Secreast does not take himself so seriously that he puts undue pressure on himself, his assistants or most of all, his players.

Take the summertime, for instance. Secreast does not have any set requirements for weightlifting and working out.

“I want my players to enjoy their summer and be kids,” he said. “If they come, fine. If they don’t, that’s OK too. We’ll be there to work with the ones I’ve got. Some nights, we have seven. Some nights, we have 50.”

Take the first day of practice, for instance. Secreast did not run the team through any drills, screaming and hollering. Secreast does not come from the Frank Kush school of dictatorship.

“We didn’t do anything,” Secreast shrugged when asked about Saturday’s practice. “We went out in shorts and walked through the offense and defense for 30 minutes.”

It’s enough to make the old-school coaches cringe. You remember those guys, don’t you? It would be 90 degrees but kids would have shoulder pads on, running the hills, drinking some water and popping those nasty salt tablets, all the while listening to Sergeant Carter-like commands.

“Move it! Move it! Move it!”

Those were the dinosaurs of yesterday. But after 28 years in the coaching business, the only dinosaur Secreast resembles is Barney. His easy-going, nurturing manner works with the kids of today.

And in his opinion, the right thing to do is keep those teenagers from burning up during the first week of practice. “I think it’ ridiculous,” he said of pounding the players with drills. “I’m not going to run those kids out there in the heat and have one fall over.”

The old school was still in vogue when he graduated from high school in 1967. But living on the other side of Lenior, it wasn’t quite as hot as it is here.

“How many people had air-conditioning then?” he reasoned. “How many people slept in front of a fan or didn’t sleep at all because it was too hot? People aren’t acclimated (to the heat) like they used to be.“

Secreast knows how to beat the heat and that is playing the first game later than Aug. 20.

“I don’t like it,” he said. “We should move everything back a month. I think everybody’s ready (by Aug. 20) because there are no rules about practice. You can be as ready as you want to be. The downside is, it’s just too hot.

“Baseball starts too early, for one thing. They don’t need to finish baseball until the end of June. I wish we went 12 months a year, then the seasons could be at the right time.”

Something else that 28 years in the business does for Secreast: he speaks his mind.

It is always in a manner that makes perfect sense. Maybe it is his soft voice. Perhaps his playful attitude. He is convincing — most of the time.

Secreast laughs about that. He is a Shrine Bowl assistant coach who is trying to convince the head coach, Bob Lewis of Clinton, to ditch his two-tight-end alignment for a wide-open passing style that he covets.

“I say, ‘I know you’ve won two state titles and I haven’t won any so I’ll listen to you...

“But...”

Secreast grins. It’s a grin that tells you he is happy another football season is here.

“You always get excited about the first day in any sport,” he said, “for the love of the game and the love of the kids.”

The kids return the love by making North Rowan an annual Top 10 team in 2A. This season, the N.C. Prep Football News has the Cavaliers ranked ninth in the state. On paper, they’re the favorite for the mythical Rowan County championship and a good bet to grab one of the Central Carolina Conference’s three playoff berths.

And they’ll do it without a hollering, screaming coach, without running the hills in 90-degree weather — and without swallowing those nasty salt tablets.

Which leaves all the old guys wondering the same thing.

Why couldn’t Roger Secreast have been our coach 25 years ago?