SPENCER— North head coach Roger Secreast frets that nearly three decades of coaching kids have made him soft, that he’s no longer mean enough, that his football practices no longer resemble preparation for a military operation.
“I’m not what I used to be,” Secreast says.
Secreast shakes his head ruefully on Tuesday afternoon as his Cavaliers swiftly retreat to the safety of the Walt Baker Fieldhouse as soon as the wind kicks up, thunder rumbles and lightning flashes in the distance.
“I’m a sissy coach, I guess,” Secreast laughs, as he and his coaches settle for watching tape of last year’s North-Butler scrimmage, while his players race to their cars or to the phone to call for rides home. “Hey, I just don’t want anyone to get hit by a lightning bolt.”
Truth is, though, that the self-proclaimed “sissy coach” has been hitting the rest of the county with lightning bolts for quite some time. He’s hit them with a relentless run of quality quarterbacks and racehorse receivers.
The numbers show that the 1990s was a decade of North dominance in Rowan County. North went 79-44 in the ‘90s, which means it won a whopping 21 more games than East (58), its closest competition. West won 47 games, while South won 38 and Salisbury 35.
Head-to-head, North went 25-8 in county games in the decade. It was 9-1 against East; 7-3 against Salisbury; 6-4 against West; and 3-0 against South. East hasn’t beaten North since ‘91. South, which recently renewed its rivalry with North, hasn’t tasted victory over the Cavs since ‘74 when Watergate was hot news.
The “sissy coach” has become both the king and dean of county coaches. Secreast has scrapped with 12 different coaches in intra-county warfare (East’s new coach, Tommy Eanes, will be No. 13). He’s locked horns with five different coaches from Salisbury alone during his stay in Spencer.
Secreast feels 2000 will see a return to glory.
“We’re better just about everywhere,” he says simply.
“This is gonna be the year of the green. You can count on it,” chimes in wide receiver Dre Byrd.
And why not? We’ve just seen a whole decade of it.
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LAYINGDOWNTHELAW:No one doubts that North will be better defensively this fall after its youngsters yielded an incredible 174 points over the last four weeks of the ‘99 season. And no one doubts that the main man in that ‘D” will be senior inside linebacker Marcus Lawing.
“We’ve got a very, very good team,” said Lawing. “Good coaches, too.”
Good players, of course, help make coaches look good. And Lawing, who runs like a deer and hits like a school bus, is plenty good.
“He’s a real prospect,” said Secreast. “It’s just his second year of football, but he’s 6-3, 205 and can really move. We haven’t had one like that since Greg Yeldell (now at Indiana University) was here.”
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HEADSUP:Secreast is going to be helped tremendously this season by having two other former head coaches on his staff.
Ron Raper, who coached West Rowan for seven years (and went 3-4 against Secreast) is back for another year. And now Secreast has added Avery Cutshaw, who coached Lexington a year ago.
Cutshaw’s primary responsibility will be running backs and inside linebackers, but in reality, he’s all over the place. He and his wife have even taken the lead in keeping the practice fields mowed.
Not everyone could accept being an assistant after calling the shots, but Cutshaw foresees no problems.
“The transition here has been easy,” he said. “It’s easy to work for someone like Roger Secreast. I can be loyal to any program.”
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SALARYCAPS: Raper’s weird practice hat seemed pretty outrageous until everyone got a look at Cutshaw’s.
Cutshaw looked like he might head off on safari at any moment with his floppy white headgear.
“My wife got it for me,” Cutshaw said sheepishly. “Hey, the heat was killing me.”
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WOW! Cutshaw said the most amazing thing about North is seeing all its speed up close and personal after being on the receiving end (34-14) of those flying feet last year.
“The speed here’s even more impressive when you’re working with it,” he said. “These kids can run as well as anyone. Here, you can throw it 10 yards and then have someone break it all the way.”
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MORECOACHES:Also joining a North staff that is more than 50 percent new are quarterbacks coach Bobby Myers, Matt Hinson, who also came over from Lexington, and former Catawba All-American offensive lineman Brian Hinson.
Brian Hinson was last seen with a shaved head, but his curly blonde locks have returned.
He’s teaching health and P.E. at North and is pleased to be coaching and working in Rowan County just months after ending his illustrious college career and a not so illustrious one-game stint in the Arena2 Football League.
“So far, so good. I really got lucky,” he said. “I stayed around here after graduation and got a chance here right away.”
Hinson would like to stay at North Rowan awhile. He’s not sure the hair will stay, however.
“I’m still debating on that one,” he said.
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TRANSFER: Jason Barber was part of A.L. Brown’s program last season, but has joined the Cavs after his family moved to the Spencer area. Barber is a linebacker and running back and will try to help his new teammates beat the Wonders for the first time since 1994.
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LITTLEBROTHER:Receivers coach Gary Atwell says to keep an eye on Howard Miller, a freshman who is the little brother of junior Alfonzo Miller, already one of the top pass-catchers in the state.
“Howard’s probably going to make varsity,” said Atwell. “He’s in our second group of receivers and defensive backs.”
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BIGGUY:Towering over everyone at North’s practice was offensive lineman Matt Hestwood, a big kid whom the Cavs have been trying to get to come out for the past three years. Finally, as a senior, Hestwood consented. He has lots of potential.
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RECRUITINGUPDATE: Center Jarrett Wishon says he got a nice postcard from Texas A&M Monday and is hearing a lot through the mail from Lou Holtz and his South Carolina.
“As far as Division I, it’s mostly been those two schools,” he said.
Coaches can contact Wishon by phone again, beginning Sept. 1.
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Tomorrow: East Rowan
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