If you were coaching against Southlake.

[FeeltheHaka]

I love to discuss stategy. This year (2005,) Southlake was the team to beat.
Since most everyone here is familiar with the way they run their offense and defense; how would you have coached against them this past year? I am not talking about using whichever team you root for, but a generic team. I know this is hard without knowing your own strengths and weakness, and matchups. But just basic strategy.

Me, I think first half I would cover receivers man to man on the corners, put my fastest linebacker on a receiver, and have my safety watch for an open receiver, and screen passes. I would have my line and other linebackers harass McElory as much as possible. I would kind of leave the middle short pass a little open. I would instruct everyone on defense to hit the receivers hard, being that Southlake receivers are not big. I would also spend a good part of the week before, having the defense work on pursuit drills to catch their speedy receivers if need be. Second half third quarter, I would start off with alot of blitzing from various units such as the corners to try to throw off any halftime adjustments. Blitzing would taper off, and we would cover the middle short pass much more hoping Coach Dodge would try to exploit this opening we left first half. Same thing with the hard hitting on the receivers.
If Southlake came out running more second half, then I would definately put four D-lineman down, and try to plug as many holes as possible. Fourth quarter, I think I would taper more towards first half strategy of covering receivers more on the longer passes. I would motivate my D-line to keep on plugging, and instruct linebackers to fire everyone up.


Offensively, I would go for a balanced run/ pass attack and look for weaknesses, exploit and adjust. I would stick to a few plays on running, and a little more on passing for yardage over 20 yards. Second half there would have to be some trick plays that we worked on the previous week. I've seen too many teams demorialized by Southlake, and either they don't run trick plays; or they execute them poorly. I would address this a week prior to the game. I would go for at least 2 fake punts. Southlakes, defense was one of the best a adjusting all year, so a good chess match would need to be played.

On special teams, nothing fancy on Kickoff or Kickoff receiving. I hate teams that get into these huddles before the kickoff trying to confuse and intimidate. In my opnion, it never works, and wastes time. The only special team anomalies I would go for would be the fake punts.

[South Texas]

ok, how would you defend dodge and tre', minimum of 4 yds a carry for a first down

[FeeltheHaka]

ok, how would you defend dodge and tre', minimum of 4 yds a carry for a first down

I'm talking 2005 season not 2006.

[bubbacoach]

I think to beat Southlake Carroll, the number one ingrediant would have to be speed. I have seen them play a couple of times and both times their defense impressed me as much as their offense. I think defensively you would have to run multiple coverages and be able to bluff. (show one coverage for their pre snap reads and actually be in another) And mix different stunts with your front to get pressure on their QB. Of course it is hard to say what and when without doing a complete scout on them. Everyone has their tendencies, you just have to figure them out. Example: If you show seven in the box with a cover two look behind it and they run 95% screen passes in this situation. You show them this to get them to run the screen and bail your outside backers at the snap and be in a better defense for the screen than what you show. It is hard to explain all this without going into detail on a board. But, the bottom line is keep them guessing, while having the speed to play man, the smarts to play multiple zones, etc.. Keep everything in front of you and make them drive the ball. Do not let them have 3 or 4 play scoring drives. Offensively you will have to be solid to beat them. You must be able to control the clock and the ball. If you keep the ball out of their hands it is hard for them to score. Run, run, run make them stop you. Run the clock down under 4 seconds before you snap the ball and go at them. Do not try to run around them, from the games I have seen they have been to fast to run around. Establish the run and then play action off the run. Do not throw it when you have to, throw it when you want to. I think they are as tough as they come. It will take a good effort to beat them (past tense), because we do not have any clue what type of chemistry or team they will have next year. I believe they will be good, but have seen some crazy things in this profession. Last but not least do not make mistakes and turn the ball over.

