Can new coaches make a huge difference?

[bhs06]

Someone in another thread said new coaches can't make a big difference. I'll remember that post in November. It can be the case, but I don't think so with our team. The situation:

The problem with our coaches last year is that we had all the talent in the world and it went un used. We ran the same 3 plays all game: FB Trap up the middle, TB Lead up the middle, and option. What good is having 10 players on our team with 4.6 40's or better when all we are going to do is run the ball behind our blockers all game? Our offensive line was good, it was huge. But the opposing defense would all be the same every game: The Arlington Plan(the team who waxed us in our last playoff appearance). 9 in the box, with one corner on our only reciever, and a safety. Not much you can do there really. And when we were forced to pass, the opposing team would know it and use nickel or even dime packages. When they had 9 in the box and we tried to pass, it would fail, as they knew it was going to the reciever or tight end. We would beat the teams that we were much better then of course, but the teams with a bit less, equal or more talent would eat us for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our defense was pretty good, as it was #10 in the area, but offensive problems often gave opposing teams either touchdowns or good field position.

And on the field wasn't the only problem. Before our games, many of our players would either go to someone's house and get drunk out of a beer keg and/or go out to a deserted woods area and smoke marijuana and get high. This happened before every game except our game against Irving, which we happened to win. Some players did not take part in this activity, but the sole fact of being loyal to their team mates caused them to keep their mouth shut. Our coaches knew about this but instead just turned their back to the situation and just hoped they didn't get caught. Before games wasn't the only time, as on weekends this drug behavior would exist too.

The starters and talented players would miss practice all the time and get away with it. Most of the time they wouldn't even give an excuse. There were times where hardly anyone was at practice. And come game time, they would play. A family friend who was on the team a few years ago gave me a story where the starting fullback, who was very talented, had an argument with the coach and ended up quiting the team(Like Terrell Owens). Our friend was named starter in his place. He didn't come back, but on the day of the game 2 hours prior, he drove out to Pennington Field, went up to one of the coaches and said he wanted to play. So one of the coaches drove him back to the school, got him pads and his uniform and helmet, and by the time the game started, he started. Our friend was very upset.

The problems continued to build, and no success was achieved, so finally the pressure of the booster club caused most of our coaches to resign. One of them coach now across town at Trinity. Now doesn't the situation seem like a mess?

What our new coaches are bringing is discipline, and not tolerating missed practices or bad choices. They are making sure we don't go anywhere before games, and teaching us not only to become football players but also men.

The new offense installed utilizes our talent rather than waste it. The shotgun no huddle is perfect for it, as all 4 our of recievers right now who would be starting run a 4.7 or better, and the top 2 return from last year's team as some of the few bright spots, but they were running backs. Good hands and good moves, plus speed should work. Throw in a pretty good 3 year starter at QB and things are looking up. A state championship? Not likely, but we expect to be fighting for a playoff spot. The atmosphere and environment around the team has changed to a more positive one, and some players are beginning to shape up. As of right now we are still new to this and have some work to do, but I believe when we get clicking that teams will be in for a game and not an automatic joke win like last season.

But we want teams to think we suck, are an easy win, and a pushoever. Then we can come in and bring them back down to earth. Winning the mental part of the game like that is huge.

So to whoever said a new coach doesn't matter, it may be true, but not in our case.

[drgnbkr]

Sounds like things are getting better. All you can do is put one foot in front of the other & move forward, & it seems like you are. Good luck!

[dragonsdaddy]

the right new coaches can make night into day. the wrong ones, or changing for the sake of changing can just extend the darkness.

[battlin'bulldawgs]

New coaches make all the difference. Here in Cove we had only been to the playoffs 7 times through 1998. Since we have made it 6 of 7 years and pass the 1st round every time

[Mad Hatter]

judson 2 new coaches are making a huge impact...Judson now has 4 ...thats right i said 4 shotgun plays that they will acctually use....4.....WOW :D

[bell grad dad]

