Media Day Impressions: Part 2
Breaking down the audio recordings from GameDay's Media Day and Pizza Luncheon at Joe's Pizzaria/Restaurant/Good Grub Place in Sterling Park on July 29, I listened again to the braggings and concerns of Mike Burnett and Andy Hill as the respective coaches of historical rivals Broad Run and Park View.
So in the vein (vain?) of Carl's preview blog on the LSBG schools Heritage and County, I figured I'd jot down a few things I learned about how things look to the East.
Before that, though: Like Carl, I send my well-wishes to Heritage's versatile (football, lacrosse, life) coach Jason 'Choppy' Burke, who like me was cursed with an extraordinarily common name but unlike me had solved the issue with a catchy (and repeatable) nickname. Choppy, who seems to be universally liked by kids and colleagues, is recovering from a 'mild heart attack' -- though I'd imagine that's like having 'minor brain surgery.' It's only mild if it's not your heart getting attacked. Do work, Choppy, so you can play again.
One certainty of life is that the Park View Patriots and the Broad Run Spartans will play again, finishing each other's season again and possibly deciding each other's playoff fate again, as happened last year.
The uniform colors haven't changed, but some of the guys on the field will be different from 12 months ago. Here's a look at what Hill and Burnett know and don't know about their football teams for 2008.
For Broad Run, third-year coach Burnett is tasked with forming a new offensive line (as he has lost five starting linemen to graduation) to protect athletic QB Chris Jessop, though six offensive starters are back for more.
Of that dearly departed gang of five, Burnett said, "Those are the guys who really turned this program around," setting the tone in the weight room and making a full-year commitment to football.
He hopes that his new line will possess the character of the old one, if not at first the experience -- though the projected o-line starters did get some time on the field pushing people around as backups.
The Spartans return a plethora at the skill positions (aren't they all skill positions?), including the versatile Jessop who will be a motion receiver when not behind center, and continue being an all-state DB in his spare time. Burnett raves about Kenny McAdow, a two-way player who looks good despite incurring a ligament injury during lacrosse season. McAdow and Adrian Flemming highlight the Spartans' WR corps.
Broad Run will be welcoming back six offensive starters and several more "on both sides with significant varsity experience," according to Burnett.
"We're expecting a lot from them," Burnett declared into the cameras and digital recorders of GameDay's Media Day at Joe's. He later opined that "if we can find the leadership that we lost last year, it could be a special year for us."
Burnett proudly boasts of his LBs, a foursome including McAdow and TJ Peeler which serves as "the heart of my defense."
"Probably the best group of linebackers I've ever coached," Burnett boasts.
The Spartans will try not to be daunted by their unusual bull's-eye position as the district's defending champion, which won't be hard if they heed Burnett's impeccable logic.
"If teams are now trying harder to beat us, then something's wrong because they weren't trying as hard as they could in the first place."
Park View was trying hard in 2007 with a roster of nine three-year starters including the quarterback, all of whom have graduated away.
Hill is holding an open-ended QB competition -- ever notice that it's a 'competition' in the pre-season, but a 'controversy' once the season begins? -- between the differently-skilled Sawyer Hackett and Brandon Lee.
"We've gotten them as many reps over the summer as we could. It's been a good off-season as far as them getting prepared," said Hill, who has taken his team to four college campuses and has participated in 57 seven-on-seven scrimmages within the past four months.
The Patriots will consist of athletes like Darius Field, Josh Jones and Brandon Absher, who saw the field mostly on special teams last year but approach the upcoming autumn as their turn.
Jones has "incredible instincts," and we're "just starting to see what [Absher] can do," Hill raves. He also speaks highly of big two-way player Kenny Smith, who was highly productive in limited fieldtime in 2007.
Hill eagerly awaits seeing his latest product on the public stage.
"They're not going to be scared by the lights of Friday night," he told pizza-chomping reporters.
Hill will have new company under those lights as he loses several key cogs from his staff, including the d-coordinator, a position now held by Tom LaRocco.
"He's trying to do stuff with our defense to get them prepared to play in big games," Hill said.
The Patriots' offensive style will be a function of whether Lee or Hackett, both of whom Hill calls "quality" and "capable," handles the snaps. Hill will keep his offense multiple as he doesn't feel he has a 30-carry-per-game back.
Both coaches know that the district is far from a settled matter, that there is a fair amount of parity from Team One to Team Eight, especially within the Top Five, that there will likely be a bunch at the top like there was a year ago.
But both coaches also know that if they want to claim a truly successful season, if they want to return to the pinnacle (like Park View) or remain there (like Broad Run), if they want to keep alumni old and young happy with them, they better really give a great deal of thought to how they're going to beat the other guy this year.