Many programs have started their off-season 2021 training in what we hope is business as usual for next season . Some teams thrived better than others . Some county's had different restrictions , some got later starts and more interruptions. Some programs had shutdowns. The usual suspects thrived and carried on well as their continuity and tradition was very useful in this most trying of seasons.
As we head to the off-season where champions are made and where the process of excellence starts. The best of the best do the best job attacking the process of off -season improvement . Like the majority of the best students who study and prepare very well, athletes and programs have the most players who enjoy the 'process " and or consistently do the work who have the best results. Any close inspection of the championship programs and most consistent programs year in and year out you will find the secret sauce isn't a secret at all. It's all about the process , the work and the preparation.
A ton of positions and starting jobs up for grabs in what is Coffman's biggest rebuild since 2013 and I believe it's the biggest one in the last 20 years with may be an exception of say 2005 which was the year after the Dublin school split with Jerome opening. Offensive Line , Linebacker , corner and running back are positions of rebuild. Receiver is in need of a few guys to step up . QB will be a first time starter but Mason Maggs is going to be a very good starting QB . He would have started for many teams this year . 6-3 200 with a strong arm and understanding of the offense . He just needs another receiver or two to get the ball to. There is a couple in the building who are choosing not to play perhaps for different reasons. Potential playmakers who like Jerry Seinfeld , 'Choose not to play " , Seinfeld chose not to run , but you get the point.
Program is still strong and is a great place to play and go to school. Players should feel privileged for what they have in terms of facilities, coaching , support and the strength of the academics and the excellence of the faculty . More open positions than I can remember . D-Line has potential to be a leading unit with starters Jr. Kyle Buckley{ 6-2 230 } who had a a very good year and with anohter 20 pounds with increased strength has all league potential and can be a run stuffer. Soph. DE Will Smith [ Yes that Will Smith's RIP son} IS 6-2 235 and has tremendous potential and can be a real leader on defense as a Junior . He came on strong as the season went on and he got used to varsity football.
D-1 potential IMO, moves well , gets off blocks well for a young player and as he gets stronger and more mature he will become more dominate . Look for about 25 more pounds and strength increases which will start getting him some D-1 looks . More advanced and more physically impressive than Hammond Russell at the same point . Jr. OLB Collin Smith saw some action and did a good job in limited snaps but 15 pounds and a great Lifting conditioning off-season can make a big difference{ 6-0185{ 200 is a goal} . Soph. DE Max Smith 6-0 190 has potential to be a Sebastian Bramonte type off-season strength and conditioning success story going into his Junior year. He can carry 220 eventually .
Jr. OLB Mitchell Broskie { 6-0 195 } started and was a playmaker, a tough guy and big hitter . State qualifying level Wrestler, good athlete , good instincts and is always a noticeable presence. Just makes plays. Jr. safety Michael Trbovich 5-11 175 got hurt in the first game of the season and didn't come back. He will be a good player back there. These guys are the nucleus of the defense . Not the star power obviously they had the last couple years but has the makings of a nice unit , IF THERE IS THE OFF-SEASON COMMTTMENT.
Maggs has two guys who played a lot to throw to including 2 year guy Jr. Trey Hedderly { 6-0 170 } and Jr. Alex Diehl { 5-11 175 } . Hedderley will have to work to become a go to # 1 receiver unless someone else emerges or comes into the fold . Diehl will improve and expand his role a bit . Maggs is a kid who good athletes should want to play with as he can make the throws and get you the ball.
Running back has been covered the last couple years with D-1 athletes including the last couple with Bryon Threats who was very productive and dynamic . Two guys who have potential to be productive are Soph. Mike Anderson { 5-6 155} who needs to add weight and strength{ Height is obviously out of his control } but runs a bit bigger than he is and has good feet. Jarel Heard a Jr. is a bigger back who I think can be a difference maker somewhere on the field { LB potential but likely needed at RB} at 6-0 185 now he has the size and looks the part , a solid off-season can really be the difference . Think the difference in Dre Kendrick from his last two off-seasons.
Line is the big rebuild, Juniors Holawaty and McDonald both saw limited action due to injury's to others . Both in that 5-11 225- 230 range now . Off -season is huge for them . Some younger guys with more size are there, but need to really work to improve and there are 3-4 kids who have a great opportunity to play here. It will be interesting to see who emerges and shows up at this position .