You are mistaken in a few of your points and the first one is that the Booster Club pressure had nothing to do with the coaching staff changes. That change came from the Principal's office at LD BELL. The booster club and the members have absolutely no say in what happened. Trust me, I know. Yes there was several times that discipline and the way it was applied was not consistant. There was a need for change and it was set to come after this season. The change came earlier due to happen for whatever reason Jim Bannister saw fit. It's his school and his call on personell at the campus. The former head coach is being paid $100,000 plus to be a PE teacher in the district because he had a year left on his contract. Good luck to you and your teammates.....I painfully see a different result than you do, but keep up the optimism. I see Bell at 2-8 for the year. The district is extremely talented at the top. If you get by Bowie, than I'll stick to my prediction, if that game doesn't fall your way it may be a long season. I hope you and your team can pull it together, however it will take more than 1 summmer to right the ship in Raiderland. You have to have heart and committment and it has to be in every player in that locker room and unfortunately, it is not there yet. Get your Junior high kids on the same page and maybe in 3 years or so we'll be able to talk with the big boy's. It won't happen soon.........also your new coach that won a state championship at F/R also went 3 and 7 the next season and I believe there was a 5 and 5 season in there before he retired to become the Athletic Director at HEBISD over the coach he replaced. Joe will be as successful as those who have come before him until the offensive process can be taught at the lower levels. A QB has to have people that can catch and that it not a skill that is widely possessed at Bell. The offensive line is entirely brand new as all five starters graduated last year, we do not have the depth that Trinity has. Good Luck to the Blue Raiders and the Coach who went to Trinity after he was released by Bell as well. I'll be the first to come on here each week after you win and give you props.................Good luck.

[dragonsdaddy]

fridge has never won a state championship.

[catman]

I believe that Coach Olivo won a state championship when he was an assistant at Grapevine.

[LoneRocket]

New Coaches can make a difference we can tell you a story that started in 1981.

[dragonsdaddy]

i knew that, but not at fridge.

[BandidoNB]

When Bruce Bush had taken over San Marcos in 1997, they made the 5A playoffs that same year for the first time in 31 years (after many, many losing seasons). They played New Braunfels in 5A-II bidistrict, another team who made the playoffs for the first time in several years under a fairly new coach. Both schools are regular playoff contenders now.

Larry Hill also literally built SV from the ground to the sky since he has been there. I want to say that they had never made the playoffs in school history before that, but I am not totally sure of that.

Overall I would say that they can make a difference.

[TrueBlue]

BHS06, I agree with your optimism -- why a Bell grad dad would want to quench your high expectations, I am not sure --

Bell's defense will probably be the most athletic it has put on the field in a long time --

The new offiense does play on it's strengths -- I'm not sure where BGD gets the idea that Bell has no receivers -- Bell's starting 4 receivers may be the best across the board Bell has had in a long time -- and I expect Deandre, Stankus and Cantu to be all district when it is all said and done --

One thing that I do agree with BGD is that 6-5a is possibly the most competitive district in the state and Bell will have it's work cut out -- and it is better that everyone, including BGD is predicting gloom and doom for the Raiders this season -- takes the pressure off -- and gives Bell something to prove --

Texashsfootball.com picks Bell to make the playoffs and for the Bell qb to be the district offensive mvp -- although it will be tough -- I expect Bell to be a playoff team this year -- keep your expectations high and keep working hard -- all that really matters is what you and the other 55 players in the locker room believe about the Blue Raiders!

[bell grad dad]

While I don't intend to dampen anyone's spirits at Bell, I am being realistic in what appears to be maybe one of the toughest schedules out there based on district play. Deandre will be the leading receiver on the team, Cantu may make the adjustment to starting at the 5A level as a Sophomore, more often that doesn't happen that quickly. I hope Blake can do it. You have to a more than 1 go to guy or the defenses will T off...... If Deandre is not in the backfield, who will keep the d line and linebackers honest. He has probably been the best athlete on the team over the past two seasons. Mauro should put up great numbers, but I see the defense as a huge ? and think it will take more than one summer to change the old course. Do you honestly think that Bell can make the playoffs this season out of this district? I didn't see where they were picked, but I'll go back and look. Good Luck to the Raiders and as I said, I will come back every Saturday morning and CONGRATULATE them on their win the previous night.

[pack0808]

Absolutely coaches can make a huge difference on a program!! AKA coach Outlaw at Lufkin. It is not just the coaching on the field it is finding a guy that knows how to build a program from the bottom up. Outlaw does all of those very well. He has done this where ever he has gone and i know it is not a coinsidence. If it was not for Outlaw i promise you that Lufkin would not have spent a million dollars on improvements this year. Winning gets you benefits in the community and all Outlaw does is win. He also knows how to run a program with class which i think is important.

