Falling back into football

BY: TRACEY JAGNEAUX
Sports Editor

The start of the 2015 LHSAA high school football season has officially begun with the start of fall camp this week.
With that, teams around the parish are breaking out the helmets and gearing up for the impending gridiron grind.
According to LHSAA rules, teams cannot don the pads until Monday, but they can have on the helmets up until that day.
For the parish football teams, the start of fall camp is, in a number of ways, the same. However, all of the teams face a unique challenge to getting ready for the upcoming season.
Sacred Heart has to adjust to a new system, as they bring in a new head football coach. Josh Harper faces the daunting task of putting in a new offensive and defensive scheme without the benefit of spring and summer practices.
“We are going to start implementing the new offense and defense starting this week,” said Harper. “It is something they are not going to be familiar with. I don’t want to put too much on their plate, but  we need to get started.”
“It will be a give and take on how much to give them in a day and how much I need to pull back on. We need to learn the basics, and we really don’t have  much time.”
Starting off as a brand new head coach is tough, especially when the players are not used to your style of coaching. But, according to Harper, it all begins with discipline.
“As a new head coach, you have to start off with discipline,” stated Harper. “They need to know what we are going to be doing, how can the system make them successful. Most importantly, they need to know that I plan to be around for a while.”
“They need to buy into what we are teaching them. From the little time I have spent with the players, I don’t think that is going to be a hard thing to accomplish. I think they want something new.”
 Ville Platte High has the task of finding players to fill in for starters to give them breaks throughout the game.
“Right now we are trying to find players that can give the starters a break on offense and defense,” commented assistant coach Launey Coward. “We are looking for players to step up and fill the void in the depth of the team.”
When the pads are able to used on Monday, Coward and the rest of the coaching staff will begin the drills necessary to get the team ready for the season.
“We will start working on tackling drills and begin to increase the intensity in the practice,” said Coward. “We also have to get those players that are not used to putting on the pads used to having them on. A lot of kids have not put the pads on before and it takes a few days to acclimate them to having the gear on.”
So far it seems that the underclassman may contribute to the team this upcoming season.
“We really have a good group of freshmen and sophomores,” stated Coward. “If they can learn the system and get in shape to play, I think they can really help us this year.”
Mamou High has their own obstacles to overcome, as they are still looking for assistant coaches to fill the vacancies left behind by  recently departed coaches.
 “We are going to focus on the fundamentals for the time being,” said head coach Brian Brumfield. “As of right now we plan on implementing the same offensive and defensive schemes as last year.”
“I am still looking for either a defensive or offensive coordinator. Which ever one I get, I will be in charge of the other side of the ball.”
Brumfield is hoping to find that coach as soon as possible. If he does get that elusive assistant, Brumfield would not be opposed to running whatever scheme was familiar to that person.
“If we can hire someone relatively quickly, I would definitely consider giving them the opportunity to run the schemes they are familiar with,” said Brumfield. “But, if we don’t have someone in place by next week, then we will just stay with the way things are now.”
Basile High’s main focus will be to make sure players get back into the routine of working on the things that have made them successful the last few years.
“In the next few weeks, we are going to be focusing on the little things that you have to be good at to be successful,” stated head coach Kevin Bertrand. “We are going to try and get the kids out of some of the bad habits they may have picked up during the summer.”
“On priority for us will be to line up personnel, not only on offense and defense, but also special teams.”
Pine Prairie High will be seeking to continue the routine that gained them some respect from around the football community last season.
“As we start this week and go into next week, we are going to focus on drills that will re-emphasize our growth from last year,” said head coach Yves Prince. “Offensively and defensively we are going to stay pretty much the same. I think that if we continue the things we did in the spring and carry that over, we can have a tremendous year.”