The Firm: Smith, Smith, Coverdale & Holcomb

 

Smith, Smith, Coverdale and Holcomb. The Firm.  Specifically, the four names are Homer Smith, Chuck Smith, Andrew Coverdale, and Mike Holcomb.

 

I hear that expression several times through the season and every now and then during the offseason.  John Arn (our former oline coach and defensive coordinator) came up with the phrase but I think Shawn Thompson (the defensive coordinator before John Arn) was the first to announce that the way to get me to do something was to call Chuck Smith, tell him, and Chuck would call me and make me do it.   

 

My coaches claim that if an idea does not come from “the firm.” I am not going to do it. Of course, they are wrong!  But, I will admit those four guys are great coaches and yes, they are great resources when I have a question.

 

I never met Homer Smith, but he is regarded as one of the greatest offensive minds in the history of the game.  He held several positions, including the offensive coordinator at both UCLA and Alabama.  He was also the head coach at West Point in the 1970s.  Coach Smith passed away in April of 2011.   Coach Smith put together a number of manuals on football, coaching, and teaching. I have most of them.  His ability to explain football concepts and the teaching of the game are incredible. He has one complete manual devoted to practicing football. And, you can apply the information in his manuals to any offensive system. 

 

In 2005, Fleming had the best team they had put on the field in my 17 seasons here. Jordan Fritz was their QB and we were coming off a 1-9 season.  Our offensive gameplan came straight from Homer Smith’s concepts.  Our kid’s executed the game plan to near perfection and we won a game that many thought would be a blow out loss for us.   Some times in preparing for an opponent, when I see a coach being creative in getting numbers/players across the midline, I immediately think of Coach Smith.  If a young guy wants to learn the game of football, I would get my hands on everything written by Homer Smith.

 

The other Smith is Chuck Smith who I have written about before. I regard Chuck as one of the best defensive coaches and high school head coaches in the history of the state, winning 5 state titles at Boyle County. What he did with the LBs at UK was also outstanding. Besides being a great coach, Chuck’s philosophy on football and people are consistent with mine.  I call and ask Chuck football questions. But, most of the time when I call him it is about dealing with people- staff, players, administration, etc. I even called Chuck to ask him if writing this column was a good idea. As you might have figured out, he said yes. 

 

Andrew Coverdale is the offensive coordinator at Trinity HS in Louisville. When we were getting ready to play Breathitt County in the 2003 Recreation Bowl, Coach Coverdale was kind enough to let us use his 2002 state championship video versus Louisville Male. Male and Breathitt ran similar defenses and I wanted to see how he attacked that defense.   His qb was Brian Brohm. Ours was Dustin Grutza. We got a lot of good ideas from that video. Dustin and our kids executed that gameplan exceptionally well in the Rec Bowl versus Breathitt. Through the years, when I have had ideas and questions about offensive concepts, Coach Coverdale has been a great resource.

 

Mike Holcomb is the head football coach at Breathitt County HS. Coach Holcomb has lead the Bobcats to 3 state titles. Most people believe when Hal Mumme came to UK in 1997, that is what started the advent of the spread passing game in the state of Kentucky.   While Coach Mumme is most definitely a recognized guru of the spread passing game, Mike Holcomb had the Bobcats throwing the ball and winning back to back  state titles in 1995 and 1996.  Mumme, Mike Leach, Tony Franklin, & Chris Hatcher are outstanding football coaches who helped make KY HS Football more wide open. But, the FIRST to make it go were Coach Holcomb and Mike Whitaker at Leslie County who had a pretty good QB named Tim Couch.  

 

Because of my experiences playing QB in High School, we have NEVER had a 5 step pass play from under center on any team I have coached.  The timing required and the pass protection ability needed by the oline is tough on a HS player.  Whenever we had a 5 step pass play called in HS, I knew I was going to get blasted.  As I got older and matured, I realized if I am going to get hit, I might as well complete it and I quit worrying about it.

 

When we finally put in a 5 step pass package at Mason County, we did so from the shotgun to help with the protection issues. Coach Holcomb was the coach I went to for help in setting up our 5 step passing concepts.  I don’t know anyone that has a better grasp of the passing game than Mike Holcomb. 

 

Now, is it true that I only take ideas from the “Firm” as my staff likes to complain?  Absolutely not.  Most of my decisions are really OUR decisions. There are times that I do pull rank and make the call as the head coach, but not as much as you might think.  But, when I do go along with one of their ideas that I am not crazy about, I just tell them to “Make it work.”  And, yes, I got that from Chuck.