[FeeltheHaka]

I think to beat Southlake Carroll, the number one ingrediant would have to be speed. I have seen them play a couple of times and both times their defense impressed me as much as their offense. I think defensively you would have to run multiple coverages and be able to bluff. (show one coverage for their pre snap reads and actually be in another) And mix different stunts with your front to get pressure on their QB. Of course it is hard to say what and when without doing a complete scout on them. Everyone has their tendencies, you just have to figure them out. Example: If you show seven in the box with a cover two look behind it and they run 95% screen passes in this situation. You show them this to get them to run the screen and bail your outside backers at the snap and be in a better defense for the screen than what you show. It is hard to explain all this without going into detail on a board. But, the bottom line is keep them guessing, while having the speed to play man, the smarts to play multiple zones, etc.. Keep everything in front of you and make them drive the ball. Do not let them have 3 or 4 play scoring drives. Offensively you will have to be solid to beat them. You must be able to control the clock and the ball. If you keep the ball out of their hands it is hard for them to score. Run, run, run make them stop you. Run the clock down under 4 seconds before you snap the ball and go at them. Do not try to run around them, from the games I have seen they have been to fast to run around. Establish the run and then play action off the run. Do not throw it when you have to, throw it when you want to. I think they are as tough as they come. It will take a good effort to beat them (past tense), because we do not have any clue what type of chemistry or team they will have next year. I believe they will be good, but have seen some crazy things in this profession. Last but not least do not make mistakes and turn the ball over.

Excellent! BubbaCoach! Especially on the Clock control. On running the play clock down you need to have a longer huddle, line up quickly and snap quickly. Southlake's smart coaching and players can read and adjust probably one of, if not the quickest out there. On the bluffing of the coverage, I like the idea; especially the way that Pittsburgh used it this year in the NFL against the Colts. This would be my idea as well. The only thing that would be difficult, is to get your players to execute. The plays and players are a lot more sophisticated than when I played. It would be a challenge to get your players to learn this quickly especially when you have so many things to prepare for against Southlake. Overall, I love your thinking!

[ktCarl]

Check hilight films from the 2003 State Final. They were beat that year with a good power running game that made a lot of 1st downs and kept SLC's offense on the sidelines. It was hard for them to establish a good rythym offensively while they are watchng from the sidelines. After the 1st quarter the deep pass was taken away with man coverage. I think there was some zone defense in the middle but SLC didn't take advantage. They needed to score quick because their opponent was taking a lot of time off the clock. When Daniels wasn't connecting he optioned to run up the middle which was effective for one series. That was shut down when the lineman and middle linebacker plugged the middle.
That's not as detailed a strategy as you guys have laid out but it's the basics on how to beat not only SLC but a good spread offense.

[Firebird]

First of all, team speed. SLC was both one of the most athletic, and best coached teams in Texas last year. The combination is deadly. Second, your team better be amazingly fundamentally sound if you are going to hang with them at all. If your players are not going to be able to make contact AND wrap up and finish tackles, if your receivers don't run their routes, if your lineman don't follow through on their blocks, you have no chance whatsoever. Dodge not only has a great scheme going, but his assistants have taught the players to execute properly. They aren't making fundamental mistakes, so you better not either.

I agree with Haka, you need to make contact with those recievers, they aren't too big. They need to get popped hard, popped early, and popped often. I would let my players discover how far they could go without getting flagged for pass interference. Greg McElroy was very accurate, and had a good arm, so I definetly want to keep the action in front of me. I am not going to run safety and corner blitzes too often becuase the last thing I want to do is give up the big play, but I would be inclined to blitz my linebackers now and then. Penetration will be a key, you can't give McElroy time to make throws. That is also why I want to jam up the recievers on the line and throw off timing.

On offense, the only time I reach into the bag of trick plays is if I have some that we have worked on ALL YEAR, not just started working on for the SLC game. Everyone can tell when a "trick play" is well executed-- it is something we have spent a few minutes on every week, but we just haven't used yet. SLC's team speed means that you aren't going to reel off big runs against them, so I want to establish my power running game, and be able to pound it inside the tackles. If it was part of my offense, I would throw some triple option at them. If your line isn't well grounded and talented, you aren't getting anywhere. I also agree with Bubbacoach that you cannot let SLC dicatate what you are going to do, pass or run. If their defense is changing the way you call plays, then they have already won half the battle.

In all seriousness, about 85% of what it would take to beat SLC would either be learned in the offseason and two a days, and 15% will be the coach's game plan. A team will have to be both extraordinarily talented and well coached all year long in order to stop the Dragons when they are peaking.

[KT2000]

Don't make mistakes because you can bet they won't make many, if any, themselves. All the strategy above becomes pretty irrelevant if you can't execute as cleanly as Carroll does. That was a prominent factor in the state title game last fall. Katy had five turnovers and a few very costly penalties.

[Firebird]

Like I said, about 85% of what it takes to beat SLC will be learned in the offseason and twoadays. That is when you get the discipline and training to avoid costly errors.

