Gretna Coach Resigns
- Thread starter Hampton Roads 6
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I heard they are going full spread next year.
Joke for one of their fans who hates the current offensive style.
There was a time that you could book Gretna being one of the best teams in the state. Those days are far gone. I saw the Gretna/Appo Regional Championship in 2019 and never ever did I say, “Gretna has a shot to win this game” even though they had some very very good looking athletes. Playcalling and game management sucked.
Bo Bob joked about it, but do you think they should continue with the Wing T philosophy? Two successful runs in the regular season in 2018-2019 followed by losing to the eventual regional champ in 18 and state champ in 19 in the playoffs. (Yes I know 1-3 in 2020-2021 season). Or should they go back to the vaunted “spread” offense? Or something else entirely. Seems like wing based offenses are the new spread of the mid to early 2000’s with teams flooding to them.
I have always said that a coach needs to be able to adapt and run what the available players are able to do. If you're a spread coach, but there just isn't the athletes for it...then do not force it. I know people want to see high performance offenses, but could you imagine a coach trying something like that in places like Stuarts Draft, Riverheads, Lunenburg, etc...
A coach has to do what they are comfortable with doing. You may tweek here or there but marry a system and don't just date it. There are plenty of successful programs that don't which offenses every 3-4 years. Do what you know.
You have to cook with the ingredients in the kitchen. A good coach will put his kids in the best position to be successful based on what they are able to do. As the ingredients change from year to year, so does the meal.
Successful programs don't have to switch offenses every 3-4 years.
A quality coach should be able to coach multiple schemes on both sides of the ball and the same for positions. Comfort is nice, but this isn't college or the pros where you can recruit or draft players to fit a scheme.
A defensive oriented coach that ran a 3-3 defense with a stud up front and against spread teams, isn't going to fare to well sticking with that same D if he moves to a conference or region that is wing-t heavy and he has all 5'9-5'10 200lb d lineman. Same thing for that spread guy who goes to a school that doesn't have adequate speed or qb at the varsity or jv level or anywhere in the foreseeable future. If he forces it, he will be looking in the next 4-5 years at most places.
Keep in mind that 50% of marriages end in divorce. If you stay in a marriage for the wrong reasons, things get ugly.
You are talking both sides of the argument though.
You say a coach should be able to adapt, and then say imagine trying to do it at Riverheads, Lunenburg, etc.
Teams like RH can adapt in their system, but it's really just working within the same system.
And you certainly wouldn't see the same level of dominant play if RH (by product of Casto) trying to run a spread, even when they have had those skills. The significant teams adapt within their system because a coach is proficient at THAT, and in a lot of places they have ran it throughout their life.
Gretna should have stayed with the Spread. That 2019 team had the speed and talent to win it all, but Gretna wasted it, running ball up the middle. I wish the NFHS would ban the Wing T.
And there was who my joke was for.
Figured he would be chiming in to this topic soon.
Go tell that to Riverheads with their multiple state championships, Stuart’s Draft, Wise Central, Bellevue Washington, Goochland, and even Union who runs the ball. We have teams in Tn run wing t and very successful.
Gretna won 5 state championships with the spread. How many has the Hawks won, running Wing T ?
They could have won in any offense, they were loaded.
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Gretna has the athletes to be successful in the spread offense. Dan River ran a hideous and unorganized version of the I-Form for years. They had some real ballers but that offense limited them and piss poor game management hurt them. They’ve now switched over to the spread and they’re a contender if they can learn to stop choking in the big game. Gretna wasn’t bad in the Wing-T, the playcalling was just way too predictable. Old Gretna teams punished you and had swagger. The Gretna teams of the past 8 years had no identity.
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You set the bait and it works to lure them in! Haha! HR let’s bring the A-11 back, everyone eligible! And guys every offense is adaptable, just bc you line up in 4 wide doesn’t mean you can’t run the ball
How am I talking both sides of the argument? I said a coach has to be able to adapt to the talent and players that he has and then I say imagine a spread coach trying to run the spread at those types of schools. That statement is supporting the claim that coaches need to be able to run multiple offenses and schemes and be ready to adjust to what they have talent, size, and physical wise.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am of the mind that a good quality coach is proficient at multiple systems. I feel that a coach that is married to a single system (spread for example) is a spread coach and not a football coach. Just like a basketball player is not an athlete, he is a basketball player. An athlete is a multi sport person. This is why you see college and professional coaches that played WR coaching RB's or OL coaching DL, etc.... Imo, a quality coach is one that can run and master multiple schemes.