 

 

Working toward 2023, How I spent the 2022 Season... Thank you Coach Kevin Wallace & the St. Xavier Tigers!

 

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. 

The Coaches Office: Behind the Scenes of HS Football w/ Chuck Smith & David Buchanan: Season 1 Episode Menu

 

In season

1: Intro-Illegal Recruiting-Preseason Prep-Staff Prep

2: Chris McNamee-Playoffs-HFC Role in Feeder Programs

3: Marvin Dantzler-Power Clean- Toughest Offense to Prepare For

4: Bob Sphire- Jobs(Crazy Stories)- Special Teams & Turnovers

5: Marc Clark-Covid Year-Frosh/JV Program Objectives

6: Larry French-Platoon or Not Platoon- Team Camp Yes/No

7: Steve Pardue-Bring kids in over weekend- Practice Full Pads Yes/No

8: Mark Perry-Coaching changed last 30/40 years-Multi Sport Athletes

9: Kevin Wallace-Private/Public Schools-Coaching Your Son

10: Dennis & Alvis Johnson-Track v. Soccer- Motivating a Struggling Team

11: Robbie Lucas-Hay in the Barn-Officials & Bad Calls

12: Jim McKee-Gap v. Zone Scheme- Gaining Administration Support

13: Brandon Smith-Allowing Opponent to Score-Scouting/Prep for an Opponent

14: Adrian Morton-OTAs-Motivating the Non Starters

15: Tom Greer- Making Football Safer-Starting a New Program

16: David Arnsparger-Classification by Resources- Motivating an Undefeated Team

17: Hunter Cantwell-Keegan Kendrick-Nathan McPeek - State Championships

18: Christmas Edition: The Coaches' Kids

Offseason

1: Tony Franklin- Hal Mumme to UK- Air Raid Offense - Coaching Clinics

2: Perry Thomas- Defensive Bible- Postseason Program Evaluation- Offseason Optimization- Recruiting Advice for Families & HS Coaches- Gap v. Scheme (HS)- 3 Safety Defense

3: Chris Lofton-FTS-Multi Sport Athletes- KFCA Elected Council

4: Ky Pro Football H of F/Blanton Collier SG: Dr. Steve Parker-Derrick Ramsey-Frank Minnifield

5: Wesley Woodyard- Scrape vs. Fill- 1 gap vs. 2 gap - Rich Brooks & Mitch Barnhart- Spring 🏈

6: KHSAA Commissioner- Julian Tackett- Social Media:Coaches:Student-Athletes- Bylaws 6 & 16- BOC

7: Felton Huggins-Taking a New Job(Priorities & Agenda)

The Coaches Office: Behind the Scenes of HS Football w/ Chuck Smith & David Buchanan: Season 1 Soundtrack

 

Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get- Dramatics

September- Earth, Wind & Fire

We're An American Band - Grand Funk

One Fine Morning- Lighthouse

Make Believe - Toto

Fight The Good Fight- Triumph

MNF Intro - 1970

Back Stabbers- O' Jays

Monster Mash- Bobby Pickett (Football Halloween Party version)

Strawberry Letter 23- Brothers Johnson

Long Way Home- Supertramp

Boogie Nights- Heatwave

You Know I Love You, Don't You- Howard Jones

Clocks- Coldplay

Podcast Music.... where does it come from?

 Every week we change up the opening music for our podcast. Chuck and Donald Mac have been kind enough to let me choose our music. 

For most all of us, we have strong memories that are connected to music. That certainly comes out for me each week when our Podcast gets cranked up. 

Early in the season, it's probably an old tune from a hot August or September Friday night in central KY.  October is a great month for football, and usually reminds me of homecomings from long ago. As a head football coach, I always enjoyed going to the Homecoming Dance and seeing our kids happy after a big win. In our Paris days, I had to hustle to the Homecoming Dance because Stephanie was in charge of it since we were both teaching there at the time. We both enjoyed those nights being with our kids. 

This past fall, one weekend was like a snapshot of heaven. My Dad's old players(Boyle County) invited me to their Class Reunion for 1970 and 1971. Here I am with Stephanie, sitting at a table with two of my heroes and their wives (Monty & Wanda Wilkinson, Ervin & Paula Vanover) from when I was 4 years old, listening to the old music that I love. A big reason I have loved that old music for 50 plus years, it reminds me of those wonderful people and great times. It was overwhelming and really, almost too good to be true.