League is really hard and the Rocks who have made the play-offs 18 of the last 20 years and 12 years in a row will have some gunning for them no question . Going to be a challenging year for the staff trying to rebuild the team after losing so many good players and starters.
A poster who only comes in to offer negative views of the program, never a positive thought , just disagreeable and antagonistic most of the time basically came out and made public that Coach Crabtree is retiring or stepping down around XMAS time . There are a few of these guys of course on most team threads , passive aggressive negative only commentators looking at things from an ONLY negative point of view. They will challenge most positive thoughts and are looking to add negative to any positive view. That goes with the territory of course and everyone has a different point of view or opinion.
Long term runs of success is rare in any sports program . It is HARD to do and maintain. A lot of things have to fall in place . To be a dynasty you need titles and championships . Long runs aren't required to become a dynasty, but most programs that win titles have had some kind of extended run of excellence. 20- 30 year runs are about as long as most extended runs last it seems in most cases. A couple examples are famed Odessa Permian { Friday night lights} who had an incredible dynasty { 6 state titles , 11 finals appearances } in a 30 year run { 1965- 1995} have some good teams in subsequent years but haven't sniffed a title since , I think in the last 25 years they have ONE quarterfinal berth and a handful of non play-off years . Changing times and demographics , super teams in other parts of the state built on collecting tons of talent on a handful of teams etc. have made it impossible for teams from West Texas to win titles or make consistent deeper runs . It their hey day , transfers weren't as much of a thing , kids didn't join forces nearly as much if at all and their system and tradition along with the superior coaching and having some really good players was enough .
CB West from Pennsylvania [Suburb of Philly under legendary coach Mike Pettine } also had a 30 year run of dominance or being a threat most every year . Long Beach Poly near LA has had scores of not only D-1 talent but so many guys play in the NFL , but is now merely a good program. Fallen back to the pack a bit. There run was in that 25-30 year range?
Davidson under Brian White had about 20 years , and is in a transition period. A couple decades of excellence is a huge accomplishment . Dynastic with two state titles . White resigned and probably has anohter coaching job in him . Coach Crabtree has been at Coffman 20 years now . That's a long time these days. Coaches still last longer than this in this era , but it is more rare. Coaches get burned out just like some of us do at certain jobs. Sometimes things just run their course and may be Coach is at the end of the line at this job . I don't know what he will do or not do . That's his business until he makes it public . Not my place to put it out here. I thought the poster had more sense or class than that . He doesn't . He also doesn't care , so it's obvious he pout it out there from his negative attitude towards Coffman point of view. Negative Hearsay quotes from assistant coaches, banging on the HC and questioning the character and heart of the players is common and frequent { Annual at least } from a few of these guys .
So if in fact 20 years at Coffman is all that Coach has to give and is moving on , or he stays , 20 years is a great run at one school . Rocks have probably not won as many play -off games as they would have wanted or been capable of may be including the last couple years . Not dynastic or a program that even got to a final game . Had a few clubs capable of getting there but it just didn't happen. Some really close play-off losses some bad luck , some underachievement is probably fair. Got beat by better clubs sometimes a few blowout play-off losses , but a lot of close losses.
20 years , 18 play-off appearances . Missed in 2005 going 6-4 the year of the Dublin school split with Jerome opening the year before. That was also Coffman's worst record in the last 20 seasons. The other non play-off year they in 2008 they went 7-3 with all losses to play-off teams . Lost to Davidson by 4 points in a very competitive battle , the one bad game they played all year they lost by 10 points to Kilbourne when they were D-1 , and in a do or die week 10 match-up to make the play-offs they lost to Upper Arlington by one point .
I will include this season's shortened version as they went 6-0 in the regular season but in 16 of 20 years Coach's Coffman teams won at least 8 regular season games. Never had a losing season or even a 500 season as 6-4 was the worst year and that happened only once. Pretty consistent wouldn't you say ? Yes there wasn't a title game appearance or championship. Some tough play-off losses . Coaches and program would certainly be looked at differently if these things happened , but there is no denying the 20 years of consistent success .
