So it was a little more difficult in the summer workouts trying to get my point across. It’s a little more difficult when you’re years younger than, say, a fifth-year senior. Now, not only that I’ve been chosen captain, but I’ve played and done well and established my role in the offense, I think it gives me a little more of a voice and guys will listen more and respect you more from a playing standpoint.”
And from that standpoint, Lauletta earned his stripes. His first collegiate start was a somewhat lopsided loss at Maryland. His second start, at Hampton, found the Spiders down by two touchdowns at halftime. Lauletta had thrown an interception that led to a Pirates’ score.
“I was nervous (at Maryland). I even forgot a few plays at the beginning of the game,” admitted Lauletta. “In high school I never got nervous for a game. But I’ll be the first to tell you, at Maryland – I was nervous. You get comfortable as you go on. It was no different for me. Then Hampton was a pivotal moment.
“We’ve told the story before, but a guy who I wasn’t that close with, Ayo (Ogunniyi), came up to me at halftime. Even though he wasn’t a captain, that was an unbelievable display of leadership and it really, really helped me. For him to say ‘we believe in you and we’re counting on you’ was huge and boosted my confidence.”
Lauletta’s actions spoke volumes. He led the Spiders to a come-from-behind victory at Hampton with second half touchdown passes to Porter Abell and a game-winner to Reggie Diggs. It acted as a springboard into the game Lauletta recalls was his crossroads.
“I think the game where people kind of started to say, ‘hey, this kid can play,’ was the Maine game. I remember it was a little bit rainy and we lit ‘em up through the air. We started our momentum the second half of Hampton, but really the turning point for me as far as establishing my status as a leader was after the Maine game.” Throwing for four touchdowns and 311 yards in a blowout win against a solid conference foe will turn deaf ears into head turners.
“Just because I was elected captain doesn’t really change my approach to leadership. It’s an honor. It’s something I’m happy to do. Now the guys know you’re labeled that way. The guys respond really well to good leadership. All the captains we have are really great. It’s one of the reasons we were so successful last year. I think some of the younger guys and some of the new guys coming in will see captain and they’ll know we’ve been guys who have demonstrated doing it the right way. We get a little more say (with the coaches) in stuff we do and things like that. It just gives us a little heightened responsibility.”
Lauletta became the second Spider quarterback ever to throw for more than 3,000 yards during a breakout sophomore season that also included 19 touchdown passes, a CAA championship and a trip to the national semifinals. Now, it’s about to start anew.
“I think the summer is a huge, huge time and it separates the good teams from the great teams and just how committed we are as a group,” said Lauletta. “In the summer, it’s kinda on you. You can either be fully committed, watch all the film you can and draw up all the plays, or you can be one of those guys who takes the easy way out. As captains, it’s our responsibility to try to get the entire team to absolutely buy in. There’s more time in the summer than in the spring. If we can get as much done as we did in the spring, there’s no excuse to not put in the time in the summer. When we hit training camp, it’s only a month until the first game. It’s not like we’re starting from scratch. We already have some momentum going and we’re perfecting everything.”
Lauletta has been perfecting his leadership skills literally his entire life. His dad, Joe, played football at Navy, and has taught leadership classes in the Navy Reserve to future commanding officers. He will retire in December.
“I’ve kinda grown up with it,” said the younger Lauletta. “I’ve gotten a lot of good advice from him. What separates the good and great leaders is somebody who can handle the not so good. People respond differently. It’s important to know your audience. My way is to pull guys to the side and tell them, ‘Hey we’re counting on you. You mean just as much to this team as I do, or anyone else does. Everybody’s counting on you and everybody’s watching you. Just because you’re not a captain, or you’re younger, you think people aren’t watching you. But people are watching you. People see what you’re doing.’”
While home for a short break before the summer sessions begin at the end of May, Lauletta has been working out and playing a lot of golf. And he found a way to use some of that persuasiveness he may employ as a Spider captain. His dad found out he’d taught Kyle well.
“The guys in my family are all big golfers,” said Lauletta. “My dad’s graduation gift to each of the boys was a new set of golf clubs. So I asked my dad this spring if I can get my set of clubs as a graduation gift a year early. I said if I’m going to play, I might as well get ‘em now. And he said why not. You’re going to play this summer you might as well have them. So I’ve just been fitted for some new irons. That worked out pretty well.”
Soon the rounds of golf will give way to football workouts in the relative obscurity of Robins Stadium and Richmond’s summertime heat. And Lauletta will focus on his role as quarterback and captain. “It’s a really important summer, especially with us running a new offense. It’s a huge time for us as an offense to improve and grow. We’re going to put in great days in the summer and I’m looking forward to it.”