Post by coachwoodall on Dec 8, 2014 14:02:25 GMT -6
Well, It's finally over. We came over here in 2013 to try and work a bit of a reclamation project. There was a ton of history, and by many standards there was everything in place needed to make things go here. This school has a proud history. We made a lot of changes. Some worked; others not so well. Many thought it would take us a couple of three years to get everything in place to bring the program back to where it had once been. You might say that we are a year ahead of schedule.
We struggled out of the gate going 3-3, but got hot down the stretch to win 9 in a row. We were bolstered by not only the ones that everyone was counting on, but some surprises showed up that made a difference in our team as well. We had some young pups grow up quick, and had others that proved their value when we needed to move some kids around to make the team solid. I was worried about depth all year, but we managed to have some kids bow up and play when we had some injuries. We also had a few that didn't want to pay the price every single day in practice and there were those kids waiting in the wings that filled in nicely.
Offensively, we were lights out for most of the season. We only had 1 game that we were held under 31 points. In that one game we were missing a couple of studs, but really we just sputtered by not scoring on 4 trips down inside the 25. In a way it was an eye opener since it highlighted some things that the offense needed to work on over the course of the season, namely solidifying our OL. The Jimmies and Joes really showed up and showed out down the stretch scoring 35, 51, 55, 63, 69, 31, 51, 63, and 49. Coaching also showed in that we had to move some folks around a bit and commit to improving our run game.
Special teams were special for us and played a huge role. Our kicker/punter really helped flip the field and that helped out the defense. Our return game was also important because it forced teams to try and keep the ball away from our return guys. When teams did kick to us, those cats made them pay. And in turn it got kids really excited about being part of those teams. Kids worked hard at doing their job even if they didn't get to touch the ball. Our punt block team also gave teams fits.
Defensively our HC/DC was pulling his hair out at times over the fact that we just weren't that dominating overall as a unit. Granted we had kids make big plays in critical situations, but struggled at times defending the run. The threat and production of our offense/special teams surly helped out our defense when our opponents got behind and our studs could tee off on the QB. I will say this, the HC/DC has a knack for getting the kids to play hard and we were opportunistic in getting stops, turnovers, or having red zone/goal line stands at key points in ball games.
Overall, I think that the playing field was pretty even this year. There wasn't any one or 2 dominating teams in our classification. The teams that played OOS games didn't fare particularly well, including us. In a sense, we got a bit lucky in that there were probably 8-10 teams that could have won the big cookie depending on how the playoff match-ups had fallen. Every team that was in the hunt had some flaws somewhere. Like the HC said, "We want to be the best team on the field that night". We were lucky in that there were some potential match ups out there that we didn't get that might not have benefitted us.
As we move forward towards next year, I'm sure there will be a lot pundits picking us to be there again in 2015. The bulk of our talent is in our Jr. class, but we have to fix our flaws. We have to replace 3 OL, 2 WR, 2 DL, our Kicker/Punter, and our MVP CB/Returner/WR/Wildcat QB. We need to develop some depth in several areas also. Fortunately, the Sophomores were our first C-team and there is talent. This year's Freshmen are going to be a really good group, and the 8th graders coming out of the middle schools have a chance to be solid all around also. I guess we can afford to relax for a couple of more days; Christmas Parade is tomorrow, got to finish cleaning out the lockers and get cleaned up for the all-star teams coming to our place to practice, getting sized for our rings on Thursday, and then It's back to the salt mine.
I hope that everyone has a great holiday and a Merry Christmas. I pray that you all take time to enjoy your family and get some much needed rest. I pray that you find fruit in your season's end, no matter the outcome.
May the oblong spheroid always bounce your way.
May the turf on your field always be be green.
May the fans in the stands always lift you up.
May the flags be few and far between.
May the game uniforms always come out clean the first time.
May the wind always be at your kicker's back.
And may the band play your fight song often.
God Bless All My Coaching Brothers,
Jeff Woodall
Spartanburg High School
Spartanburg, SC
We struggled out of the gate going 3-3, but got hot down the stretch to win 9 in a row. We were bolstered by not only the ones that everyone was counting on, but some surprises showed up that made a difference in our team as well. We had some young pups grow up quick, and had others that proved their value when we needed to move some kids around to make the team solid. I was worried about depth all year, but we managed to have some kids bow up and play when we had some injuries. We also had a few that didn't want to pay the price every single day in practice and there were those kids waiting in the wings that filled in nicely.
Offensively, we were lights out for most of the season. We only had 1 game that we were held under 31 points. In that one game we were missing a couple of studs, but really we just sputtered by not scoring on 4 trips down inside the 25. In a way it was an eye opener since it highlighted some things that the offense needed to work on over the course of the season, namely solidifying our OL. The Jimmies and Joes really showed up and showed out down the stretch scoring 35, 51, 55, 63, 69, 31, 51, 63, and 49. Coaching also showed in that we had to move some folks around a bit and commit to improving our run game.
Special teams were special for us and played a huge role. Our kicker/punter really helped flip the field and that helped out the defense. Our return game was also important because it forced teams to try and keep the ball away from our return guys. When teams did kick to us, those cats made them pay. And in turn it got kids really excited about being part of those teams. Kids worked hard at doing their job even if they didn't get to touch the ball. Our punt block team also gave teams fits.
Defensively our HC/DC was pulling his hair out at times over the fact that we just weren't that dominating overall as a unit. Granted we had kids make big plays in critical situations, but struggled at times defending the run. The threat and production of our offense/special teams surly helped out our defense when our opponents got behind and our studs could tee off on the QB. I will say this, the HC/DC has a knack for getting the kids to play hard and we were opportunistic in getting stops, turnovers, or having red zone/goal line stands at key points in ball games.
Overall, I think that the playing field was pretty even this year. There wasn't any one or 2 dominating teams in our classification. The teams that played OOS games didn't fare particularly well, including us. In a sense, we got a bit lucky in that there were probably 8-10 teams that could have won the big cookie depending on how the playoff match-ups had fallen. Every team that was in the hunt had some flaws somewhere. Like the HC said, "We want to be the best team on the field that night". We were lucky in that there were some potential match ups out there that we didn't get that might not have benefitted us.
As we move forward towards next year, I'm sure there will be a lot pundits picking us to be there again in 2015. The bulk of our talent is in our Jr. class, but we have to fix our flaws. We have to replace 3 OL, 2 WR, 2 DL, our Kicker/Punter, and our MVP CB/Returner/WR/Wildcat QB. We need to develop some depth in several areas also. Fortunately, the Sophomores were our first C-team and there is talent. This year's Freshmen are going to be a really good group, and the 8th graders coming out of the middle schools have a chance to be solid all around also. I guess we can afford to relax for a couple of more days; Christmas Parade is tomorrow, got to finish cleaning out the lockers and get cleaned up for the all-star teams coming to our place to practice, getting sized for our rings on Thursday, and then It's back to the salt mine.
I hope that everyone has a great holiday and a Merry Christmas. I pray that you all take time to enjoy your family and get some much needed rest. I pray that you find fruit in your season's end, no matter the outcome.
May the oblong spheroid always bounce your way.
May the turf on your field always be be green.
May the fans in the stands always lift you up.
May the flags be few and far between.
May the game uniforms always come out clean the first time.
May the wind always be at your kicker's back.
And may the band play your fight song often.
God Bless All My Coaching Brothers,
Jeff Woodall
Spartanburg High School
Spartanburg, SC