[stangsalltheway]

how about you do just what grapevine did in 2005 that almost won it. Short little out routs all the way down the field b/c the way southlake plays there corners the leave the little 8 yard outs open all day. No need for a big play against them just control the ball with no turnovers and no stupid mistakes by coaches or players. On defense just play your guys back and do whatever possible to not give up the big play, blitz your outside and occasionally inside linebackers to keep the o-line off track and put a hand in there qb's face dont let him sit back there for 10 sec. b/c they got 4.4 speed at every receiver and its impossible to guard someone that fast for that long. When there is an oppurtunity to get a turnover you must do so... take the oppurtunites to get the ball back and dont make stupid plays..

[bubbacoach]

Excellent! BubbaCoach! Especially on the Clock control. On running the play clock down you need to have a longer huddle, line up quickly and snap quickly. Southlake's smart coaching and players can read and adjust probably one of, if not the quickest out there. On the bluffing of the coverage, I like the idea; especially the way that Pittsburgh used it this year in the NFL against the Colts. This would be my idea as well. The only thing that would be difficult, is to get your players to execute. The plays and players are a lot more sophisticated than when I played. It would be a challenge to get your players to learn this quickly especially when you have so many things to prepare for against Southlake. Overall, I love your thinking!
I know where I coach we bluff quite a bit in the secondary. It is not that hard to teach, if taught correctly.

[FeeltheHaka]

I know where I coach we bluff quite a bit in the secondary. It is not that hard to teach, if taught correctly.

I can see getting Corners to bluff. I played Corner, and Bluffed quite often.
I think the difficulty might be getting a complex, everyone on the same page bluff. To me, that is what it will take against Southlake. I don't fully know what I am talking about on that, as I am not a coach.

This thread has been more fun for me than I thought. I like all the strategies that I am reading from everyone!

[bubbacoach]

The bottom line is that SLC will have to make a mistake or two and the other team will have to play one hell of a game.

[KT2000]

Playing a primarily man defense isn't going to work against SLC with their route combinations. That's one reason why Lufkin hasn't been able to keep them under 30 points. Lufkin wants to play aggressive, man defense and that won't work well against Carroll unless you are forcing turnovers or are just that much more talented than they are.

Pressure is essential. If you can't generate pressure with your defensive line, then good luck to you. You can't allow the QB to sit back and wait on his downfield options to materialize. A good zone blitz wouldn't hurt as long as you're not blowing assignments.

Katy sealed the game in '03 with a delayed blitz that forced Daniel into a bad throw which ended up being intercepted. The Tigers also had a senior-laden secondary (save for the one sophomore) that played very disciplined coverage after getting beat deep initially.

Good pass defense definitely starts up front though in my opinion.

[bubbacoach]

We need more threads like this, where we can talk x's and o's and general strategies. (Without a bunch of people getting their panties in a wad.):D

[BAMF cowboy]

can't give up the big play whatsoever. last two times slc was held under 30 was vs. Grapevine and then against Denton Ryan in the playoffs in '04. In both the coverage sat back and did not get beat deep. they forced slc to make time consuming drives, little by little. you're more like to make a mistake/turn the ball over when you're running 10+ plays a drive as opposed to 3 or 4. discipline is very important, good tackling is a must, you cant let newton break a tackle and get 10 more yards.

that's how you "slow" the offense, but somehow you gotta score too

[Drake]

Break the thumbs of all the quarterbacks...

[ktCarl]

can't give up the big play whatsoever. last two times slc was held under 30 was vs. Grapevine and then against Denton Ryan in the playoffs in '04. In both the coverage sat back and did not get beat deep. they forced slc to make time consuming drives, little by little. you're more like to make a mistake/turn the ball over when you're running 10+ plays a drive as opposed to 3 or 4. discipline is very important, good tackling is a must, you cant let newton break a tackle and get 10 more yards.

that's how you "slow" the offense, but somehow you gotta score too

Katy held SLC under 16 points in the '03 Final and did give up one big play. No one seems to talk much about SLC's defense last year but I thought it was much better than the '03 defense. That was their big reason for taking it all last year in my opinion. DC06 is correct....slow 'em down. As I said in my earlier post, the best way to slow SLC's offense is to not let them on the field. Do not get in a scoring contest.

