Even old guys like me can still learn.
Going into the 2022 season, I needed to find something that would allow me to continue to grow as a a head football coach. Eventually, I do want to be back on the sideline and leading a football program.
Because of the kindness and generosity of St. Xavier Coach, Kevin Wallace, something great worked out. I was able to do some advance scouting work for them and other tasks related to offensive & defensive analysis. In return, I got access to their practices, meetings, and Hudl account. I hope that I was able to help them, but I am sure that I got a whole lot more out of the deal than they did.
I need to be careful in sharing some of the takeaways from this experience, but here are some thoughts that are beneficial and don't give away anything in regards to helping any of their opponents:
1- Kevin Wallace is excellent in making sure his response/reaction to issues & problems is at the appropriate level. Over the years, on a scale of 1-10, I may have been facing a problem that was a "3", but my response was a "9.5".. and that did not help. I saw him respond the RIGHT way, over and over again during this past season. His reaction kept small issues, small issues. My reaction could make small issues bigger than they needed to be. His wisdom really helps his staff and players stay focused on the things that matter the most. Part of this, and it is proven by his track record, Kevin is an excellent football coach. But, just as important, he is an excellent fit at St. Xavier HS. He "clicks" extremely well with his staff and his players.
2- Their kids get a boatload of quality reps in practice and then again in games versus excellent opponents. Being able to play one side of the ball(platoon), their coaches can go crazy on details and drill work. When they are doing special teams, position coaches are spaced out around the perimeter of the field, working their position group. If a position coach is working with the special teams, an older player takes over the drill work for the position group and they continue to get reps and improve. Their efficiency and the number of QUALITY, WELL-COACHED reps... through the roof! Player development is one box they can absolutely check off with confidence.
3-Although I have been a gap scheme guy my entire life, in doing analysis and scouting for them, there was actually one opponent's defense that I really thought the St. X zone scheme would be especially difficult for that defense to defend. St. X has the ability to do both gap and zone scheme. That was new for me and just one example of growth in terms of scheme that will help me down the road. Sort of ironic, I really didn't use the expression "gap scheme" until I heard Coach Bart Bruner say that the day I interviewed for the OC job at St. X with Coach Will Wolford. Coach Bruner is still the DC at St. X and does an excellent job with their defense. We have also done a bunch of gap vs. zone scheme conversations in our podcast. It may be simple stuff to some guys, but there have definitely been some trends/overlap that have helped me understand offensive football better than I did a year ago. Without a doubt, stepping back has allowed me to see more of the big picture on some things that you can miss when you are in the day to day grind of running your program and focused on the details that are most important to your current team and situation.
4- The way they start practice.. excellent. And, how it evolved... crazy. During Covid, the coach that ran stretching was absent one day. Coach Levi Ray was put in charge of that when the other coach could not attend. Coach Ray had the players run it because he felt like they understood it better than he did. It has been a huge success. Everyday practice starts well for them. The energy & enthusiasm carries over to the rest of the periods.
5-Going to the big school Louisville stadiums and watching video of St. X, Manual, Male, Trinity, Elder(Cincinnati), Ballard, etc. has been different and really cool. Coach Roger Gruneisen(grew up in Germantown) told me that he and his buddies use to scale the walls to get into the games at Manual. It was fun to see a game in that old stadium. I've coached against some awful good teams the past 30 years, but have been in smaller places. Those big Louisville schools have not crossed my path a whole lot over the past 3 decades*.
6- Football is both evolutionary and cyclical. I would watch Elder's offense and think, "That looks like Harrodsburg HS, 1975." The night I saw Manual host Ballard, the Crimson's offense made me think, "That looks like Coach Ben Pumphrey's (Mason County, Paris, Nicholas Co, Fleming Co.) offense". St. Xavier on the goalline, could be Knute Rockne's Notre Dame box or Bobby Dodd's Single Wing. In 2022, watching excellent HS football with top notch, innovative coaches, I don't think I ever saw anything that I would call, "New."
Hopefully I can find a head coaching job in 2023. If I don't, Coach Wallace has already been kind enough to say I can come back for another year to help and hang out with the Tigers. If that is what happens, I will sure learn a lot and enjoy it just like 2022.
Go Tigers and THANK YOU Coach Wallace!
*2003, Dunbar beat our Mason County team in OT. That same season, Trinity beat Dunbar 25-13 in the Semifinals. The 2003 Royals were awful good. At one time, the only teams ranked ahead of us in the entire state, in all 4 classes : (1) Boyle County; (2) Paducah Tilghman. All three of us were ranked above all of the big schools in Louisville, at least in September.
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