This is the second in a series of a look back at my first
300 games as a coach. You can read Part 1 here.
Last week I talked about my nerve-wracking initial days at
Fountain Valley High (1994), from being thrown into a deep playbook with
entirely new concepts, to actually being held accountable for knowing the same,
was a new experience. Now, as always having been the self-aware type, as I
mentioned last week, I knew I was the weak link as the Assistant OL Coach. The
guy I reported directly to was Jim O’Connell, the OL Coach and DC. I like Jim –
I like him a lot, “now”. Back then he scared the crap outta me. He’s a great
coach, is an unbelievable technician, but he probably looked at me and thought,
“I’m trusting my OL to this guy?” Fortunately, our relationship changed
dramatically one day when we were talking about the offense and what I did or
didn’t know about it. I flat out told him that he intimidated me, for whatever
reason, or whoever’s fault, that’s just the way it was. He was truly taken
aback I think, and that’s when our dialogue got a whole lot better.
Well, it turned out to be a good thing that I spoke up and
opened the lines of communication, because towards the end of the summer
session that year, Coach Berg pulled me aside. He said, “OK, you’re The Guy.” I
asked him what he was talking about, and he said that Coach O’Connell had just
taken the DC job at a brand new school in South Orange County, Aliso Viejo
High. The Grand Plan of having me learn the offense and the realities of
competing in one of the most competitive divisions of high school football in
the country evaporated. As Coach
Berg said, I was The Guy now.
I had a senior-heavy crew who were technically sound, if a
bit undersized. However, they knew they knew more about the playbook than I
did. Winning their trust was a season-long effort. Two games I vividly
remember: Week 4, we were playing Anaheim Servite High. They are an all-boys Catholic
school, and an extremely well-regarded program. They’d been in our league in
the past, but had fallen down a little and got bumped down to Division V this
year. They weren’t happy about it. We were the first former Sunset League team
they played. Their Coach, the recently retired Larry Toner, ran an unusual flex
defense that featured full-man slants, loops and twists. They held us to -27
yards rushing in a 21-7 victory. After the game Coach Toner sarcastically said,
“I guess they’re right. We *don’t* belong in the Sunset League.” That comment
really stung, and caused me to seriously re-evaluate my place in the coaching
community. I got the chance to meet Coach Toner several times over the years I
was at Fountain Valley, usually during a film exchange or something, and I love
the guy. I’d gladly work for him, but that one hurt. Fortunately, we were able
to bounce back the next week, beating up on Orange County #5 Huntington Beach
Marina 35-0, and I felt a little better about myself.
One other thing – I learned what a rivalry truly was. Sure,
there were “rivalry games” at both San Clemente (Dana Hills High) and at La
Quinta (Fountain Valley Los Amigos High), but *nothing* like Fountain Valley vs
Huntington Beach Edison! I can remember walking onto the campus at 7:00 AM on a
Saturday morning after a game and seeing dozens of volunteers already at work
putting up banners that would eventually almost completely blanket the school.
There were times in the past that they played this game at Anaheim Stadium, and
drew crowds of 30,000. Unfortunately for us, we weren’t very good in ’04, and
Edison was. They beat us “a whole lot to not very much.”
The second game I remember also gave me a life-long coaching
lesson. It was Week 10, and we were sitting at 4-5, not going to the playoffs
(but hey, after three consecutive years of 2-8, this was a bit of improvement).
We were playing Anaheim Esperanza High who was coached by twin Orange County
coaching legends – HC Gary Meek and DC Bill Pendleton. Coach Pendleton ran a
form of the Bears’ 46 defense. As with Servite’s flex, this was the first time
I’d seen the 46. I had a sophomore starting at LT. He would turn out to be a
very talented player, but not as a sophomore. We gave up, I don’t know…maybe 8
sacks in the first half. It was ugly. We go in at half down by a bunch and I
get my guys together and just started lighting into them – ripping them up one
side and down the other. When I was done, my senior center, Bryan Erickson,
looked up and said, “OK Coach – you’ve told us what is wrong. Now tell us how
to fix it.” Quite honestly, I was taken aback by his calm, direct nature. And
he was 100%, absolutely correct. All I was doing was yelling – I wasn’t coaching.
I’ve lost contact with Bryan, but I thank him every so often for reminding me
what is important.
Going into 1995,
I started feeling a bit more comfortable in what I was doing. No longer were
the concepts completely foreign, and I actually started “thinking” in the
terminology. I had a full off-season with my guys in the weight room (yes, I
once again took an active role in that), a full spring practice season, and a
full summer camp experience. It’s amazing what can happen in a true year-around
program. The seniors who were brought up under Coach O’Connell were gone and
the guys who became leaders started believing in me. We formed a pretty tight
bond.
Three games of note that year: Week 1 and Week 11 were
against the same opponent – Los Angeles Loyola High School. We lost both of
them. They ran the most vanilla 3-4 defense I’ve ever seen. Their roster wasn’t
filled with future collegiate players, unless you count Ivy League guys – they
were just solid high school players. But they made zero mistakes and missed
few, if any, tackles. The game to remember though, was the Edison game. Edison
has won five out of the last six meetings, and we were tired of it. We went out
to a big 21-0 lead, and watched it waste away, eventually trailing 22-21. With
2:43 left, we started our drive. My right tackle, Travis Ault, gave up
consecutive sacks. I had pressure to “get him out of there” but I knew he could
do it. On 4th and 24, we completed a “12-9 Deep Lock” for 25 yards.
With only 19 seconds left, we hit one last completion in the end zone for the
win. You can read the recap from the Loa Angeles Times here.
It was a feeling unlike any other I’ve had playing or coaching football (to that
point in time). Playing in front of 13,000 frenzied fans was a new, exciting
thing. I wanted more!
Next week: Riding High
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