[JSSwift1]

In 2003 Katy's secondary was all seniors except for Thompson, all at least one year other year of varsity experience (Parker's 3rd, Mouton's 2nd, Ray's 2nd). That and the fact that noone made mistakes for Katy in that game led to the win. And that's how you would beat SLC, with no mistakes. Even if they make some mistakes you need to be able to capitalize on those and then make none of your own. I feel it doesn't matter how much TOP either team has or really what your offense does.

[dragonsdaddy]

bubba described what dr tried in the 04 po game. they had already played us straight up(with their base defense) in the espn game and proved it was futile. they took bubba's advice later, which was effective generally. the scuttlebutt in the area was that we weren't tough enough up front to be able to run almost exclusively when forced to. the ol, cd and luna saw the challenge and dodge force fed the dr defense what they were asking for. i felt that the dr defense was very uncomfortable playing a soft, catching style as they were used to attacking gambling schemes. in reality, i think joflo would have been happy going into the game with the knowledge that we would be held under 30. the real difference in that game came thru the smothering defense we played. our des and lbs played cat and mouse with the only game breaking segment of the dr offense and kept him controlled.

several of these schemes would work under the right circumstances. the most important being a series of slc mistakes. the other defensive schemes would require having your best athletes on defense and setting up your defense in spring training specifically to defend slc like teams. i believe that is beginning to happen around the state as we type. the problem with lots of these ideas is that hs defensive coaches and players haven't had the talent or the time or the experience to do all the changes overnight or at the half. the other fly in the ointment is the mastermind has an apparent over-abundance of ability to recognize opposing defenses and change schemes/tendencies in real-time, not between possessions. the ability to change plays more than once while standing at the line is very important , as much to slc offense as it is to the discouragement of defenses.

there has been mentioned several times how playing the undersized(not true imo as we have had chandler at 6-7, williamson at 6-3, jacobsen at 185, allen at 6-2, fentriss at 6-1, daniel at 6-1, smyter at 6-2) wrs physically is a key. you can return to the espn dr game and see how that worked out. the slc receivers generally lick their chops when teams take that approach as they are well trained on how to react. until db's are better athletes than the wr's and spend as much or more quality time learning to cover better, they won't stand a chance. in reality, the best db coverage is a qb on his back. which brings up the real jewel of the slc offense- the oline. without them, slc is just another trendy, flashy offense.

[drgnbkr]

bubba described what dr tried in the 04 po game. they had already played us straight up(with their base defense) in the espn game and proved it was futile. they took bubba's advice later, which was effective generally. the scuttlebutt in the area was that we weren't tough enough up front to be able to run almost exclusively when forced to. the ol, cd and luna saw the challenge and dodge force fed the dr defense what they were asking for. i felt that the dr defense was very uncomfortable playing a soft, catching style as they were used to attacking gambling schemes. in reality, i think joflo would have been happy going into the game with the knowledge that we would be held under 30. the real difference in that game came thru the smothering defense we played. our des and lbs played cat and mouse with the only game breaking segment of the dr offense and kept him controlled.

several of these schemes would work under the right circumstances. the most important being a series of slc mistakes. the other defensive schemes would require having your best athletes on defense and setting up your defense in spring training specifically to defend slc like teams. i believe that is beginning to happen around the state as we type. the problem with lots of these ideas is that hs defensive coaches and players haven't had the talent or the time or the experience to do all the changes overnight or at the half. the other fly in the ointment is the mastermind has an apparent over-abundance of ability to recognize opposing defenses and change schemes/tendencies in real-time, not between possessions. the ability to change plays more than once while standing at the line is very important , as much to slc offense as it is to the discouragement of defenses.

there has been mentioned several times how playing the undersized(not true imo as we have had chandler at 6-7, williamson at 6-3, jacobsen at 185, allen at 6-2, fentriss at 6-1, daniel at 6-1, smyter at 6-2) wrs physically is a key. you can return to the espn dr game and see how that worked out. the slc receivers generally lick their chops when teams take that approach as they are well trained on how to react. until db's are better athletes than the wr's and spend as much or more quality time learning to cover better, they won't stand a chance. in reality, the best db coverage is a qb on his back. which brings up the real jewel of the slc offense- the oline. without them, slc is just another trendy, flashy offense.

O-line is the key to the offense in my mind..we take it for granted, but the Carroll O-line looks more NFL- like than a lot of colleges. By that I mean the sophisticated pass / influence, blocking techniques are very dificult to deal with for HS players. On D, to me, the key is the players buying into "the sum is greater than the parts philosophy". The D plays as one and has a general flow to the point of attack that is tough to beat.