[KT2000]

I believe the right coaching staff can make a huge difference. Towns like Southlake, Celina, Katy, Stephenville, etc. can certainly attest to that. Obviously, you need talented football players to go with the coaching otherwise the schemes (no matter how inventive) are rendered completely useless if the player can't execute it. Each program is unique as to what the "right" coaching staff would be, but I definitely think that is a huge deal. Coaches can instill discipline, knowledge and purpose among other things.

[lonny23]

judson 2 new coaches are making a huge impact...Judson now has 4 ...thats right i said 4 shotgun plays that they will acctually use....4.....WOW :D
I was looking at Sports Illustrated today and it was talking about Urban Meyer's offense at Florida and started wondering if Judson is going to the same style. The QB lines up in the shotgun and they have a WR doing fly patterns and RB's running draw plays and the other receivers going out in patterns. It's a spread offense with some running. If Judson has speed all around, that might be hard to stop.

Coaching makes a huge difference because it lets you cultivate your players into a team. You're not always going to get blue chip talents and have to win games without them.

[blue58]

Ryan Stankus is my favorite!!!!! :yes:

[purple_thunder]

When Bruce Bush had taken over San Marcos in 1997, they made the 5A playoffs that same year for the first time in 31 years (after many, many losing seasons). They played New Braunfels in 5A-II bidistrict, another team who made the playoffs for the first time in several years under a fairly new coach. Both schools are regular playoff contenders now.

Larry Hill also literally built SV from the ground to the sky since he has been there. I want to say that they had never made the playoffs in school history before that, but I am not totally sure of that.

Overall I would say that they can make a difference.

33 years still have that cup

[LeanderLions3033]

Yes coaches can make a huge difference, whether that be in a good way or a bad way.

Here at Leander, we had 1 winning season in the 90s and that was a 6-4 season where we finished 4th in the district and missed out on the playoffs. We then hired Coach Skinner and his staff and our team took an immediate 180. 2 years later when Skinner took another job we hired within the program and hired coach Gideon. Since we hired coach Skinner, and then proceeded to Gideon we've had 9 straight winning seasons, 5 district championships, and 7 playoff appearances.

RR Stony Point is another prime example of this. Before Coach Chesser got hired RR Stony Point in 2006 they had only won 1 win in district play in the history of their school (they opened up in 99 or 2000 i believe) and had multiple winless seasons. His 1st year wasnt so good, but in his 2nd year at the school it was evident to everybody within the district that this team had turned the corner as far as being able to compete with anybody in the district. In his 3rd year they won the district title and official became the RR Stony Point that we all know now.

All it takes is one coaching staff.....thats basically the point that im trying to make.

[clemensbuff]

bhs06, I hope that you guys get it turned around and make the playoffs! That would be a great achievement for sure. It can be done but only when all the kids 'buy into' the team first attitude and quit thinking and using the word 'me'! Hope to see you guys there for the 1st round in the '2nd season' this year!

BandidoNB, I believe you are 100% right that SV had never made the playoffs before Hill. In fact, before he got there everybody in the area tried to schedule the Rangers for their homecoming game! LOL

[chhspantherfan]

bhs06, I hope that you guys get it turned around and make the playoffs! That would be a great achievement for sure. It can be done but only when all the kids 'buy into' the team first attitude and quit thinking and using the word 'me'! Hope to see you guys there for the 1st round in the '2nd season' this year!
BandidoNB, I believe you are 100% right that SV had never made the playoffs before Hill. In fact, before he got there everybody in the area tried to schedule the Rangers for their homecoming game! LOL

seeing how this will be the 6th season since he wrote that, maybe they will get there this year. I have often wondered what happened to Bell before Olivo, now I know. He is a good man and a good coach. Maybe the cancer has been cut out and they can play to their potential.

[wolfpack4life]

Someone in another thread said new coaches can't make a big difference. I'll remember that post in November. It can be the case, but I don't think so with our team. The situation:

The problem with our coaches last year is that we had all the talent in the world and it went un used. We ran the same 3 plays all game: FB Trap up the middle, TB Lead up the middle, and option. What good is having 10 players on our team with 4.6 40's or better when all we are going to do is run the ball behind our blockers all game? Our offensive line was good, it was huge. But the opposing defense would all be the same every game: The Arlington Plan(the team who waxed us in our last playoff appearance). 9 in the box, with one corner on our only reciever, and a safety. Not much you can do there really. And when we were forced to pass, the opposing team would know it and use nickel or even dime packages. When they had 9 in the box and we tried to pass, it would fail, as they knew it was going to the reciever or tight end. We would beat the teams that we were much better then of course, but the teams with a bit less, equal or more talent would eat us for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our defense was pretty good, as it was #10 in the area, but offensive problems often gave opposing teams either touchdowns or good field position.

