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The countdown is on for the coaching staff and players of the Neosho High School football program as the official start to the fall practice season is Monday.
On Wednesday, Neosho head football coach Shawn Flannigan talked about the team’s summer programs, and how his players prepared to defend the Wildcats’ district title and 7-3 regular season of a year ago.
For the first time in many years, the Neosho football Wildcats enter the season with expectations from coaches, players and the community.
“I think the bar has been raised,” Flannigan said. “I think that shows with our decrease in numbers we have had this year. That is typical to go through a numbers slump, because I think we are down on kids this year because the kids that decided not to play realized expectations levels were higher than what they want to be a part of. The community expects this now, and that is a good thing.
“You never want to be in a situation where the status quo is to do OK. Win the games you should, and lose the ones you should — you don’t want to be in that situation. You want to be in a situation where people expect you to win night in, and night out. Hopefully we can get the kids in the schools from third grade to the seniors on board with that attitude, and people in the community, too, but it will take a lot to be successful. We are trying to take steps to get the program to that level.”
Flannigan said members of the team have trained and worked hard this summer with the coaching staff, and the team also took part in the 7-on-7 passing league hosted at Webb City High School. In the past, Neosho also took part in the Joplin 7-on-7 passing league, but Flannigan said the move was made this year because the format of the Webb City league is different.
“Webb City was more of a defensive set-up,” he said. “The defense was out on the field for 12 to 15 plays, and there were three different offenses and each of them ran different plays. It was kind of rapid fire, and it was a way for the defense to see a lot of different looks. It allowed us, as coaches, to see a lot of different looks, and the pace was a lot slower than Joplin. We felt we could coach, and it was a good experience.”
The countdown is on for the coaching staff and players of the Neosho High School football program as the official start to the fall practice season is Monday.
On Wednesday, Neosho head football coach Shawn Flannigan talked about the team’s summer programs, and how his players prepared to defend the Wildcats’ district title and 7-3 regular season of a year ago.
For the first time in many years, the Neosho football Wildcats enter the season with expectations from coaches, players and the community.
“I think the bar has been raised,” Flannigan said. “I think that shows with our decrease in numbers we have had this year. That is typical to go through a numbers slump, because I think we are down on kids this year because the kids that decided not to play realized expectations levels were higher than what they want to be a part of. The community expects this now, and that is a good thing.
“You never want to be in a situation where the status quo is to do OK. Win the games you should, and lose the ones you should — you don’t want to be in that situation. You want to be in a situation where people expect you to win night in, and night out. Hopefully we can get the kids in the schools from third grade to the seniors on board with that attitude, and people in the community, too, but it will take a lot to be successful. We are trying to take steps to get the program to that level.”
Flannigan said members of the team have trained and worked hard this summer with the coaching staff, and the team also took part in the 7-on-7 passing league hosted at Webb City High School. In the past, Neosho also took part in the Joplin 7-on-7 passing league, but Flannigan said the move was made this year because the format of the Webb City league is different.
“Webb City was more of a defensive set-up,” he said. “The defense was out on the field for 12 to 15 plays, and there were three different offenses and each of them ran different plays. It was kind of rapid fire, and it was a way for the defense to see a lot of different looks. It allowed us, as coaches, to see a lot of different looks, and the pace was a lot slower than Joplin. We felt we could coach, and it was a good experience.”
Webb City, Pittsburg, Kan., Lamar and other teams also took part in the 7-on-7 league, which started in June and carried over into July.
The NHS football program also took 65 players to a team camp at Camp Clark in Nevada from July 19-24. The players worked with coaches on schemes and goals for the 2009 season. This year, the players stayed in three separate building and the players were divided up and stayed in rooms with 4 to 6 players each.
“We had the older guys staying with younger guys, and getting them ready for how we do things,” Flannigan said. “It was a great experience.”
Nevada High School’s football team came to the camp on Friday and scrimmaged against Neosho.
“It gave us a chance to go against someone else, and see what we need to do to get ready for the season,” he said.
Flannigan said the bonding is just as important for the players as learning the playbook and schemes during camp.
“If you talk to any coach, they will tell you that team chemistry is every bit as important as anything else,” he said. “When it gets tough in the fourth quarter, and the game is on the line, and you don’t have team chemistry to fall back on with each other it is going to be real hard to buckle down and win.
“You need that rallying cry to fall back on, and our Camp Clark experience has been that for us, and hopefully it will be again this year.”
Practice for all fall sports start Monday, and Flannigan is ready.
“We are fired up and geared up for it,” he said. “Summer has become much more critical now because of the week they bumped everything back, and school starts early. You used to have almost a full month before the season starts, and now you basically have only two weeks.”
PREVIEW SECTIONS
GAME NIGHT: The preseason edition of our weekly football section kicks off Thursday,
Aug. 20
FALL SPORTS PREVIEW: Get the scoop on the fall sports of softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis and cross country in our complete guide. This section will publish Sunday, Aug. 23.
