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The sun is shining brightly on the South Lafourche High School football practice field Thursday afternoon, as 88-degree temperatures are gently baking the field’s bright green, neatly trimmed grass.
The Tarpons players have just taken the field on this scorching hot day (which one player later called the hottest so far this spring) and have already begun to get their blood pumping with warm-up drills.
It is during those stretches when the loud screech of a whistle penetrates the humid air and the players scramble to their respective stations, thus symbolizing the official start to practice.
“If loving football is wrong, then I don’t want to be right,” says an energetic, deep voice from the distance, as the players continue to shuffle around the field.
That voice belongs to the man who blew the whistle – Tarpons head coach Dennis Skains.
In his first year as the South Lafourche head man, Skains hard at work each day, seeking to invigorate life into the prideful Tarpons program, which has posted just a 9-11 record in the past 20 games.
“Anytime you take over a program that hasn’t had the success that they’ve either had in the past or that they’re capable of, you’ve got to go in and really try and change the mindset,” Skains said. “We’re trying to change the culture a little bit. And right now, we’re right in the middle of that.”
The most obvious way Skains is trying to put life in the Tarpons’ program is through energetic practices.
The first-year coach’s spring drills have been up-tempo and lively with South Lafourche’s players quickly moving from one drill to another at the practice clock’s horn.
To make the atmosphere even more high octane, classic rock is blaring on a stereo system set up on the field – something Skains said he picked up at his previous position as an assistant coach at Belle Chasse.
“It helps them get through some tough days,” the coach said.
On this particular day, AC-DC’s hit “Back in Black,” is loudly piping through the speakers, as the buzzer starts the third session of practice and the team moves from one station to another.
“Let’s go,” shouts one coach not pleased with the tempo the team is pushing on this particular day.
“Today is about getting better,” Skains fires back in agreement. “If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.”
The coach says the high-octane practices are designed to instill the program’s philosophy and what’s accepted within the new regime.
The head coach and his assistant coaches are constantly showing exuberance throughout practice, often yelling at players and/or energetically giving their helmet a love tap when a job is well done.
Skains said that balance between positive and negative energy is key to success.
“I’ve instructed the coaches to pick it up and get in guys’ faces a little bit if they feel they need to,” he said. “But at the same time, we want there to be an equal amount of positive too. They need to hear, ‘Good job,’ when they do something right just as much as they need to hear the opposite when it goes in the other direction.”
Skains admits there have been both good and bad days, adding that progress has been made, despite some players leaving the program this spring.
“Change is uncomfortable and nobody really likes it,” Skains said. “But the kids are learning and are making progress. Some young men want to be a part of what we’re doing and some don’t.
“There are some days where you sit and you think to yourself that things aren’t going as well as they should. But as a whole, everything is going well and the kids are adjusting to the transition.”
Several Tarpon players agreed with their coach’s statements and added that they have really learned to enjoy their new system.
“Coach is making us do a lot of hard work,” senior wide receiver and safety Treavon Evans said. “Attitude and effort. That’s what it’s all about, attitude and effort.
“It’s very exciting,” senior defensive end Chris Berry added. “We’re pushing for high expectations. We have more players and we have guys who are happy to be playing. We have guys who are happy to be hitting each other out there.”
Aside from the faster practices, the Tarpons won’t be drastically different schematically in 2012.
They will, however, play at a faster pace.
Skains has introduced the Tarpons to what he calls the “NASCAR” offense so far this spring.
The purpose of the NASCAR offense is to run three plays in a span of one minute.
“That’ll wear the other team out,” Evans said.
“Right now, from last year, compared to this year, we’re on top,” senior offensive lineman Jimmy Ledet said. “We’re way ahead of last year.”
One of the reasons the team’s transition to NASCAR has been easier than normal is because Skains isn’t trying to fully refrain from the team’s 2011 strengths.
The coach said the Tarpons will still do many of the same things they did last season – just at a faster pace.
He added that the team will also slow down the tempo if that gives them the best advantage within a given game.
“We’re really pretty much running the same plays,” Ledet said. “We’re just popping ‘em out faster, that’s all.”
Aside from the attitude adjustment, Skains said he is optimistic because he believes the Tarpons have a lot of talented players.
The coach said he believes the team’s offensive and defensive lines will be a force, led by players like Berry and Ledet who will have impacts.
“We have a lot of something you can’t teach – size,” Skains said. “I don’t know that there will be a game this season where we’ll definitively be outmatched in the trenches.”
The Tarpons also return skill players like Evans, receiver/defensive back Norry Galjour and also quarterback Colby Callais to make up what figures to be a formidable group of skill players.
“We’re not loaded thick with them at all positions like some schools, but we do have enough to win,” Skains said.
But it all comes back to that shift in mindset and the program’s transition.
Skains’ whistle screeches again for a final time, symbolizing the end of the team’s work for the day.
For most squads, that’d mean the start of conditioning like wind sprints or suicide shuttles.
For the Tarpons, it’s time to go home and get ready for another day.
“If you practice hard enough, you’re already conditioned,” Skains said. “We believe we’re keeping a tempo that’ll have our guys ready for the season.”
“We’re all in shape,” Evans said. “We’re all excited. We’re just ready to go.”
South Lafourche High School football coach Dennis Skains talks to his team during spring practices.
