KFDM COOP Posted April 11, 2006 Report Posted April 11, 2006 Memorial football coach Ronnie Thompson makes a point to his players during the Titans’ first day of spring workouts Monday's first spring football practice under new Memorial High head coach Ronnie Thompson was just a starting place, he told the players when it was over. And it didn't really matter where they started. “What matters,†Thompson told the 100 or so varsity and JV players after practice, “is where we finish.†The Titans won't be expected to be a finished product until after the end of spring training May 9, after a summer of 7-on-7 competition and after three weeks of preseason drills in August. They've got a long ways to go and a decent amount of time to get there. Maybe that's why -- that and the quarter century of life experience he has gained since he last coached in Port Arthur -- Thompson seemed to take the first-day mistakes so well. “We were all prepared to see what I saw today,†Thompson said. “They lasted about 45 minutes and after that, it went downhill. We saw a lot of getting tired and developing amnesia. “But I expect tomorrow to be better and I expect the next day to be better than tomorrow. They're going through a whole new system, new drills, new terminology.†The two dozen or so men and the couple of women standing on the sidelines to check out the first practice watched Monday's proceedings closely. They learned that the Titan players will be expected to play both ways - at least in practice - and that the head coach, while walking back and forth to keep an eye on players on three different fields, took the time to visit with the adults. One of the men, Roman Leviege, father of current Titan Darius Leviege, had been on Thompson's Thomas Jefferson team that went to the state championship game in 1980. Another had an even more unique viewpoint of the workout. Randy Brevell was a TJ quarterback when Thompson first returned to his hometown to coach in 1978. He remembered the coach's first practice back then and knows well what the current players are going through in the changeover from their previous coach, Dean Colbert. “It was exciting,†he said, recalling Thompson's first practice as TJ's head coach. “He made sure there was no doubt about it, that first day, who was in charge. He made sure we knew there would be a different way of doing things. “You can see today in the small things that he's getting practice organized the way he wants to get practice run.†Brevell knows about having to learn a new offense, but not the four-wide receiver shotgun offense the Titans were working on Monday. The split-back veer offense is what Thompson tried first in 1978 en route to what became a 1-9 baptism at TJ. The wing-T passing offense and quarterback Todd Dodge came the next year. Davon Lewis will be Thompson's first quarterback at Memorial, barring injury or a huge upset. Of course, Lewis made no secret of his upset when the school board passed up interim coach Shane Sinegal back in February to hire Thompson. He stormed out of that February school board meeting hollering “I quit†and then reiterated his position in media interviews. He said Monday he went public then in his role as team leader, but that now he's ready to lead the team behind Thompson. “The decision I made to go on the news wasn't my decision,†he said. “It was the team's decision. That's what nobody realizes. But we didn't give him a chance. “Everybody had gotten attached to coach Colbert. We didn't give coach Thompson a chance. “This is a good situation. This is like a college offense and it will be good for us to be exposed to it so soon. It will help us (as far as college recruiting goes).†Thompson has said Lewis has made great progress learning the new offense. “I jumped headfirst into trying to learn it the first day,†the quarterback said. “I guess I'm ahead because I study football. I watch football and listen to everything he says. “A lot of receivers, they just play football.†Unlike the receivers, Lewis and the other Titan quarterbacks, Harry Brown and Alonzo Revuelta, aren't also working out at defensive back. QBs are the only players excused from playing both offense and defense. Two of the top Titan receivers, Rashard Brown and Freddie King, are missing spring workouts because of their involvement in track. One of the team's expected top players, Barry Valcin, who started in the secondary and played some receiver last year, is sitting out spring drills after hand surgery. So offensive coordinator and receivers coach Kenny Harrison is working hard to develop some depth at what should be the offense's key position. “This offense is a receiver's, or a receiver's coach's, dream,†he said. “Our guys are coming along at a good pace, but it's a big difference to what they're used to. “It's not like you'll be blocking for two or three series, then catch a pass. This summer our 7-on-7 will be a lot more realistic for the guys. Whereas in the past, we were running mostly our two-minute offense (in 7 on 7), this year the receivers will be able to benefit more from 7 on 7. “Our guys have to learn they've got a big responsibility to this team.†The Titans return to practice three more days this week, taking Good Friday off. Next week, they work out Monday only because of TAKS testing. But that doesn't mean they'll be away from football next week. “Next week we'll have a lot of time to study film,†Thompson said. “That's really when they improve.â€
ESPN Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 The other schools begin on the 24th..Can't wait!!
KFDM COOP Posted April 13, 2006 Author Report Posted April 13, 2006 Memorial is hitting it hard. I spoke with Coach Thompson Tuesday and things are looking good.
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