Sometimes it’s a shrewd strategic move in a game. It might be a considered decision, changing gears to confuse the opponent. Or often, it’s changing the role of a player to maximize his impact on the team.
For this week’s Shreveport-Bossier Journal Coaches Roundtable, we asked local high school football coaches about changes they’ve made (or been involved with) that worked out really well.
CHASE THOMPSON, North Caddo: “In 2022 we played 5A West Ouachita and we won the game on a goalline stand. WO ran four plays inside of the 5-yard line and couldn’t score. On 4th-and-1 on the goalline we put Omarion Miller, our four-star receiver, right behind our nose tackle. On the snap we had Omarion jump over the line of scrimmage and snatch the quarterback backwards when they ran a QB sneak play. That won us the football game.”
STACY BALLEW, Byrd: “There’s lots of halftime adjustments, or even adjustments between series, that have worked. You change and show a different look and it helps.
“The best was the 2013 state semifinal game in New Orleans against Holy Cross (Ballew was Byrd’s defensive coordinator). We had it ready, and we gave them a different look in the second half. There’s no doubt that helped us win. We got an interception out of it, and they weren’t ready for it.
“When you talk about the schematic stuff, the coaches know the game. They have experience and they know how to adjust. It’s how much can your kids learn, and have you taught them. When you have smart kids, you can adjust to different things. That season, we had some really smart kids. We had it built in, we showed it in the second half, and that helped us win.”
COY BROTHERTON, Parkway: “This stands out: In 2021 we played ASH in the first round of the playoffs, and we stayed in unbalanced the entire game. That caught them off-guard and helped us win.
“Most of the time if we have a scheme or position change, it’s due to an injury.”
REYNOLDS MOORE, Benton: “I think our biggest adjustment or change has been rearranging the practice schedule. There are some years that our guys really love the routine and familiarity of knowing what to expect every Tuesday or Wednesday, etc. — but we’ve found most teams really need a change up at some point.
“Just this week, we moved a period of competition from the end to the beginning of practice to try and get our guys more energized earlier in practice.”
RODNEY GUIN, Calvary: “In midseason 2020, we inserted Aubrey Hermes into the lineup as a freshman receiver. His career exploded and he had big catches that helped us win the 2020 state title game, and a lot more games since. His last game was last year’s state championship.”
CLINT WALKER, Plain Dealing: “We had a fullback that was pretty good but we were lacking a defensive end. We asked the kid to move over to the end and it made a world of difference and we were able to find somebody to take his spot on offense.
“He was a selfless kid who wanted more for the team than himself.”
GARY COOPER, Booker T. Washington: “We’ve made a couple of position moves this season that have been beneficial for us to this point. We moved our strong safety to inside linebacker and moved a defensive tackle to the offensive line. Those two guys have been doing a great job in their new positions.
STEPHEN DENNIS, Huntington: ”Last year due to some injuries, we moved a three-year starter on the defensive line to guard, and allowed him to play both ways.
“Seeing how his athleticism impacted the O-line really led us down the road to get to where we are now with our OL. There is a culture of physicality and athleticism in that room that can be traced back to that decision last year!!”
MATTHEW SEWELL, Haughton: “In 2017 when I was playing here, offense and defense were sharing a player we had, Lavonta Gipson. He was a great athlete but was splitting time at running back and linebacker. After Week 3 he became a fulltime running back. We went on a 5-2 run and he was named District Offensive MVP.”
JEREMY WILBURN, Captain Shreve: “I’ve been involved with many over the years. Quarterback changes in-season have to be up there. Some years, two guys may have different styles of play but the rest of the kids around them play at a higher level with one of the two QBs in the game. In multiple years, that guy was absolutely not the best ‘QB’ of the two but he was the best for our team that particular season due to his ability to elevate the performance of the other 10 guys around him on the field.”
JAMES BRADFORD JR., Green Oaks: “I’ve been a part of many in-season adjustments over the years. The most memorable have been changing of coaches who are on field vs. in the press box. It’s hard to make big schematic changes midseason but position changes can be a big help. I remember a few years back, we switched a linebacker to offense and that made a world of difference.”
JUSTIN SCOGIN, Airline: “The biggest change we made here was moving Cameron Jefferson to tailback his senior year (2022, Scogin’s first season) and moving Tre Jackson to the other back. We felt like this gave us a chance to get the ball in two dynamic playmakers’ hands. They were both really good that year for us.”
AUSTIN BROWN, Northwood: “Too many to name (LOL!). This is how it goes: by Week 3, we realize our preseason thoughts were wrong, but Week 7, we realize our Week 3 thoughts were wrong. Hopefully in Week 11 we finally get them right!”