[The Dude]

One thing I noticed Dodge did both games vs Katy was to attack the young, less experienced player in the secondary. He did it againts Will Thompson in the 03 state game and Will was getting eatin' up all game. If Thompson didn't get that ridiculously amazing interception at the end of the game, it could have been looked back and said his inexperience and youth was a reason SLC won the 03 title game.(however, he made a play to stop the Dragon's last drive and therefore SLC did not win) To be honest, Will was unable to stop the talented SLC receivers at his age that year...the entire game. Dodge attacked him and attacked him often, taking advantage of the mismatch. This year, Will being a senior, was the reason Katy was in the game and he played as fantastic of a game anyone could have asked for. However, Dodge once again attacked the young sophomores in the secondary. Katy had two sophomores in the secondary for this year's title game(1 starting, 1 reserve) Dodge came out right at the first sophomore who was in the game. And once again, the players youth and inexperience in a big game played dividends and it was difficult to stop the crisp, excellently executed routes by the SLC receivers for the sophomore defender. Katy coaches pull the sophomore realizing he is having trouble stopping the Dragons. Katy puts in the reserve sophomore. Dodge being how smart he is, continues with his game plan and continues to throw balls the way of the 2nd sophomore DB now in the game. Niether one of them could stop the Dragons. The other 3 DBs in the game were seniors and they all had over 1 year of varsity experience. Actually they all had 3 as Will Thompson played in the state game his soph. season and the other 2 were pulled up for playoffs as sophs and earned playing time. The 3 seniors were returning starters from the 2004 season. In 2003 you had 3 seniors with multiple years of starting experience as well, and one inexperienced sophomore. My point is...being a sophomore starting in the state title game has to be a difficult thing. For battle tested seniors it is nerve racking, so imagine the stress and chaos going through a sophomore in his first year of varsity who hasn't even been starting the entire season and is still learning a lot of the basics. Dodge was a genius to exploit the Katy secondary in the way of the inexperienced player both title games. I called it before this past year's title game he would do the same thing he did in '03 and go after the sophomore, and he sure did. But you say, well, they did it in '03 and Katy still won, why didn't they win this year? '03 game could've gone either way. The sophomore DB that year stepped up at the end of the game and made a miracle play. 2005 the sophomores never made any plays. 2003 Katy's offense was more run oriented and they controlled the clock better. 2005 Katy passed more and didn't control the clock. 2003 Katy had an extra blitz man on EVERY play on defense to put pressure on the QB and not give him time to sit back and pick apart the defense. 2005 I saw VERY VERY VERY few blitzing by the LBs. 2003 Katy made MINIMAL errors. 2005 Katy turned the ball over 5 times and had very costly penalties.

[dragonsdaddy]

another difference in the 05 v 03 game was the coaching experience gleaned from the loss. i watched a very determined staff brutally dissect the loss and the reasons why and it has payed off over the next 32. to be honest, i doubt we'd have won the next 32 had we won the first 32. good teams and coaches actually learn more from defeat than victory. it is much harder to redevelop better plans and schemes and see weaknesses in wins than in losses. there weren't any monumental changes to be made after 03, but frame of mind and certain preparation aspects of games was reevaluated and it paid off in the tough games played in 04 and 05. as i stated earlier the most omportant aspect of the dragon o has been the ol, but the most important reason for persistant success has been being able to keep enough of his core staff from year to year so as not to have to completely reteach the teachers.

[The Dude]

I agree dragonsdaddy...and whereas you say the core of SLC's coaching has remained from the '03 game and that had a role in the '05 win for the Dragons...Katy pretty much lost its entire staff from '03. New head coach in his 2nd year ever as a head coach. 1st year offensive coordinator. 2nd year defensive coordinator(although I believe Joseph calls the defenses anyways from his Head coach spot) But the fact is..By my count, there were only 3 coaches on the Katy sideline in 2005 that were there in 2003, and that's including the head coach. As you said....reteaching the teachers

[drgnbkr]

As ddaddy said, with Dodge's ability to instantly analyze what the D is giving him, and adapt on the fly, it is very difficult for HS players to react and be in the right place. It's what makes the Carroll version of the spread so different. His inate ability to transfer some of his knowledge to his QB's make him a rare package. The Dragons have a lot of holes to fill this upcoming season, but the fact that the QB lives with him, has to be a scary thought!