Hanging out with Monty Wilkerson

November music... it goes to a whole other level. Until 1986, I had never experienced November football.

Now, our crosstown rivals, the Harrodsburg Pioneers, were still playing after the leaves fell from the trees,  across the street from our house in Green Acres. My Dad and I would walk up the street and watch Henry Parks, Nick Yeast, Venus Meaux, and those very good teams in blue and white. It was cold and they were awful good. 

As it turns out, my last game coaching the Titans at Alvis Johnson Field was a cold November playoff game. That last ballgame during pregame, I looked up where my Dad and I would stand and watch those games. Yes, missing him. But, even more, counting my blessings... and too many to count. 

JCB, Trosper, & Larry Harris, November of 2021
Our last game & win @ AJ

I can also remember (November of 1977) going to Shelby County to watch Chris Jones and the Danville Admirals, coached by our wonderful friend, Steele Harmon. That was probably the LAST game I ever saw a HS player wear a tear-away jersey. He was a GREAT player. 

But, my point... I WAS JEALOUS. I wanted to experience November football. It finally happened in 1986 at Mercer County when we won the first district and region championships in school history, reaching the state semifinals. After that, what a blessing the next 36 years to coach a bunch of teams that were good and could make a run in November. 

And, it always meant the most when we could go in as the district champion... because that is how it was in the old days, you had to win your district to even make it to November.  

Or, if went in as a 2nd or 3rd seed, and found yourself in the quarterfinals or even semifinals, those were good weeks of November football. 

Those old songs from November in the 70's sounded pretty good when we were finally playing football ourselves in the postseason.  

And, it's not just the really old songs.  Until the day I die, when I hear Clocks by Coldplay I will feel the cold wind blow, and see that snow flying across my face, just like it did the Friday after Thanksgiving in Fort Thomas, in November of 2003.  Sometimes, blowing snow, freezing cold wind and being unable to feel your face... is a good thing.

  

2003 Semifinals, Mason Co. at Highlands

The Last Snap: October 1983

My college football career amounted to being the scout team QB at Centre College. Yes, I was at the bottom of the depth chart. But, everyday, I got to play QB against the first string defense and to say I enjoyed every snap would be an understatement. Those were great days. 

 In the car today, on the radio, was the countdown of the Top 40 from this week in 1983. It sure brought back a bunch of memories to my last day of football. 

It was a Wednesday (October, 1983). I remember heading down that hill to the practice field. It was a sunny, cool day. Perfect. Everyday in class I would look forward to the afternoon and this was going to be another great day. 

Early in team defense that afternoon, throwing the ball to my left, one of our scout team lineman got caved into the outside of my right knee. It hurt bad. I struggled to put weight on it. And, it felt strange. But, after missing one play, I could walk on it. In those days it was sort of standard... if you can walk, you play. No one coerced me. I WANTED to play. I jumped back in the huddle and kept going. About 5 plays later, rolling to my right, I planted my weight on that right leg to throw the ball. I felt a big pop in my knee and hit the ground. At 18 years old, that was by far the worst pain I had ever experienced.

After that pop, the knee started burning. My teammate, Charlie Royse, tried to help me cope with the pain. I remember squeezing his hand inside of those lineman gloves (black, padded, open fingers). I can still see those gloves. I will always appreciate Charlie for being there and trying to help me. The sky seemed particularly sunny and blue. I guess when you're on your back, staring up into the October sky, it will seem that way. 

As it turned out, I had a torn ACL. And, it also turned out, that was my last play of football, ever.  When the day started, I had no idea I would be facing one of the most significant milestones in my life, ever. 

I don't have much in common with my Quarterback heroes growing up, Bart Starr and Fran Tarkenton. But, one thing I do have in common with both of them,  every player in Canton, and every HS kid that will take the field this Friday night, we all have our LAST SNAP. It may be an injury, graduation, or just a decision to hang up the cleats. It may be in practice, or a game, even the Super Bowl.  But, we all have our LAST SNAP.

As we head toward the end of October, alot of guys are facing their last snap over the next few weeks.   Be the best you can. Enjoy it. Feel great about your effort and investment that you give your teammates on the field, in the weightroom, and preparing each week. Be in the moment. Be where your feet are. It is a special, special time. 

