When a head coach has been with a program for a few years, there’s not much difference between, let’s say, Year 5 and Year 6. Routines have been established. There’s very little getting-to-know to be done. It may not be rinse/repeat, but it’s pretty close.
But from Year 1 to Year 2? Now that’s a different story.
And it’s one that John Simon has no trouble living and telling.
For the second-year Huntington head coach, it all comes down to … gardening?
“Before you plant a garden, if you haven’t tilled that ground and got things right, I don’t care what you put in that ground, it’s not going to grow right,” he says. “You have to have the right environment in order for the culture to grow.”
To do that Simon wasn’t worried about how to install a weak side blitz or a route tree during the off-season. It’s been about things off the field instead.
“We focused on our environment, we’ve cleaned up a lot of things and right now, we’ve got a championship mindset,” he says. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to win a championship, but our mindset and our approach every day in everything that we do is to be on the level of a champion.”
A tangible sign of that happened this week as the Raiders unveiled a new weight room and locker room floor.
“That was definitely needed,” says Simon. “We’re giving the kids some things for them to have pride in. I’m excited about where we are. I’m excited about these kids and how they’re embracing the challenge. I’m excited about the pride that we’ve instilled in the program.”
The facilities upgrade is just one of those pride points for the Raiders, who were 3-7 and finished with four losses in Simon’s first season.
“You sign up to coach football, but you don’t realize that you’re more of a general manager,” he says. “You’re a fundraiser. The disciplinary issues, and the needs that the kids may have, you’re a counselor as well.”
In the off-season Simon has had a chance to look over all aspects of the program. Starting at the top.
“I had to do a better job of reevaluating my duties, my job, my staff and freeing myself up to be able to support the kids better,” says Simon. “We don’t have the luxury of having 10 full-time coaches or the luxury of having coaches all in your building, all in the athletic period, so you’re pulled in a lot of different capacities. I’m excited about the changes that we’ve made as it relates to the program. I’m excited about the pride that we’ve instilled in them and with our structure and organization, plus the facilities.”
Simon will admit that the outlook looks brighter for the Raiders this year – 18 returning starters and 30 seniors – but a successful doesn’t live year-to-year.
“This is a critical year for us in our program because of the talent that we have returning in the leadership and the skill set that we have in this year’s class,” he says. “I got 30 seniors, so I’m not concerned about what we’re going to do in between the lines. I’m not concerned about these guys tackling and running hard. We know we’re going to do that. We just had to get the infrastructure of everything else in place.”
Put it this way: John Simon feels a lot better about John Simon than he did before his first game Huntington coach 11 months ago.
“Without a question, I definitely do,” he says. “But it’s got to be visible. The city of Shreveport has really come out, the Huntington alumni have really come out and supported us. When we come into the game you’re not going to be able to say, ‘That school is lacking.’ We’re going to have the fireworks. We’re going to have the flags. We’re going to have a tunnel. We’re going to have some excitement and some energy for our kids because they deserve it. Not just on senior night.
“Every night’s going to be senior night when you come see Huntington football.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com