April 21, 2010
Doty comfy as PN-G opens spring drills
Tom Halliburton
The Port Arthur News
PORT NECHES — PORT NECHES -- He was just a big, tall, nice sophomore a year ago whose head was beginning to be filled with dozens of plays.
What a difference a year makes for Brennan Doty, the senior-to-be, with one full outstanding varsity season behind him as Port Neches-Groves quarterback.
A brand-new Indians chief with a history of developing QBs, Brandon Faircloth got a hold of Doty a year ago. The two clicked very well and PN-G's return to state football prominence followed 11 victories later.
Faircloth was doing great at learning everyone's names and faces a year ago. Some of his varsity assistants had not even arrived on The Reservation.
The whole process starts again today at 2 p.m., following an off-season strength-and-conditioning program. Faircloth and his coaches obviously have no intention of changing anything. Right?
Wrong. Very wrong. Any Indians fans who think things shall stay the same -- they simply don't know coach Faircloth well enough yet.
"We will change about 30 percent of our offense every year," Faircloth said. "We will add and subtract stuff with each new group."
Doty already knows one significant change exists from last year at his own position. Travis Miller will be the backup quarterback. Last year's backup, Matt Desmond, definitely will be around for some quarterback duties, but Desmond is going to catch Doty's passes and line up all sorts of places, like H-back.
"We're going to try to leave Matthew (Desmond) on the field all the time," the Indians chief said.
Doty will have the priceless benefit of a year's experience, but the 6-3 junior will have a different scheme and a much different monitoring system.
PN-G's coaches intend to implement some of Auburn's offensive schemes and some of Air Force's defensive schemes into the 2010 season.
"Last spring I got to get a feel for the speed and quickness of the varsity game," Doty said. "We will have a lot of the same practices with all the reps we do in the fall."
Faircloth definitely sees a pronounced change in working with Doty. Brennan knows the plays so much better now that his coach and student can focus more on the fine-tuning of details. Those fundamental matters such as footwork, blitzes, maintaining smooth mechanics -- it all should be far more advanced now.
Faircloth and his staff return approximately six starters on offense and four on defense, although many other returnees were valuable contributors in many down-and-distance situations on both sides of the ball, as well as on special teams.
The Indians chief sees lots of job opportunity available in the secondary, at the linebackers and at the wide receiver areas.
A 4A bidistrict champion, a District 20-4A champion and a remarkable story in the 2009 Golden Triangle football landscape, PN-G certainly will not have the benefit of seven home games again. But the Indians will have one of the most crucial assets in high school football. They have a quarterback with experience and a mighty good one.
Doty sounds more like a first-teamer and a future senior this spring. He said he considered it a major part of his job to lead Travis Miller by example.
"I'm looking forward to trying to repeat," he said. "Coach Faircloth did a great job with us, but it's going to help us a lot more in the spring by knowing who can play."
Faircloth listed four goals for the spring sessions which wraps up with a May 21 spring game:
1. Improve fundamentals
2. Evaluate personnel (to get the best 22 players on the field)
3. Evaluate schemes (make sure to have players where they should be)
4. Stay healthy
SPRING FOOTBALL
PRACTICE DATES
PN-G: Starts today at 2 p.m.
Spring game: May 21, 7:30 p.m.
Doty comfy as PN-G opens spring drills
Tom Halliburton
The Port Arthur News
PORT NECHES — PORT NECHES -- He was just a big, tall, nice sophomore a year ago whose head was beginning to be filled with dozens of plays.
What a difference a year makes for Brennan Doty, the senior-to-be, with one full outstanding varsity season behind him as Port Neches-Groves quarterback.
A brand-new Indians chief with a history of developing QBs, Brandon Faircloth got a hold of Doty a year ago. The two clicked very well and PN-G's return to state football prominence followed 11 victories later.
Faircloth was doing great at learning everyone's names and faces a year ago. Some of his varsity assistants had not even arrived on The Reservation.
The whole process starts again today at 2 p.m., following an off-season strength-and-conditioning program. Faircloth and his coaches obviously have no intention of changing anything. Right?
Wrong. Very wrong. Any Indians fans who think things shall stay the same -- they simply don't know coach Faircloth well enough yet.
"We will change about 30 percent of our offense every year," Faircloth said. "We will add and subtract stuff with each new group."
Doty already knows one significant change exists from last year at his own position. Travis Miller will be the backup quarterback. Last year's backup, Matt Desmond, definitely will be around for some quarterback duties, but Desmond is going to catch Doty's passes and line up all sorts of places, like H-back.
"We're going to try to leave Matthew (Desmond) on the field all the time," the Indians chief said.
Doty will have the priceless benefit of a year's experience, but the 6-3 junior will have a different scheme and a much different monitoring system.
PN-G's coaches intend to implement some of Auburn's offensive schemes and some of Air Force's defensive schemes into the 2010 season.
"Last spring I got to get a feel for the speed and quickness of the varsity game," Doty said. "We will have a lot of the same practices with all the reps we do in the fall."
Faircloth definitely sees a pronounced change in working with Doty. Brennan knows the plays so much better now that his coach and student can focus more on the fine-tuning of details. Those fundamental matters such as footwork, blitzes, maintaining smooth mechanics -- it all should be far more advanced now.
Faircloth and his staff return approximately six starters on offense and four on defense, although many other returnees were valuable contributors in many down-and-distance situations on both sides of the ball, as well as on special teams.
The Indians chief sees lots of job opportunity available in the secondary, at the linebackers and at the wide receiver areas.
A 4A bidistrict champion, a District 20-4A champion and a remarkable story in the 2009 Golden Triangle football landscape, PN-G certainly will not have the benefit of seven home games again. But the Indians will have one of the most crucial assets in high school football. They have a quarterback with experience and a mighty good one.
Doty sounds more like a first-teamer and a future senior this spring. He said he considered it a major part of his job to lead Travis Miller by example.
"I'm looking forward to trying to repeat," he said. "Coach Faircloth did a great job with us, but it's going to help us a lot more in the spring by knowing who can play."
Faircloth listed four goals for the spring sessions which wraps up with a May 21 spring game:
1. Improve fundamentals
2. Evaluate personnel (to get the best 22 players on the field)
3. Evaluate schemes (make sure to have players where they should be)
4. Stay healthy
SPRING FOOTBALL
PRACTICE DATES
PN-G: Starts today at 2 p.m.
Spring game: May 21, 7:30 p.m.
