Let's Talk DLS

SLCDad

Active member
Does anybody on the board know real details about the DLS team?

How many D1 recruits did they have this year?

How many starters will return for next season?

Who are the key players?

How did the JV and Soph teams do?

Any early California rankings out yet for next year?

Do you think DLS will move to the top again? If so how soon?
 
 
To SLC Dad

Does anybody on the board know real details about the DLS team?

How many D1 recruits did they have this year?

How many starters will return for next season?

Who are the key players?

How did the JV and Soph teams do?

Any early California rankings out yet for next year?

Do you think DLS will move to the top again? If so how soon?

Re the D1 schollie offers, likely it will be zero. But thats not uncommon for a DLS team. They may have a FB player who gets a baseball ride, and another one or two that get rugby offers. But thats about it.
Re returners, do understan that DLS typically has only about 14-16 "starters" because many players go both ways. With that in mind, there will prob be 7-8 starters returning, that will occupy 10-13 starting jobs.

Predicting key players is a losing proposition, cause it seems that new or unknowns rise to the top each season.

The frosh and JV teams (I think) only lost one game between them. But, this means nothing as an indicator of future performance. IE, Mater Dei won the JV games 4 straight yrs, but lost the varsity games 4 straight yrs.

No Calif rankings out yet. Probably not till the 1st of Sept.

Here is a tidbit for you. Did you know that DLS does not keep any stats, or records? You will never find things like who is the career leader in .... etc.
Any thoughts on career leaders are just speculation. There are no official records kept by the school. They dont even have any football trophies on display on campus. Only stats that you might see on TV re DLS players will be those kept by fans, or local reporters, (like Max Preps) or the local paper. I know and usually sit with three of the people keeping stats, and they are rarely in agreement. Its kinda amusing, actually.
Hope this ans your questions. pd
 
pd-That is some good stuff.

I know that Lancer thought that the soph rb(maybe two) were better than the starters last year. Any info on that?

Is the QB back? I was not a big fan, but anytime you return a starter in an offense like that it has got to be a positive.

Funny enough, in the old days at SLC, late 80's early 90's SLC did not keep stats. They were 3A at the time and an option team. They put out some great teams and must have had some great stats, but the team did not keep them officially.

From what I have been able to tell, the news coverage w/stats etc. is light years better in DFW than the Bay area and so it is not crucial that the school keeps them, although I am certain someone does.
 
De La Salle's starting quarterback last year was Mike MacGillivray.

He was a junior.

I am a fan. I thought he was fantastic at the Herbie (I think USA Today made him their offensive player of the week).

He might not project to college, as they say (not to mention the NFL), but if you want to win high school football games while running the veer, he's very, very good.

However, he definitely didn't play as well in the state championship game.

Those are the only two games I saw.
 
You are right. I think he has a D1 baseball ride.

I saw him play MV, another game I can't think of now, and the title game. I think my comments were, "He is not a good passer, not a good runner, but seems to run the offense well".
 
Only stats that you might see on TV re DLS players will be those kept by fans, or local reporters, (like Max Preps) or the local paper. I know and usually sit with three of the people keeping stats, and they are rarely in agreement. Its kinda amusing, actually.

Well don't be too hard on your buddies. I like to look at various newspapers to compare stats. Rarely do they coincide. The hometown papers always have better offensive and defensive stats. What I am most amused by is how they can disagree on the number of passing and running plays (and completions). Stats are not a very precise science.

Notice DLS only has 9 games on their schedule. What is the talk for the 10th game?
 
Re the D1 schollie offers, likely it will be zero. But thats not uncommon for a DLS team. They may have a FB player who gets a baseball ride, and another one or two that get rugby offers. But thats about it.
Re returners, do understan that DLS typically has only about 14-16 "starters" because many players go both ways. With that in mind, there will prob be 7-8 starters returning, that will occupy 10-13 starting jobs.

Predicting key players is a losing proposition, cause it seems that new or unknowns rise to the top each season.

The frosh and JV teams (I think) only lost one game between them. But, this means nothing as an indicator of future performance. IE, Mater Dei won the JV games 4 straight yrs, but lost the varsity games 4 straight yrs.

No Calif rankings out yet. Probably not till the 1st of Sept.