When I scratch the inside of my right knee, I feel it on the outside. Very strange sensation. But, I am thankful for anything that reminds me of a bright, sunny, cool, perfect October day, playing football... even if it was the last one of all.

 

Alvis Johnson: It's a Hog, Not a Wildcat

The rest of the world calls it the “Wildcat.” At Mason County, we call it “Hog” and it’s variations are “Henry,” “Jack”, and “Venus”. One of the most popular trends in football right now is a form of the old fashioned single wing. No one runs the single wing today as well as Alvis Johnson’s teams did at Harrodsburg High School back in the 70s and 80s. Harrodsburg and Mercer County merged school systems in 2006. But, when my dad went to Mercer, and then when I played and coached at Mercer, the Harrodsburg “Hogs “ were our rival- and they were very good. Coach Johnson’s teams were unique on both sides of the ball. Offensively, it was the single wing. Defensively, it was an even front with man coverage and lot’s of blitzing. On our schedule, the two best teams were Boyle County and the Hogs. I still remember a lot about both of those teams from when I was a player. As good as the Hogs were, Coach Johnson made the biggest impression on me in how he treated me as a player and a coach. 

 Henry Parks was the best HS football player I had ever seen play the game until I came to Mason. And, I would still have to say, I have only seen two or three guys that might have been as good or better. The first time I saw him play he made an impression. I was on the sideline with my dad in 1975 when Mercer was playing at Harrodsburg. On the opening kickoff, the Mercer return team opens up a huge hole and our returner has probably 15-20 yards on anyone else on the field. I see this #25 coming across the field like a freight train. He didn’t tackle our ball carrier- he ran over him! 

 In high school, I played defensive end against the Hogs’ Single Wing. It felt like every play was an off-tackle play and half the town of Harrodsburg was coming to kick out the defensive end. My senior year of high school, 1982, it was a big deal when the Hogs put in some offense that required a QB. 

Excited to meet Henry Parks, on HIS field in NOVEMBER (2018), when he was our "Hog" 

 Jack Robertson was an outstanding offensive lineman at Harrodsburg High and then we coached together at Mercer. Later, Jack was back on the staff at Harrodsburg after I came to Mason. Jack has been a great resource for me as we have incorporated some of the single wing concepts in our offense. “Hog” is our base single wing set. “Henry” (Parks), “Venus” (Meaux- another great Harrodsburg player), and “Jack” (Robertson) are the variations that we also use. We have blended those ideas with our base offense and it has been very good for us. 

 Still, it was Coach Johnson’s defense that affected me the most. My senior year, we played the Hogs the week after we played Boyle. Although we had lost, our offense had enjoyed quite a bit of success moving the ball against a very good Rebel defense. Boyle played a 6-2 defense and did a great job with it. But, there were opportunities to throw the ball against that defense. Like most defenses in that time period, it was heavily geared toward stopping the run. As our QB, I knew there was really only one blitz that we had to be concerned with and one simple audible handled that the only time they ran it. 

 The Harrodsburg defense was completely different. They blitzed our passing game all night. The facemask of one of their linebacker’s was usually about 3 feet from my facemask before every snap and they were fast. Our offensive line made a good effort to pick up those blitzes but we were outmatched. That was the most beat up I ever got in a game. 

 Between the white lines, Coach Johnson made life tough. But, what stands out more to me was how he treated me. He was always very nice to me and complimentary in person and in the media. It seemed like he went out of his way to do that and I thought it was first class. We struggled my senior year of high school football and I was especially appreciative of the kind words. 

 The only time I got a bad vibe from Coach Johnson was in the fall of 1987. We were playing the Hogs in the opener for both teams. Coach Johnson and Coach French had one heck of a game of cat and mouse that summer hiding when we would each scrimmage. It felt like he stared a hole through me when I made that long walk down to what is now Alvis Johnson Field to scout their scrimmage. Supposedly one night a couple Harrodsburg coaches were sitting near 127, waiting for our bus, to follow us to our scrimmage. Coach French had us take the back roads out of town. We won that opener in overtime that season. The Hogs and Dogs had some great games. 

 The Saturday before Stephanie and I were married, we traveled to a school in western Kentucky that offered me their head coaching job. Before they interviewed me, they had already offered me the job, and it was from Coach Johnson’s recommendation. The single wing and that defense were impressive. But, Coach Johnson was always first class to me and I will remember that the most.