The Boys of Fall - High School Football in the American Midwest (Part Two)

Semper Tigris

A reproduction of the two-part feature I wrote for US Sports Down Under. Part One is here.

The Wheaton Warrenville South Tigers have won the Illinois State Championship an incredible seven times in the last twenty five years, have featured in the State Semi Finals fourteen times, and boast an enviable 256-56 record (82%) in that same timeframe. Their best players have gone on to star at FBS schools and some have even achieved the loftiest of all goals: playing time in the National Football League.

Our look into the high-pressure world of high school football, by way of Matthew Alley, once a Tiger quarterback and a starter at Division III Washington University of St Louis, and now a State Championship-winning coach of the WWS signal callers, continues, as we turn back the clock to his days running the Tiger offense…

The Quarterback

 

Before becoming a coach, you were a starting quarterback for the Tigers. Give us an idea of what sort of commitment there is as a quarterback at a big-time high school program. How long did you spend learning the offense? On average, how many plays must a quarterback be able to identify and execute? How many practices are there per week? 

I began my high school career as the freshman B team QB and started on the sophomore A team as a sophomore.  I backed up the Gatorade State Player of the Year my junior year and then started as a senior. There is an incredible amount of commitment and effort to play quarterback at our school.  It is a four-year process.  We ran essentially the same offense from freshman year through senior year, with obvious complexities added as we get older. 

Quarterbacks in the WWS program need to be able to not only understand 50 plays from 8 different formations but also understand what the defense is trying to do to stop that particular play and make the play successful.  Oh yeah – all of that whilst there are a bunch of large kids trying to tackle you as hard as they can.

We practice Monday-Thursday, play our game on Friday, have a film session and work outs on Saturday and then have Sunday off.  

In the college game, plays are signalled in by hand signals or, more recently, numbers and symbols held aloft by coaches and backups. What method of communication does WWS use? As a quarterback, which do you prefer? 

We have not embraced the high-tempo offenses at Wheaton Warrenville South.  Our QB runs to the sideline to get the plays and then relays them to the rest of the offense in a huddle.  As a QB, I like signals or players running the plays in from the sideline.  It saves a lot of energy.

What’s the best memory you have as a Wheaton Warrenville South quarterback? 

Leading a game-tying drive with under a minute left, down 8.  I completed a long pass to my best friend and then threw a touchdown pass to him on the next play.  I completed a pass on the two-point conversion to tie the game with less than 20 seconds left in the game.  We ended up losing the game in overtime, but it proved to myself that under the largest amount of pressure in a football game, I can rise to the occasion. 

What sort of media commitments do players and coaches have leading up to the game, and also in it’s aftermath?

The head coach has an obligation to hold a number of media sessions during the week, but the players commitments are typically saved for after the game, when a group of reporters will interview the stars of the game. 

State Championship Games in Illinois are generally played at the University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium in Champaign or at Husky Stadium, home of the University of Northern Illinois Huskies. What’s it like to play on such a big stage. 

It's pretty incredible.  I never started a state championship game, but I was a back-up in two of them and have coached in 3 of them.  It is pretty special, but once the game starts, it's just like another game and you try not to think too much about the stakes, the television crews, large venues, etc. because otherwise it'll overwhelm you.

Take us inside a Tiger huddle. What happens? 

The ten players on offense – not including the quarterback – get into a circle and open room for the quarterback to enter after receiving the play from coaches on the sideline. He then tells his teammates what play they’re running. The hope is that no matter how stressful the situation, a huddle is focused and there is no panic. 

Give us a ‘Week in the Life’ of a Tiger QB? 

They should be watching several hours of film, focusing on the opponent and getting comfortable with the plays in our offense.  They should know the numbers of each player on the defense, their position and strengths and weaknesses.

They also should be regularly encouraging and sometimes getting on other players on our team.  A high school football team works best when the QB is the best leader on the team.  

The Coach 

How many quarterbacks do you have on the Wheaton Warrenville South depth chart?

We only have 2 quarterbacks on the team this year.  In the case of injury, we will have an emergency quarterback prepped. 

How do the coaches decide on the starting quarterback? 

The role of starting quarterback mainly gets decided through the summer practice and competitions.  Some years, there is a close competition between multiple players and other years, we have a quarterback who either started the year before or is the obvious replacement to last year's starter. 

Do you have play-calling duties as Quarterbacks Coach? 

No. Our head coach is also the offensive coordinator, so he calls the plays.  I'd like to think that my impact on the play calling is through the week as we scout our opponent over film.  Through the suggestions of the offensive assistants, it helps the head coach develop a game plan with plays that are best used in specific situations.  From time to time, I will suggest plays during the game based on how a defense is playing against our offense. 