[dragonsdaddy]

i'm coining a new and poignant phrase on this day 23 march 2006-

the dragon mind-meld. it will be unleashed for the first time in early september.

[ktCarl]

another difference in the 05 v 03 game was the coaching experience gleaned from the loss. i watched a very determined staff brutally dissect the loss and the reasons why and it has payed off over the next 32. to be honest, i doubt we'd have won the next 32 had we won the first 32. good teams and coaches actually learn more from defeat than victory. it is much harder to redevelop better plans and schemes and see weaknesses in wins than in losses. there weren't any monumental changes to be made after 03, but frame of mind and certain preparation aspects of games was reevaluated and it paid off in the tough games played in 04 and 05. as i stated earlier the most omportant aspect of the dragon o has been the ol, but the most important reason for persistant success has been being able to keep enough of his core staff from year to year so as not to have to completely reteach the teachers.

I think what is also interesting about Katy's staff changes is that some of the former players are a part of Joseph's staff. They know the system as both players and coaches. I don't know how Dodge keeps his coaches. When Katy was successfully going deep in the playoffs the coaches were getting wooed away. I would think most coaches would jump on the opportunity to make a name for themselves after they have coached with a good program.

[CyFallsMom]

We need more threads like this, where we can talk x's and o's and general strategies. (Without a bunch of people getting their panties in a wad.)

Amen - this is the stuff I want to read - and not just about SLC but about all teams. I came to this site to read about high school football and love to read comments about scenarios such as this. Some of these threads (especially in Off-Topic) are just weird and juvenile...didn't seem to be that way when I first found this site but, to each his own I guess. It is the off season I guess so boredom is abounding.

Judging from the one time I've seen SLC and that was against Katy, you have to be mentally prepared and focused and not have too many errors, if any at all (and how many of our teams go through a game error-free??). I think speed is extremely important against them and bringing in the short routes - mixing it up a bit there. You have to have a lot of confidence going in that you deserve to be there and that confidence isn't gained overnight - the team that beats them, starts right NOW building as a TEAM and not "that player is top 100" or "he runs a fast 40"...that doesn't matter to a team - A good team plays as ONE.

Oscar Cripps had a t-shirt made for the team over at Stratford in 1987 (I think my husband still has one) "there is no I in Team" and that's how they played all the way to the state game. That's what it takes to beat a team like SLC - ONE heartbeat, ONE soul, ONE team and you can bet that SLC plays that way.

[dragonsdaddy]

you beat me to it. this has been one of if not the most entertaining and relevant topics/threads in years. thanks to haka.

the no i in team is another way of saying "TEAM me" that every plaqyer wearing the dragon uniform has closest to his heart every game and practice.

i thought of something else dodge has brought to the game that was new to me. he preaches and expects every player on off,def, spec teams and scout teams to constantly take the game intensity to a level above which the opponents aren't comfortable. this to me has been a defensive philosophy. he also has flip-flopped the action reaction concepts to where the offense is reacting to what the defense is giving them. he still expects the slc defense to play traditionally. but with the ability to instantly switch plays, he expects the offense to react to the actions of the opposing defenses too. it is an innovation that will take some defensive changes to counter.

[dragonsdaddy]

I think what is also interesting about Katy's staff changes is that some of the former players are a part of Joseph's staff. They know the system as both players and coaches. I don't know how Dodge keeps his coaches. When Katy was successfully going deep in the playoffs the coaches were getting wooed away. I would think most coaches would jump on the opportunity to make a name for themselves after they have coached with a good program.
he has been very fortunate to have as his core a group that don't want to coach at the next level. was that by design? i wouldn't put it past dodge, but i think luck has played a big part in it.

