New coach, new mindset, new schemes

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 24, 2007

DEMOPOLIS &8212; New Demopolis High School head coach and athletic director Tom Causey said he wants to get spring football started as soon as possible at the school to allow players time to digest his new system and philosophies.

Causey said his major coaching points for any team he is in charge of are hard work and discipline, which he will soon work to instill in his new group. He said he will also have a return to fundamentals during the upcoming spring drills and on into the summer practices.

Of course with his new mindset, his players are also going to have to learn several new systems as they adjust to their new coaches brand of football. Causey, who was named the Alabama High School Athletic Association&8217;s 4A Coach of the year in 2006, admits some of his on the field techniques are risky and can allow for turnovers, but he feels if his team can master the plan he puts before them it will lead to the performance that he, a coach know for turning programs around, has evoked from all of his teams.

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Causey, who said he is a big proponent of watching game film on other teams to know their strengths and weaknesses, said he will also be throwing out some offensive and defense schemes that might be new to the players. Of course they might be new to any high school player. Causey said he runs a spread-option offense and a 4-2-5 defense.

Causey said he has spent time in West Virginia studying the Rich Rodriguez&8217; schemes. He said his team&8217;s run less than West Virginia&8217;s offense and passes less than Florida&8217;s out of the formation.

This means the Demopolis team will run out of shotgun quite a bit next year and players will see various roles at their position. Receivers will be blocking, running backs catching screens and quarterbacks running.

On defense Causey said his players could expect something akin to what Will Mustain ran during his time at Louisiana State University and is trying to institute at Auburn. This comes as no surprise as during his time as coach at the University of West Alabama Causey and Mustain were on staff together.