New head coach equals fast turnaround?

Morgan City football coach Brett Bonnafons knows his team will be young at virtually every position this season.

And that’s just fine by him.

With the first-year coach implementing a new, pass-oriented system in 2010, Bonnafons believes his team’s youth will be a virtue in their quest to turn last year’s 2-8 record upside down.

The Tigers return just two offensive starters and five starters overall from last year’s squad.

“Youth sometimes can be a bad thing, but I think it will really help us,” Bonnafons said. “These kids have some talent, and they want to learn and that will help us immensely … they didn’t play younger kids a lot in the previous coach’s time here, so that’s helping me, because the younger guys are looking and saying, ‘What do I have to do to get on the field?’ or ‘What do I have to do to play?'”

Bonnafons took over the Morgan City program in January after a successful career as an assistant coach at Carroll High School and Desire Street Academy.

He will be inheriting a senior class that hasn’t ever made the playoffs in their prep careers. But despite the lack of victories to this point, the message the coach is sending so far is clear – everything in the past is over and a new future starts now.

“The only way you can have success is to expect success,” Bonnafons said. “We’re telling these kids that they can win. We’re telling these kids that they can compete with the big dogs. So now, it’s just our time to go out and see what we can do.”

The coach’s biggest early challenge this spring and throughout the summer has been the process of implementing his wide-open, passing-friendly offense to the Tigers – a team who ran the ball primarily under previous coach Mark Millet.

“We’re not putting it in very fast,” Bonnafons said. “We’re working with it very slow, but what we have put in, we’re learning it very well.”

Anchoring that pass-heavy attack will be quarterback Nicholas Gagliano and wide receiver Jacobie Brown, who has dazzled his coaches and teammates with several jaw-dropping grabs so far in practice.

“That kid can play,” Bonnafons said. “He’s a special player.”

The wide-out said the coach’s sentiments are high praise and added the switch to a passing-oriented offense is a blessing that will allow him to better showcase his skills.

“Coach Bonnafons is a really great guy,” Brown said. “He’s teaching us some new things, and we’re very excited about what we can do under him.”

Tight end Dominique Merritt agreed and said having a few passes thrown his way, too, will be a step up from his prior blocking-only role.

“That’s going to be pretty nice,” he said. “I like that.”

On defense, Morgan City will also have to improve on a unit that allowed 30 or more points in five out of 10 games a year ago.

Linebacker Dylan Melancon leads a unit that Bonnafons said will be very fast to the football in their transition to a 3-4, from a 4-3 alignment.

“We definitely have some speed there,” he said. “We have speed in all areas and on both sides of the ball.”

The Tigers won just two games last year – a number that everyone in Morgan City hopes increases, sooner, rather than later.

But so far, the 28-year-old Bonnafons seems to be the right man to make that wish a reality, according to his players, who praise their new coach for the laid-back coaching techniques he uses in practices that “make the game fun.”

“He’s cool,” Merritt said. “He just knows how to talk to us … He tries his hardest to make the game enjoyable for us.”

Brown added to what Merritt said and touted the coach’s laid-back personality as one of the reasons Morgan City is a sleeper in 2010.

“We all want to play real hard for him,” he said. “He knows how to talk to high school kids, and we really respect and appreciate that.”

But make no mistake about it, when the going gets tough, Bonnafons also knows how to be a tough and gritty leader.

The coach just said he hasn’t had to be – yet.

“We’re having fun and we’re joking around, but they know that when I say that it’s time to work, then it’s time to work,” Bonnafons said.

Morgan City Tigers

District 8-4A

Sept. 3 Walker

Sept. 10 Berwick

Sept. 17 @ Bogalusa

Sept. 24 @ Jeanerette

Oct. 1 @ Neville

Oct. 8 Ellender*

Oct. 16 @ Helen Cox*

Oct. 22 Vandebilt Catholic*

Oct. 29 @ Belle Chasse*

Nov. 5 Lutcher*

* Denotes district game

Coach: Brett Bonnafons

Assistant Coaches: Brandon Nowlin, Marc Gonzales, Lane White, Duriel Singleton, Ashley Boudreaux, Jeff Fontenot

Record last season: 2-8

Returning Starters: 2 on offense, 3 on defense

Players to Watch: Wide receiver Jacobie Brown, tight end Dominique Merritt, linebacker Dylan Melancon, quarterback Nick Gagliano

Primary Strength: Speed on both sides of the football

Fun FACTS

8: The number of months coach Brett Bonnafons has been with the Morgan City program

11: The number of players in Morgan City’s senior class

5: The number of starters returning for the Tigers

First-year coach Brett Bonnafons talks to his offense during summer drills. The 28-year-old Bonnafons enters his first year coaching the Tigers and is trying to rebuild what was a 2-8 team last season. CASEY GISCLAIR TRI-PARISH TIMES