Here is a tidbit for you. Did you know that DLS does not keep any stats, or records? You will never find things like who is the career leader in .... etc.
Any thoughts on career leaders are just speculation. There are no official records kept by the school. They dont even have any football trophies on display on campus. Only stats that you might see on TV re DLS players will be those kept by fans, or local reporters, (like Max Preps) or the local paper. I know and usually sit with three of the people keeping stats, and they are rarely in agreement. Its kinda amusing, actually.
Hope this ans your questions. pd
Thanks a ton for this great information.

DLS has done extraordinarily well considering there aren't that many D1 athletes. That's a testimony to Coach Lad and others I'm sure.

I was very surprised to see that so many players play both ways. It's rare for that to happen at the big school level in Texas. How big is the football program at DLS? How many students participate? (As you know, football is a religion in Texas and some schools have well over 400 kids in their high school football program. A Trinity fan posted that Trinity has over 600 kids in their program but I find that hard to believe but I suppose it could be true.)

Regarding the records and stats, I'd assume that the schools keep them but I've never seen them. I've never seen any stats coming out of the SLC program but they may exist. The Dallas Morning News website has great stats for the schools in the DFW area and outlying areas. The Houston Chronicle has the same for the Houston area. You can get players stats and even box scores for every game going back through 2003. Various web sites have stats, records, ratings, etc.
 
DLS usually has 50-55 varsity players, I believe.

They end up with a very small, very good group of players who really believe in the way DLS does things.

They don't compromise their roster with players who aren't 100% into it (not to imply that schools with bigger rosters aren't dedicated -- it's just that this seems to be a key belief in how DLS runs things).

They had by far the smallest roster at the Herbie (Cincy on Saturday, anyway).

There is a great section in When The Game Stands Tall about the 2002 DLS vs. Poly game about a DLS center/nose guard who went something like 5-10 and 215 going up against two Poly platoon players (who were alternating, of course) who were both 6-6, 300+ or something like that.

And I think the book mentions that in the 2001 DLS vs. Poly game, in which Maurice Drew really made a name for himself, Poly was more worried going in about him as, I believe, a DB.
 
De La Salle's starting quarterback last year was Mike MacGillivray.

He was a junior.

I am a fan. I thought he was fantastic at the Herbie (I think USA Today made him their offensive player of the week).

He might not project to college, as they say (not to mention the NFL), but if you want to win high school football games while running the veer, he's very, very good.

One of my pet peeves is when people judge high school football players based on their D1 or NFL potential alone. There are a ton of fantastic high school players that are better players (at the high school level) than other players with D1 potential. I've seen great defensive linemen or linebackers that weigh less than 200 lbs that are great at the high school level but will never advance to D1. In 2005, Katy had a 185 lb defensive end and a 5'9" DB. They were both stars on the team.

That is what I love about high school football.
 
DLS usually has 50-55 varsity players, I believe.

They end up with a very small, very good group of players who really believe in the way DLS does things.

They don't compromise their roster with players who aren't 100% into it (not to imply that schools with bigger rosters aren't dedicated -- it's just that this seems to be a key belief in how DLS runs things).

They had by far the smallest roster at the Herbie (Cincy on Saturday, anyway).

There is a great section in When The Game Stands Tall about the 2002 DLS vs. Poly game about a DLS center/nose guard who went something like 5-10 and 215 going up against two Poly platoon players (who were alternating, of course) who were both 6-6, 300+ or something like that.

And I think the book mentions that in the 2001 DLS vs. Poly game, in which Maurice Drew really made a name for himself, Poly was more worried going in about him as, I believe, a DB.
In Texas, football is a "no cut" sport. That means that all students who want to play are allowed to play. Nobody gets cut whether the student is a freshman, soph, Jr or Sr. That doesn't mean a player will make varsity (except the seniors) and that doesn't mean a player will get any playing time. Every kid who wants to play will be on one of the rosters. All seniors who want to play will be on the varsity roster regardless of how good they are. I've got several friends who's sons were on the SLC varsity but they only got to play a couple of times all season. One kid was a 3rd team WR. He only played in a game or two (probably 2 mins total all season) when the 1st and 2nd teams had played. The kid was a senior so he wouldn't be cut from the varsity.

The no cut rule applies to public schools. I suppose private schools can do whatever they want.

SLC's varsity roster is usually over 80 kids.