How much do position coaches get involved in the overall management of a game?

Typically, position coaches are pretty wrapped up in identifying what the other team is doing against us and relating to our players how to counteract that.  Specifically, I have the responsibility of substituting players in and out of the game based on the formation that we are utilizing for that particular play. 

Are the first few plays scripted ahead of time? 

Yes - we script the first 10-20 plays ahead of time and review those in our pregame meeting with the players.  Typically, the situation within the game will force us to deviate from the script, i.e. having a run play called in 3rd and 20 or a long pass on 4th and 1.  But, those are plays that we feel good about and want to run. 

How much time do you spend watching film? Does it drive your family crazy? 

I would guess that I spend about 6-7 hours per week watching film.  An hour or so of that time is for watching our own game film and the rest is spent scouting our upcoming opponent.  We spend time watching the current year's team against prior opponents and their match up against our team in prior years.  My wife is very understanding – but I do spend the majority of my time watching film late in the evening when my kids are asleep. 

Having been a coach for six years, are there still defensive situations that make you go, “Alright, what the heck is this look they’re showing?” or have you seen them all? 

Almost on a weekly basis, actually.  Every defensive coordinator is searching for a scheme that will confuse the opponent's coaches and players.  The majority of times, it's a defense showing a look pre-snap and adjusting at the snap to a more traditional defensive alignment.

Between the coaches on the field and the coaches in the booth, we pride ourselves on being able to diagnose a defensive strategy and making necessary adjustments to be able to have success.  Our second half record speaks for itself with regards to making halftime adjustments.

What happens during the pre-game hours?

We have a "chalk talk" that lasts 45-60 minutes and reviews the offensive game plan.  Our active warm up typically lasts about 45 minutes and includes stretching, agility drills, positional drills and offensive and defensive play run-throughs. 

And post-game? 

The coaches will typically get together and talk a bit about the game.  Parents of players and fans of the team often go to a local restaurant or diner to do the same. 

How often are collegiate scouts present at your games?

There are normally college coaches or scouts at every game.  They range from Division III schools all the way up to the major FBS schools.  Representatives from the University of Northern Illinois were in attendance at our second game this year, to recruit the starting WWS quarterback. Shortly after the game, they offered QB Ryan Graham a scholarship, and he verbally committed to the Huskies program later that week. 

Obviously you have some idea of what goes into the recruiting process from high school to college, having been through it yourself. Share some of your insight with us? Do you have – or are you asked – for input and advice from the players

I am typically not relied on for advice from players.  Their families and our head coach should be their trusted advisors.  Recruiting happens at a rapid pace.  Colleges are trying to get in on players at a young age and be one of the first schools to offer them.  There are tons of recruiting rules, [Author’s Note: rules which have been publicised recently, due to the various NCAA investigations taking place into recruiting violations, and attached media reports. ]

If I had one piece of advice for players being targeted by NCAA programs, it’s that college coaches are salesmen and will normally tell you what you want to hear for you to attend their school.  Their livelihood is tied to the number of wins that they get, which is directly tied to the talent they're able to recruit to their school.

Finally, most Australians are only aware of Friday night high school football because of the Dillon Panthers (and, later, East Dillon) and Coach Eric Taylor in ‘Friday Night Lights’. It’s a real cult classic here, appealing even to people who do not understand American football. Are you a fan?

Yes. I thought it was incredibly well done and blended the high school football culture with the small town Texas culture well.  I do think there were some creative liberties taken with the high school football side of things, but I loved it and am sorry that the series ended.

Do you have a favourite character? Coach Taylor is exactly the sort of mentor you’d want your son to learn about life and football from, right?

Coach Taylor is a great character, but I felt like I related most to Matt Saracen. 

In your years of playing and coaching experience, you’re in a good position to judge the realism of the show for players, parents, coaches and the fan base alike. So, how close is the show’s portrayal of high school football to the real thing?

Of course, there were creative liberties taken for the sake of the show.  And while we don’t have radio coverage or entire towns essentially shutting down for a game in Illinois, it does capture the essence of high school football. 

From what I’ve been told, there is a totally different feel to high school football in Texas.  At some schools, you can routinely have 20k people attending and for the major playoff games, they have to move to major college or professional stadiums to handle the huge crowds.  The pressure to win is on any successful high school program, but I think some of the politics of Coach Taylor needing to win a state championship to save his job early in the series, is a bit overstated.