New head coach Brian Smith is implementing a no-huddle spread offense even as he and his staff begin to evaluate and place personnel.
“Right now our goal is to just set the schemes offensively and defensively, put the kids in the right spots and get in a lot of repetitions,” said Smith before last Friday’s practice session.
Smith comes to EJCHS from Hebron Christian School in Dacula. He’ll take over a team that was 2-5 in the region and 3-7 overall.
Smith has brought in a new coaching staff, including Ken Aldridge, from Central Gwinnett High School, who will be defensive coordinator, and Joel Conway, from Jackson County Comprehensive High School, who will coach the defensive line. A couple other coaches were scheduled to be approved by the Jackson County Board of Education this week.
“The kids are responding well, doing everything we ask for,” Smith said. “The pace is different, being no-huddle.”
Smith likes the no-huddle for a number of reasons.
“I haven’t huddled since 1992,” he said. “It keeps pressure on the defense all the time and I can control the tempo of the game as a coach. It eliminates a lot of problems you have.”
“I think they are excited about it,” Smith said of his troops. “They’ve got to learn a lot of signals on both sides of the ball. I think they’re getting it. They’re excited, they just want to play and they know they’ve got to get behind the eight ball to be successful.”
That involves learning a number of hand signals dictating the play, whether it runs right or left, formations, tags, protections and routes.
Defensively, the Eagles will work with three down linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs.
Smith came to school with no preconceptions about personnel. When practice started, he told his players to “go where you want to go,” and is adjusting personnel as practice progresses.
“We’ve got somebody everywhere right now,” he noted. “Everything is up for grabs. We’re not going to name a starter at all right now. We just want to get kids in the right spot, kind of put names in the positions.
Smith said running back C.J. Allen and linebacker Caleb Hardy have emerged as the “two most vocal leaders.”
“We need them to lead us every day the rest of spring into the summer workouts,” Smith commented.
Fall practice begins Aug. 2.