[South Texas]

One thing I noticed Dodge did both games vs Katy was to attack the young, less experienced player in the secondary. He did it againts Will Thompson in the 03 state game and Will was getting eatin' up all game. If Thompson didn't get that ridiculously amazing interception at the end of the game, it could have been looked back and said his inexperience and youth was a reason SLC won the 03 title game.(however, he made a play to stop the Dragon's last drive and therefore SLC did not win) To be honest, Will was unable to stop the talented SLC receivers at his age that year...the entire game. Dodge attacked him and attacked him often, taking advantage of the mismatch. This year, Will being a senior, was the reason Katy was in the game and he played as fantastic of a game anyone could have asked for. However, Dodge once again attacked the young sophomores in the secondary. Katy had two sophomores in the secondary for this year's title game(1 starting, 1 reserve) Dodge came out right at the first sophomore who was in the game. And once again, the players youth and inexperience in a big game played dividends and it was difficult to stop the crisp, excellently executed routes by the SLC receivers for the sophomore defender. Katy coaches pull the sophomore realizing he is having trouble stopping the Dragons. Katy puts in the reserve sophomore. Dodge being how smart he is, continues with his game plan and continues to throw balls the way of the 2nd sophomore DB now in the game. Niether one of them could stop the Dragons. The other 3 DBs in the game were seniors and they all had over 1 year of varsity experience. Actually they all had 3 as Will Thompson played in the state game his soph. season and the other 2 were pulled up for playoffs as sophs and earned playing time. The 3 seniors were returning starters from the 2004 season. In 2003 you had 3 seniors with multiple years of starting experience as well, and one inexperienced sophomore. My point is...being a sophomore starting in the state title game has to be a difficult thing. For battle tested seniors it is nerve racking, so imagine the stress and chaos going through a sophomore in his first year of varsity who hasn't even been starting the entire season and is still learning a lot of the basics. Dodge was a genius to exploit the Katy secondary in the way of the inexperienced player both title games. I called it before this past year's title game he would do the same thing he did in '03 and go after the sophomore, and he sure did. But you say, well, they did it in '03 and Katy still won, why didn't they win this year? '03 game could've gone either way. The sophomore DB that year stepped up at the end of the game and made a miracle play. 2005 the sophomores never made any plays. 2003 Katy's offense was more run oriented and they controlled the clock better. 2005 Katy passed more and didn't control the clock. 2003 Katy had an extra blitz man on EVERY play on defense to put pressure on the QB and not give him time to sit back and pick apart the defense. 2005 I saw VERY VERY VERY few blitzing by the LBs. 2003 Katy made MINIMAL errors. 2005 Katy turned the ball over 5 times and had very costly penalties.


By the time the playoffs come around, those young inexperience players have grown up. But give him and the staff the credit for a solid game plan

[dragonfootballfan]

he has been very fortunate to have as his core a group that don't want to coach at the next level. was that by design? i wouldn't put it past dodge, but i think luck has played a big part in it.
one thing that Dodge does do is that he always has their back. I remember when they were proposing to give him a raise, he said that he wanted to make sure that his assistants got raises as well.

[DiamondJ2]

Any successful coach recognizes his assistants are invaluable. Dodge has kept a lot of his staff intake. I'm sure many times during a game, practice, staff meeting, etc. when a situation came up on how to attack or counterattack, he let's his assistants voice their opinions. A close knit staff can do wonders for a team. Dodge probably trusts his assistants to do their job which enables him to do more for them and the team.

[ktCarl]

he has been very fortunate to have as his core a group that don't want to coach at the next level. was that by design? i wouldn't put it past dodge, but i think luck has played a big part in it.

I guess it's hard to jump to another program when you're fat and happy. :D

I'm just wondering when these ex-Katy coaches start getting their new schools deep in the playoffs. Cinco Ranch's Coach Clayton(OC for Katy's '97 team) has got his Cougars to the playoffs once. The team I'm most interested in is Deer Park. They have Massey(OC for Katy's '03 team) as head coach plus Rusty Bucy (LB for Katy's '97 team) and another coach(help me KT2000 with the name) that played for one of Katy's teams from the '90's. That's a good core of coaches that's familiar with deep runs in the playoffs.

[Fan4Life]

I guess it's hard to jump to another program when you're fat and happy. :D

I'm just wondering when these ex-Katy coaches start getting their new schools deep in the playoffs. Cinco Ranch's Coach Clayton(OC for Katy's '97 team) has got his Cougars to the playoffs once. The team I'm most interested in is Deer Park. They have Massey(OC for Katy's '03 team) as head coach plus Rusty Bucy (LB for Katy's '97 team) and another coach(help me KT2000 with the name) that played for one of Katy's teams from the '90's. That's a good core of coaches that's familiar with deep runs in the playoffs.



Isn't it coach Gott??

[ktCarl]

Isn't it coach Gott??

I think you may be correct. I think it's spelled Gotte? Anyway, I'm keeping an eye on Deer Park. I have friends that live out there so when they get good I'll have some folks to sit with.