High school offseason: Q&A with Bishop Carroll's Alan Schuckman
A weekly question-and-answer session during the summer with an area high school coach. Today: Carroll football coach Alan Schuckman
Before last season, Carroll had three returning starters — one was quarterback Blake Bell, now at Oklahoma. Carroll advanced to the Class 5A semifinals, losing to Hutchinson, which won its sixth straight title.
The No. 1 question has to be how you move on after two-time Top 11 quarterback Blake Bell?
"You don't realize how good Blake is until he's not around anymore. We've had a lot of tradition as far as good football players that have come through our football program. We try not to worry about the past, we'll worry about the future and who will be the next kid to step up and be the type of player to make plays."
Who will take over at quarterback?
"Tyler Nance, he's our senior, he'll be the front-runner. I'm real happy with the progress of our two sophomores, Bryce Harvey and Zeke Palmer. They both give us the opportunity to win with, as well as Tyler.
"I think (Nance) again gives us a good athlete and a good leader at quarterback. The ability to both run and pass.It's another kid that has kind of waited for his opportunity to play. He's been playing behind an All-American for two years, and it's been, ‘how can I help the team.' He helps by being an (All-City League) receiver). That's the beauty of our program. It's not what are you going to do for me, it's what can I do for the program. . . . He has the ability to throw the football, the abilty to run, he's a good decision-maker. He's a guy we can trust and a good leader. We can count on him making good decisions.
". . . I think both (Palmer and Harvey) have the ability to run our offense. They both have separate strengths. The thing I like most about them is they are very dedicated, they work hard, have great attitudes, are willing to learn, want to learn. They've watched a ton of f ilm since the end of last season with Coach (Dusty) Trail. They're sponges. They want to absorb as much information as they can. That's what you want at quarterback — the first ones on the field and the last ones to leave the field. They definitely give us that."
Will your offense differ much from the past two seasons under Bell?
"We've been running this offense for a lot of years. I don't think the system changes unless we have to because of personnel. We believe we have the personnel that can run everything we ran. We may need to scale back because we have an experienced quarterback. I think by the end of the season, we'll be hitting at all cylinders."
How about your running game?
"I think we have a couple guys — Brandon Weber was first team (All-City League). He'll be our feature back. Alec Maly, he played corner for us last year, and he's moved to the offensive side of the football. He looked good in camp. John Linnebur, he's another kid that will give us a chance. And a sophomore we feel pretty good about is Jalen Hernandez.
"What I like most about the whole situation (this season) is . . . We have a very competitive situation. It's not like we've got one guy we we feel we can win with. We've got four guys we feel we can be successful with. They're all tough kids. They're committed. They're doing the things it takes to be successful."
Your defense, which calls itself "Gang Green," didn't get to wear its green practice jerseys last year because it wasn't as dominant as you wanted. Will that change?
"When you give up 300 yards rushing to one guy (Hutchinson's Josh Smith in the 5A semifinal), no. I have a good memory. That's one thing that we've remembered. We have a defense that we feel can be solid, and we have kids who have a lot of experience. We're not very big, though. We're pretty small. They're coachable, good kids."
Has Hutchinson become your Liberal — your biggest rival who you struggle to beat?
"I think they're at a different level. When you've won six state championships, that's a level in itself.
"I'm excited (Hutchinson) is in our district. It's a good measuring point. We need to see how good (we are), and we'll figure it out Week 1, but we'll really figure it out against Hutchinson. Our goal is to win a state championship, and you never know where you'll be until you play the team that has won six in a row. Last year it proved to us that we're at a level that it's going to take a little extra to get to the next level. It's Hutchinson, and everyone is chasing them. I feel we're getting closer, but we have to keep moving."
Is anyone overlooking Hutchinson?
(Laughter.)
"Sheesh. Is anyone overlooking them? You're a complete idiot if you are. They're where everyone wants to be at. I can't imagine anyone looking past them. That's kind of comical if they are. I know they lost, what, 20 starters, but those guys behind them are pretty good, too. They'll be well-coached and playing hard. All it does is maybe give everyone else a chance to play a little closer."
How are you measuring your program?
"We're measuring on taking that next step and that next step is beating Hutch. Those eight games are going to prepare us for Game 9. I guess the good thing about having them in our district is we'll be playing them twice. Your odds increase if you have to play them twice. Well, you're hoping to play them twice, if you win your district."
You return 15 starters, seven on offense, eight on defense, a huge difference from the three returning starters you had in 2009.
"We do have a lot of people back. Sometimes it can be a good thing, sometimes it can be a bad thing. . . . We've challenged them about getting back to a state championship game, and they know there's a big mountain ahead of us, but they've done a good job of making sacrifices to get there. That's all we can ask.
" . . . We kind of kid about it, but we gave up 41 points to Hutch, so we can't be overly excited about having that many defensive starters back. you need a defense that will stop the best team in the state.
"Any time you can create competition, it will just make the whole team better. It's kind of what we tried to do. Again, the kids have responded and have done pretty well."
How has the summer been?
"We had team camp the first week after school was out and then we went to Hutchinson (junior college team camp). It was a good camp. Our strength and conditioning program started last week and we've had record turnouts and kids are doing well. There's a lot of excitement, and that's always fun to see a group of kids that have a common goal and work towards it.
" . . . I think this is going to be a team that has some depth. I was real impressed (at camp) with some of our younger kids. I thought they did a good job competing. We had some kids that didn't play last year or are coming off an injury — they showed promise and ability to play. That's always exciting. We have returners, but there will be some new faces that will surprise."
What have you been doing outside of football?
"I've been going to a lot of basketball games, enjoying my family, making up for time that is missed in the fall.
" . . . I'm coaching my 11-year-old's basketball team with (Maize girls coach) Jerrod Handy, who has a daughter on the team. We probably get too intense for fifth-graders, but our parents are good. They wouldn't expect anything less out of it. We know only one way to coach, and you'll be working.
"It's a fun team to coach. They're all competitive. That's how you want it. We want all kids to be competitive."