And on the field wasn't the only problem. Before our games, many of our players would either go to someone's house and get drunk out of a beer keg and/or go out to a deserted woods area and smoke marijuana and get high. This happened before every game except our game against Irving, which we happened to win. Some players did not take part in this activity, but the sole fact of being loyal to their team mates caused them to keep their mouth shut. Our coaches knew about this but instead just turned their back to the situation and just hoped they didn't get caught. Before games wasn't the only time, as on weekends this drug behavior would exist too.

The starters and talented players would miss practice all the time and get away with it. Most of the time they wouldn't even give an excuse. There were times where hardly anyone was at practice. And come game time, they would play. A family friend who was on the team a few years ago gave me a story where the starting fullback, who was very talented, had an argument with the coach and ended up quiting the team(Like Terrell Owens). Our friend was named starter in his place. He didn't come back, but on the day of the game 2 hours prior, he drove out to Pennington Field, went up to one of the coaches and said he wanted to play. So one of the coaches drove him back to the school, got him pads and his uniform and helmet, and by the time the game started, he started. Our friend was very upset.

The problems continued to build, and no success was achieved, so finally the pressure of the booster club caused most of our coaches to resign. One of them coach now across town at Trinity. Now doesn't the situation seem like a mess?

What our new coaches are bringing is discipline, and not tolerating missed practices or bad choices. They are making sure we don't go anywhere before games, and teaching us not only to become football players but also men.

The new offense installed utilizes our talent rather than waste it. The shotgun no huddle is perfect for it, as all 4 our of recievers right now who would be starting run a 4.7 or better, and the top 2 return from last year's team as some of the few bright spots, but they were running backs. Good hands and good moves, plus speed should work. Throw in a pretty good 3 year starter at QB and things are looking up. A state championship? Not likely, but we expect to be fighting for a playoff spot. The atmosphere and environment around the team has changed to a more positive one, and some players are beginning to shape up. As of right now we are still new to this and have some work to do, but I believe when we get clicking that teams will be in for a game and not an automatic joke win like last season.

But we want teams to think we suck, are an easy win, and a pushoever. Then we can come in and bring them back down to earth. Winning the mental part of the game like that is huge.

So to whoever said a new coach doesn't matter, it may be true, but not in our case.
Ask Westlake.

[E-Vol-ution]

The right new coach can definitely make all the difference in the world.

Arlington Bowie.........:notworthy

[chhspantherfan]

The right new coach can definitely make all the difference in the world.

Arlington Bowie.........:notworthy

interesting, about same timeline as I recall. When did Perry get to Bowie?

[SV61]

The right new coach can definitely make all the difference in the world.

Arlington Bowie.........:notworthy

"I don't see how it could POSSIBLY make any difference."

Signed,

Larry Hill
Lou Holtz
Nick Saban
Mack Brown
Jimmy Johnson

[E-Vol-ution]

interesting, about same timeline as I recall. When did Perry get to Bowie?

'06 was the first season.

[chhspantherfan]

'06 was the first season.

8-12-05 was the first post in this thread. Look at Bowie's success and Bell's lack thereof and form an opinion.

[Big Daddy Cool]

North Shore is a perfect example of what a new coach and a new philosophy can do for a dead program. Before he arrived we had never made the playoffs since he's arrival we haven't missed the playoffs. As KT said the right coach in the right situation can bring about big changes.

[LeanderLions3033]

North Shore is a perfect example of what a new coach and a new philosophy can do for a dead program. Before he arrived we had never made the playoffs since he's arrival we haven't missed the playoffs. As KT said the right coach in the right situation can bring about big changes.

Too bad you couldnt make Coach Chesser your "coach in waiting" like Muschamp is with Texas. To this day i remember beating RR Stony Point 56-7 my sr year of high school......

[blueraider10]

Big difference in the talent level at Bowie and at Bell. Even as Bowie was posting 1-9 and 0-10 records under Criss, they had kids signing D1 scholarships. Kenny Perry has made a tremendous impact on the Bowie program, bringing in discipline and focus along with a great offensive and defensive scheme, but Olivo I think has done a pretty solid job at Bell. Last season he had a tremendously weak senior class that lacked any type of athleticism or leadership.