The coaches allow the JV teams to dress and be on the sidelines during the playoffs. There will be 150+ players on the sidelines during the playoffs. Many teams do that.

In Texas the UIL only allows teams to keep practicing as long as the varsity is still alive in the playoffs. At SLC they required the sub varsity teams to keep practicing also. That allows the JV and Soph teams to have 6 more weeks of practice each year.
 
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I don't think DLS cuts, but I could be wrong. I've never seen cuts mentioned anywhere in anything about DLS.

And they don't seem to run kids off, either.

A program with that intensity is just not for everyone, and I think a lot of kids realize it's not for them by the time they are juniors. But I'm speculating.

Obviously, there are some very good teams who have a lot more varsity players out.
 
During the playoffs SLC will have over 700 students in some kind of uniform.

Band 350-400.
JV and Varsity Drill Teams 125
JV and Varsity Cheerleaders 40
Crew 12
Varsity and JV Football players 150
Trainers, mascots, etc. 20

During the regular season it's almost as many.

I think it's great that so many kids are allowed to participate. It's also a cool spectacle. Great fun. Very good for the kids.


Of course all of the parents and grandparents come to support their kids. That's why we need the large stadium.


Sorry to detract from the DLS discussion. (You know me.) Carry on.
 
Funny enough, in the old days at SLC, late 80's early 90's SLC did not keep stats. They were 3A at the time and an option team. They put out some great teams and must have had some great stats, but the team did not keep them officially.

It's interesting that SLC used to be an option team. They ran the wishbone with two tight ends. There were games when they didn't throw a single pass. They won three 3A state titles in 6 years with that offense.

Now SLC runs the spread with ZERO tight ends on the roster.

People say things have changed a lot, but Coach Dodge thought that the two offenses were more similar than they were different. Each offense has multiple options and gets a lot of people involved.
 
I don't think DLS cuts, but I could be wrong. I've never seen cuts mentioned anywhere in anything about DLS.

And they don't seem to run kids off, either.

A program with that intensity is just not for everyone, and I think a lot of kids realize it's not for them by the time they are juniors. But I'm speculating.

Obviously, there are some very good teams who have a lot more varsity players out.

Correct - DLS cuts nobody. Roster is usually in the 40 - 45 size due to attrition. If a kid can stick it out, he's on the team. No guarantee of playing time though.
 
DLS Dressed Player Numbers

DLS usually has 50-55 varsity players, I believe.

They end up with a very small, very good group of players who really believe in the way DLS does things.

They don't compromise their roster with players who aren't 100% into it (not to imply that schools with bigger rosters aren't dedicated -- it's just that this seems to be a key belief in how DLS runs things).

They had by far the smallest roster at the Herbie (Cincy on Saturday, anyway).

There is a great section in When The Game Stands Tall about the 2002 DLS vs. Poly game about a DLS center/nose guard who went something like 5-10 and 215 going up against two Poly platoon players (who were alternating, of course) who were both 6-6, 300+ or something like that.

And I think the book mentions that in the 2001 DLS vs. Poly game, in which Maurice Drew really made a name for himself, Poly was more worried going in about him as, I believe, a DB.

Even if a boy wants to play, but he has zero chance of contributing, and may get injured, the staff will flat out tell him its over and drop him. That is a rarity, as the grinding workouts and practice sessions seem to do a good job of separating the flyschit from the pepper. The program has become more popular with the students, cause of the media attention and the allure of the travel games. Last yr early, they dressed over 50 boys, but back in the 90's and before, often there were less than 40 dressed. In 98, when the Mater Dei series started, they had only 37 boys dressed, while MD had 95 suited up. And in the first Long Beach Poly game, I think only 16 boys saw any PT in the whole game. In team members, player size, support group members, staffs, facility size and quality, DLS is badly outnumbered by the beheamoths from Tex, Fla, Ohio, Ill, Pa, Ok, La, etc.

Re Maurice Drew, he also worked as a LB on def. Prior to the first Poly game, he had only 10 carries, and the featured back, prior to that game had been Elijah Bradley. Bradley also played DB the whole game. EB was the same height as Drew, but about 45 lbs lighter! For the first game, Poly had no idea who Drew was. ----, neither did any of us, and we go to all the DLS games and thought we knew all about the team and boys! I kinda think Lad intentionally kept MD under wraps until that game.
 
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