Triton Coach Trying To Build Roots
August 18, 2016 at 4:16 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
His wife is a Triton grad, and they moved their family to put down roots in the Triton area.
From a football standpoint, it’s been a tough row to hoe so far, but things are looking up.
It was late in the summer of 2015 when John Johns suddenly resigned as head football coach, and Brown was handed the opportunity on short notice. Numbers were down some, he was about to become a father again and the schemes Brown wanted to implement take time for a team to learn.
Coupled with a lot of injuries to underclassmen playing with significantly less experience than their opponents and the surprising strength of the Hoosier North Athletic Conference, it’s not hard to see why things didn’t go the Trojans’ way much.
Triton won its first and last regular season games of 2015, but in the seven games in between were outscored by an average score of 42-7. Still, Brown said his team has a great attitude, is gaining valuable experience through offseason work, and being well-rounded athletes. Thirty-eight of the 51 players on the Trojan roster are also on the wrestling team.
So while in just his second season as Triton coach, Brown said strides to establishing his vision for a program are being made quickly.
“We’re running the offense and defense I ran when I was at Centerville, and I feel pretty confident we’re going to be able to do a lot more than what we were able to in the past,” Brown said.
“We have a good core of kids who are coming back, plus a lot of younger kids who were around the program for the whole summer instead of just a few weeks.”
Quarterback James Snyder, linemen Adam Stephens and Vincent Helton, and tight end Drew Stichter are among the returnees who bring extensive playing experience to this year’s Triton squad. But to be successful, Brown said the players need to not be cogs in the machine, but the operators who tell the machine what to do and when to do it.
“Our style of offensive play relies on the kids taking ownership and the ability to call (audibles) out on the field,” said Brown. “Sure, the coaches have an idea of what they want to run, but I like to do a lot of run/pass read plays where whatever the defense shows, we’re going to switch to counter that. You have to have kids that are smart and are able to make all the switches and signal calls to each other so they’re in the right position.”
This year’s senior class has experienced victory just six times in the last three seasons, and no Triton team has been above .500 since 2008. To get where the Trojans want to go, Brown and his coaching staff want to catch the players doing things right, and correct any inconsistencies.
“One of the things we’re doing now that wasn’t done (before) is we’re teaching the kids everyday. We’re not motivating by fear of discipline. The majority of our coaching staff are educators, so we’re educating the kids and hopefully putting them in a position where on Friday night they take their test and go to show everyone what they’ve learned, and are being successful with that,” said Brown.
“It’s important to praise the guys when they do something right, and when they don’t it’s important to correct it so that they don’t keep making the same mistakes over and over.
“But we’re talking about high school kids; they’re going to make mistakes. I tell them ‘I’m not going to know who the winners are on our team until they graduate and I look four years down the road and see what kind of people they’ve become.’ So hopefully we’re teaching them other skills than just knocking someone out on Friday night.”
Brown said he doesn’t need to look any farther for inspiration than longtime conference rival LaVille for a blueprint for long-term success.
“When you look at what Will (Lancer head coach Hostrawser) has done there, we know it can be done. Their turnaround from what they were to where they are has been incredible, and that’s where we want to get to.”
Triton opens the season at 7 p.m. Friday night at Caston, and then travel to LaVille in Week 2. The Trojans’ home opener is Sept. 2 against Pioneer.
His wife is a Triton grad, and they moved their family to put down roots in the Triton area.
From a football standpoint, it’s been a tough row to hoe so far, but things are looking up.
It was late in the summer of 2015 when John Johns suddenly resigned as head football coach, and Brown was handed the opportunity on short notice. Numbers were down some, he was about to become a father again and the schemes Brown wanted to implement take time for a team to learn.
Coupled with a lot of injuries to underclassmen playing with significantly less experience than their opponents and the surprising strength of the Hoosier North Athletic Conference, it’s not hard to see why things didn’t go the Trojans’ way much.
Triton won its first and last regular season games of 2015, but in the seven games in between were outscored by an average score of 42-7. Still, Brown said his team has a great attitude, is gaining valuable experience through offseason work, and being well-rounded athletes. Thirty-eight of the 51 players on the Trojan roster are also on the wrestling team.
So while in just his second season as Triton coach, Brown said strides to establishing his vision for a program are being made quickly.
“We’re running the offense and defense I ran when I was at Centerville, and I feel pretty confident we’re going to be able to do a lot more than what we were able to in the past,” Brown said.
“We have a good core of kids who are coming back, plus a lot of younger kids who were around the program for the whole summer instead of just a few weeks.”
Quarterback James Snyder, linemen Adam Stephens and Vincent Helton, and tight end Drew Stichter are among the returnees who bring extensive playing experience to this year’s Triton squad. But to be successful, Brown said the players need to not be cogs in the machine, but the operators who tell the machine what to do and when to do it.
“Our style of offensive play relies on the kids taking ownership and the ability to call (audibles) out on the field,” said Brown. “Sure, the coaches have an idea of what they want to run, but I like to do a lot of run/pass read plays where whatever the defense shows, we’re going to switch to counter that. You have to have kids that are smart and are able to make all the switches and signal calls to each other so they’re in the right position.”
This year’s senior class has experienced victory just six times in the last three seasons, and no Triton team has been above .500 since 2008. To get where the Trojans want to go, Brown and his coaching staff want to catch the players doing things right, and correct any inconsistencies.
“One of the things we’re doing now that wasn’t done (before) is we’re teaching the kids everyday. We’re not motivating by fear of discipline. The majority of our coaching staff are educators, so we’re educating the kids and hopefully putting them in a position where on Friday night they take their test and go to show everyone what they’ve learned, and are being successful with that,” said Brown.
“It’s important to praise the guys when they do something right, and when they don’t it’s important to correct it so that they don’t keep making the same mistakes over and over.
“But we’re talking about high school kids; they’re going to make mistakes. I tell them ‘I’m not going to know who the winners are on our team until they graduate and I look four years down the road and see what kind of people they’ve become.’ So hopefully we’re teaching them other skills than just knocking someone out on Friday night.”
Brown said he doesn’t need to look any farther for inspiration than longtime conference rival LaVille for a blueprint for long-term success.
“When you look at what Will (Lancer head coach Hostrawser) has done there, we know it can be done. Their turnaround from what they were to where they are has been incredible, and that’s where we want to get to.”
Triton opens the season at 7 p.m. Friday night at Caston, and then travel to LaVille in Week 2. The Trojans’ home opener is Sept. 2 against Pioneer.
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