It is very easy to overreact to Week 1 of the high school football season.
We often look at the success or failure of a team in Week 1 as the storyline for the entire season. But more when you look at the whole picture, Week 1 is just a mere piece of a season-long puzzle that coaches try to put together.
When you look at consistency, one thing that I’ve noticed in my travels around the greater Fort Wayne area is that the coaching staff and the programs that maintain the same level of standards and procedures in their programs are consistently some of the best in the area. While many programs struggle to keep head coaches and assistant coaches, some continually bring the same message and the same group of core members to their staff each year. The message from the top down becomes very clear. The programs that can keep this consistent approach are consistently those at the top of the win totals each year.
The big story of Week 1 has to be the Snider Panthers. It seems every year that during June and July, everyone wants to belittle the Snider program.
“This is the year that they stumble.”
“It’s just not the same as it used to be.”
Those were just some quotes thrown around early in the summer. And while a lot of people want to see one of the area’s strongest programs take a stumble, the Panthers continue to be the dominant force in the city. Many thought that Friday’s contest would be a lopsided victory by the much-respected Warren Central program, known for its consistent success. The Panthers proved that their consistent approach of playing solid football will always put them at an advantage to win.
Another consistent approach is the East Noble Knights. Coach Luke Amstuiz continues to prove why he is one of the premier coaches in the area. After having what is considered a non-East Noble like year last season, the Knights came out and beat an up-and-coming Bishop Luers team in dominant fashion.
East Noble is a program that prides itself on its tradition and by maintaining the same standards set by the coaches of the past. It continues to be one of the area’s most robust programs. Sure, they’ll have some dips in their win total from time to time, but the Knights prove that taking everything you’ve learned from the previous year and maintaining those same expectations proves that you can build a successful squad.
And don’t think that you have to be a program with a ton of kids to maintain that constant approach to success. Take a trip down to Monroe and visit Adam Central. The Flying Jets are a model of consistency. With one of the smallest enrollments in the area, you would think that they would have a dip in the win total as they replace seniors that graduate each year. But much like the two aforementioned programs, the Jets continue year in and year out to be the class of the north in Class 1A.
Adams Central continues to maintain its level of expectations regardless of who on the roster it might have to replace. This year, the expectations are no different, and beating a larger school in Garrett in dominating fashion shows once again that consistency is key. The Flying jets do not run a fancy offense but continuously do things right all the time, including great tackling form and a dominant offensive front. These factors make the Flying Jets program a problem for the rest of Class 1A (except maybe Lutheran).
Now let’s look at these three programs and the commonalities they all share.
First, let’s look at the head coaches. Since 1976, Snider has had three football coaches – Mike Hawley, Russ Issacs and Kurt Tippmann. To show how unique that is, consider that in that same time frame, 44 different people have been head coaches at one of the other four high schools in FWCS. The Panthers consistently have had the same message that dates back to the 1970s – the idea of working hard and loving teammates has been ingrained in every Snider football player and that mindset has not changed.
A much similar story can be told about Adam Central. From 1977 to 2008, Rich Minich led the program, then handed it off to Michael Moser. The Flying Jets have never looked back. Those two men alone account for nearly 80 percent of the school’s all-time wins in football. It’s this common coaching philosophy that has made the small school in Adams County continually a winner.
And a key part of consistency is persistent support from the communities that support these programs. If you’ve never been to Kendallville on a Friday night, I highly recommend doing so. It is an unbelievable atmosphere and the community believes in their Knights. They truly fit the mantra of the ‘one town, one team’ approach and receive consistent support from local businesses, government officials and the school administration. Similarities can be seen at Snider and Adam Central. The Panthers Booster Club is often touted as one of the best in the area, providing the financial resources that the team needs even within a lower-income community.
All that said, I understand why some people grow tired of seeing the same teams be successful year in and year out. But let’s take a moment to appreciate the programs that annually provide us with a constant and successful approach that others can follow.
It’s also important to appreciate the men and women involved in these programs that lead the consistent approach and don’t quickly bail if things aren’t up to expectations. Instead, they find ways to help get the program back to that place that they feel they should always be.
So as we head into the second week of the high school football season, we wonder which teams will remain consistent and show that steady approach that will lead them to a successful season?
Coaches Corner appears weekly at Outside the Huddle. The author Ben Martone played football in the SAC and has coached at North Side and Northrop. He is currently a teacher at Weisser Park Elementary in Fort Wayne Community Schools.
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