Photo by Kirk Sides
By TED DUNNAM
Watching his Friendswood football team practice this past week for the first time as a head coach, Robert Koopmann’s evaluation of the Mustangs isn’t much different than it was as 17 years as an assistant coach.
“Everyone looks good in shorts,” Koopmann said. “Now it’s time to figure out who wants it, who doesn’t, who can play and who can’t.”
Because they chose to forgo spring practice, the Mustangs were able to get a head start on most other schools in the Greater Houston area last week. Friendswood donned pads on Friday and will be going at it with a full head of steam now until the end of the season.
“If effort, attention to detail, and concentration mean anything, then we’ve got a pretty good outlook,” Koopmann said after Friendswood’s first four days of workouts.”
A total of nine returning starters greet the first-year Mustang coach, but one of those won’t be expected starter T.J. Scott, a wide receiver.
“T.J. has a broken bone in his foot that’s going to keep him out 4-5 weeks,” Koopmann said. “He decided that it would be better if he were to just concentrate on baseball.”
Friendswood, however, does have two other veteran receivers who are returning – Walker Williams and Slade Holle.
They’ll complement veterans Jordan Wood (quarterback), Dylan Vail (left tackle) and Sam Longbotham (tailback) on offense.
Longbotham played in the secondary as a freshman last year for Friendswood and has been moved to tailback this season.
“I told Jordan that from where he was last year to where he is now is just totally different,” Koopmann said. “Me and coach (Nathan Roher) in our heart of hearts have been offensive coaches who like the drop-back style of offense…let those guys read.
“That’s not what we’re going to be this year. Jordan brings something else to the table with his running and throwing ability.
“I told our offensive line than we have an athletic quarterback who throws better than most athletic quarterbacks, and that’s a tremendous asset.”
Vail is the only returnee on the offensive line, although projected starting center Troy Griffith was a starter on defense a year ago.
Defensively, the Mustangs will have an entirely new (and inexperienced) front four for firs-year defensive coordinator Jamie Crocker.
Logan Varner returns at middle linebacker to anchor that unit. Josh Camarillo and Michael Montalvo return to the secondary while Wood will likely play free safety, but don’t expect that to happen until District 24-4A play starts.
“Almost everything is open on defense,” Koopmann said. “For us, the two scrimmages we have before zero week are crucial. We scrimmage Dayton first and then La Marque. We can’t replicate the speed of those two teams in practice.
“Most coaches will tell you the biggest improvement you have in August is from the first scrimmage to the second scrimmage. I don’t know that I’d trade 18 practices in the spring for scrimmages against two quality teams like Dayton and La Marque.”
Koopmann said Friendswood could have wholesale personnel changes, particularly on defense, depending on what transpires in the scrimmages.
“You know, we just want to get better each day,” he said. “The UIL changed two-a-day rules on us so we’re having one 3-hour practice in the evening. It’s a lot cooler and we do it in 1 ½ hour shifts.
“The main things we got accomplished in this first week were installing our defense and just doing a lot of teaching.”
Because of Friendswood’s history of consistent success, he said there’s no reason to fix something that isn’t broken.
“We all had so much respect for Van (Steve Van Meter, former head coach). Any changes we’ve made are subtle. We’ve tweaked practice a bit, but we’re not making any drastic changes.
“We all work so well together, and I can’t thank my staff enough. It’s a humbling experience when you’re the head coach. It’s rewarding to see the guys work as hard as they do, and I thank them every day.
“I know how Van felt about that so…not too many changes. Except I probably won’t throw my hat.”
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