Interesting thought though, why is the conversation about switching or being married to a particular scheme always revolving around offense and not defense. Schools change defensive fronts and schemes all the time to better suit the athletes they have, but this is never examine and picked apart?
Dan River should have multiple rings, but very few will point out the coaching on those teams because of who was in charge.
You are 100% on the money when you said those old Gretna teams just punished you and had swagger. They had teams scared during pregame. I remember one game, the HOME team wouldn't come down on the field to start their pregame routine because Gretna players were all over the field dancing, stretching, etc... They were something to see.
Maybe it is the way you wrote it, but you said a coach should be able to adapt to their talent.
Then in the same post, you say can you imagine trying that at Riverheads, Lunenburg, Stuarts Draft.
The way that is written contradicts each other.
As for your 2nd point, it is a lot easier to adjust on D, as that is predicated on what is being run against you.
Now, the question is simple, do you consider Casto a good coach? The 3 guys from Salem (in the past 3 years or so)? Smith from Appomattox? Lake Taylor coach?
If the answer is yes which I am sure it is, all 4 situations have stuck with what they KNOW. Yes, they have modified which part of their playback they have used a bit, but just because they got an influx of skill they didn't switch their system.
You thinking a coach should be proficient in multiple systems (which in many cases involves a totally different style of coaching) is counterproductive. I know for a fact that at different times Casto has had these athletes, and had he tried to run a totally different system they would not have been as successful, as I am sure the others would be the same way.
It's simple, what do you think the outcome would be if you take a good History Teacher and ask him to teach calculus? It's basically the same thing as you saying a football coach should be able to do multiple things and be good at it, or they aren't a good coach
The spread is dependent on having a trigger man. Not sure if Gretna has had than in the past 5-6 years. On this earth there is nothing worse than watching a spread team throw 35 incomplete passes and taking 4 hours to play a HS Football game.
Ultimately, it comes down to the Jimmys and the Joes not the Xs and Os. Good coaches get the best athletes in the building out for their sport, put their players in the best position(s) to be successful, build a winning culture, and develop their kids in the offseason.
Ultimately, it comes down to the Jimmys and the Joes not the Xs and Os. Good coaches get the best athletes in the building out for their sport, put their players in the best position(s) to be successful, build a winning culture, and develop their kids in the offseason.
You are taking the first sentence and then the last sentence of the point I was making and eliminating the middle. Taking out the middle of the statement where I mention a spread coaching trying to force that style of offense into a program with wing-t style of players is trying to force something...then I say imagine trying to do that at certain places. If you read it as it is written, then it makes logical sense. As someone who holds a Mater of English degree, I will stick to my statement.
I disagree that it is easier to adjust on D. If you're small and you face a pound and grind it out team, you can't just adjust and be successful with plug and play players. Just like big slow teams can't just say Oh, we're going to be a 3-3/3-4/4-2 team and try and cover with our slow butts. Defensive schemes require a certain style/body type/athlete to run them, just like an offense does.
I guarantee you that if you took Castro, Salem guys, Smith and placed them in a position where they had to switch their systems, they would be able to easily do so. I have met most of those guys and although they are great at what they run, they are also very well versed in other styles as well...hence what makes them great coaches.
Your analogy of a history teacher attempting to teach calculus is not a quality comparison. Football coaches are students of the game and have studied and learned football. They have been in multiple systems and have coached multiple positions. Your comparison is taking a teacher of two totally different disciplines and asking them to teach that content, which would be like asking a tennis coach to coach swimming...two totally different sports, training practices, strategies, etc... A football coach needing to go from the spread to a different offense would be like a Government teacher needing to teach US History. I guarantee that teacher has had plenty of history classes and experience to teach the class successfully.
The point is a great coach has his system that he runs. He may tweak it a bit but he isn't gonna drastically shift his philosophy from year to year. A great coach will make sure the feeder programs, the youth football in the area, are teaching the skills needed to for his or her offense. A great coach can evolve over time, but they will make sure the changes first start in the youth teams.
At Powell Valley, Phil Robbins won the bulk of his titles and 300+ games running the I formation but later in his career, he adopted the spread in the early 2000s. But he never went back and forth, the offense changed but not on an annual basis.
At Powell Valley, Phil Robbins won the bulk of his titles and 300+ games running the I formation but later in his career, he adopted the spread in the early 2000s. But he never went back and forth, the offense changed but not on an annual basis.
All I will say is that what I said has been agreed with on this thread.
And now it is you who is trying to pick and choose. Yes, CASTO (not CASTRO) is a good enough coach to be able to attempt to run something else, and he obviously knows all the different schemes, but he sticks to what HE KNOWS.
As for the defensive thing, I'll give you the benefit of doubt and say you didn't understand what I was saying or talking about something completely different. It doesn't matter how good/bad you are, it is absolutely predicated on what the opponent is going to run, so teams are going to have multiple Ds to play. You aren't going to catch a team running a Nickel D against a Wing team. And that includes a team like HS who has 5 P5 DBs. And SD and Riverheads routinely have smaller DL
It's funny, these 4 programs I have mentioned have had different types of players, and they still stuck with the same basic principles (maybe with a few tweaks/wrinkles). I wonder why?
You can have your masters in whatever you want. I'm happy for you, that is impressive (and I am being genuine). But if you can't see how those 2 things contradict themselves then I can't help you.
And you can have met all 3 of them, but I actually KNOW a few of the teams talked about and have coached with and against them, been in meetings with them. And if you think that Casto is going to change what he knows and what has made them successful then you are sadly mistaken.
But another clear as day example: Stone Bridge. Their QB is going to Clemson and a WR going P5. They didn't switch up their system to fit their players. Same with a least most of the others who won or played in Championship (don't know much about D6 or Lafayette)
BUT, whatever we can agree to disagree. I am done with this conversation.
It's easier to run ball out of spread. Spread the defense, then running lanes open up. But no matter what offense a team runs, develop a QB who can throw the ball.
As for DR, 3 future NFL players, plus 2 or 3 others that played college ball, if my memory is correct. Those teams were loaded.
As for DR, 3 future NFL players, plus 2 or 3 others that played college ball, if my memory is correct. Those teams were loaded.
I agree. I think the toughest, most efficient offenses are ones that can do both and to be able to do both, gotta have a QB that can read the D and make the throws.
Daggone right he was, he was the epitome of what you want in a HS QB
My apologies for hitting the R key next to the T key as I was typing Casto's name.
That you for the kudos on my academic accolades.
I too KNOW a few of the teams talked about and I too have coached against them and been in meetings with a few of them along with having coached along side former NFL players, college coaches and some pretty darn good high school coaches and programs as well. Obviously you stand by your opinion and take pride in your beliefs. I will rely on my nearly 2 decades of coaching and coordinator experience and stick to what I believe in. To each their own.
If you are still in the game, I wish you and your team luck this upcoming season.
I agree it is time to move on from this conversation.
Anyone have any thoughts on who may apply or have heard any names being thrown around. As always, it will also depend on openings with the school system.
My guess is he would be, I know he’s been a bunch of places in the Lynchburg corridor
Wasn't Crouch most recently at Gretna? I know he was a few years ago, but had left the staff.
I'm sure some of the Halifax candidate's from last year will be in the mix with Gretna being in same area.
Think Sennsenny tries to come back home? Who else was applying for Halifax job?
I thought the same thing about Senseney.
Names I remember hearing that either applied or interviewed were Senseney, Matt Allen, Jay Cole, and another individual that I cannot recall but is a current coach in NC and a former Halifax player. I also believe Coach Simpson interviewed as well.
I'm sure some of the names will also go after Rustburg as well.
Names I remember hearing that either applied or interviewed were Senseney, Matt Allen, Jay Cole, and another individual that I cannot recall but is a current coach in NC and a former Halifax player. I also believe Coach Simpson interviewed as well.
I'm sure some of the names will also go after Rustburg as well.
Recent history of Gretna coaches. Prunty revitalizes the Gretna program. It was his first gig I believe. Senseney had very, very limited experience. He might have been a head coach at Waynesboro for one year MAYBE. Thurmond was an assistant at Gretna and I believe he took over and it was his first head coaching gig also. Kevin Saunders was an established coach with a solid resume. But he was well traveled and had a reputation as being a maverick in regards to working with school administrations. He is still well traveled. He coached well at Gretna and got their fifth state with probably the least talent. Simpson had limited experience at Chatham and worked under Saunders for four years before getting the head job.
My point is it will be hard for a SMALL 2A school to attract a name coach to this school. Low teachers pay. Low coaching stipend that does not increase with tenure. Poor facilities considering the team has won 5 states ! Plus the uncertainty of how the proposed classification will affect Gretna. There is an assistant on staff who starred under Prunty. He played at Elon and is a teacher in the Gretna system. He would probably be the front runner if he is interested in the position. Once again first head coaching job. It is hard for small rural schools to nab an established coach and hard for them to keep a good young first time coach when after some success the big boys come a calling.
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