I'm just not quite sure where everyone is getting their information. Rod has been the closest for far. IF, and I mean IF, the kids finally buy into what this coach can teach, then they can do somethings. Not sure if the motivation is there or not right now, but he will make them motivated. Will be interesting to see what he can do there.
Pelion Open
- Thread starter HitHardah
- Start date
Well the rumors about Dann Holland were true after all. As a former player at Pelion during the 1990s, I wanted to comment in regard to this position. Coach Holland takes control of this program with every opportunity to build it into something that it has never been.....A consistent winner. I will say that Coach Freeman did not do the worst job in the world, but by the same token, he also did not do the best job either. Speaking from experience, there was always at least one or two things that were not there. Among these were a total commitment to strength and conditioning, dealing or not dealing with cancerous attitudes, maximizing the given talent with the right coaching and developing the younger group of kids at the middle school level and little league area program. Coach Holland must address these issues.
Pelion has mostly been a laughingstock when it comes to its football program. Getting mercilessly beat 63-0 by Blackville Hilda or Ridge Spring Monetta in the 1980's in one thing. Allowing Gilbert coaches and athletic boosters in 1985 to purchase Pelion players RC Colas for halftime, only to see PE teacher football coaches allow their team to drink that poison is the height of incompetence. Throughout the 1990's Pelion finally found a little good fortune. At its high watermark in the early 2000's, Coach Freeman was able to combine a really good group of athletes with good coaching. I believe there may be enough athletic talent at Pelion along with the blue-collar attitude amongst the kids there to win at a high-level. However a culture of softness surrounded this program in the last decade or so of Coach Freeman's tenure. The fact that so many similar schools could out-perform or out-coach this team was very disturbing. Allowing Gilbert to totally outclass you on the field with similar athletes is unacceptable. However, their program has been developed from the ground up in the weight room and with better coaches and player attitudes.
The most difficult things that coach Holland must face is getting the school and community(parents) to buy into the hard work and dedication it will take to fully develop the program. He must get the kids at the school to buy into the high level of discipline that it will take to mold a championship mindset. He must at least reach out to at risk students who are naturally rough and tough but would rather spend Friday and Saturday nights finding trouble. These are the kinds of kids you can go to war with on the football field. I fully believe that he will implement a much more stringent strength and conditioning program and I fully believe that he will meet resistance (player) to it. I would also hope the school administration will allow him to bring in a coach or two.
In summation, the biggest question is can coach Holland win at Pelion? I personally believe he can. Historically, HKT has been really bad but Coach Holland was able to win at a very high level there. He may only win a few games a year his first couple of years but in the long term he can turn the school into a winner. If they can make it deep into the playoffs, I'll count that as a huge success. If they can start swinging the tide against Swansea and Gilbert again, that's even better. The culture change at that school will be very difficult, but the opportunity to do things that they have never done before will be well worth the bumps in the road.
Pelion has mostly been a laughingstock when it comes to its football program. Getting mercilessly beat 63-0 by Blackville Hilda or Ridge Spring Monetta in the 1980's in one thing. Allowing Gilbert coaches and athletic boosters in 1985 to purchase Pelion players RC Colas for halftime, only to see PE teacher football coaches allow their team to drink that poison is the height of incompetence. Throughout the 1990's Pelion finally found a little good fortune. At its high watermark in the early 2000's, Coach Freeman was able to combine a really good group of athletes with good coaching. I believe there may be enough athletic talent at Pelion along with the blue-collar attitude amongst the kids there to win at a high-level. However a culture of softness surrounded this program in the last decade or so of Coach Freeman's tenure. The fact that so many similar schools could out-perform or out-coach this team was very disturbing. Allowing Gilbert to totally outclass you on the field with similar athletes is unacceptable. However, their program has been developed from the ground up in the weight room and with better coaches and player attitudes.
The most difficult things that coach Holland must face is getting the school and community(parents) to buy into the hard work and dedication it will take to fully develop the program. He must get the kids at the school to buy into the high level of discipline that it will take to mold a championship mindset. He must at least reach out to at risk students who are naturally rough and tough but would rather spend Friday and Saturday nights finding trouble. These are the kinds of kids you can go to war with on the football field. I fully believe that he will implement a much more stringent strength and conditioning program and I fully believe that he will meet resistance (player) to it. I would also hope the school administration will allow him to bring in a coach or two.
In summation, the biggest question is can coach Holland win at Pelion? I personally believe he can. Historically, HKT has been really bad but Coach Holland was able to win at a very high level there. He may only win a few games a year his first couple of years but in the long term he can turn the school into a winner. If they can make it deep into the playoffs, I'll count that as a huge success. If they can start swinging the tide against Swansea and Gilbert again, that's even better. The culture change at that school will be very difficult, but the opportunity to do things that they have never done before will be well worth the bumps in the road.
I'm sure Coach Holland is a fine coach. I wish Pelion nothing but success. But to imply that Coach Holland built HKT from the ground up is disingenuous at best. HKT, and Coach Holland, benefited from the RB from Williston transferring in. Good players often make coaches look better than they are and not-as-good players often make coaches look like they are incompetent.
So are you saying Holland just got lucky with a good running back or what?. When Holland took over his first summer he had 7 players. He had to go out and find kids to play ( in his own school) he then built his team to 17 players, and so on. His first season he took the team to the schools first ever appearance in the semi finals (without Jarius Jenkins, the RB you are referring to). The next two years he won state titles. Not saying that Jenkins didn't play a role in winning those games, but Hollands coaching played a major role. So did other players, players who used to play other positions until Holland took over and molded the Trojans into a State Championship team. I'm not sure if Pelion will see immediate results with Holland at the helm, but within a few years I think people will be very pleased. He is a great Coach and Pelion is lucky to have landed him.
All I know is he is stepping into a region this year with Newberry, Fairfield Central, & Keenan. Good luck with that.
Hey Blue, you hit the nail on the head with a lot of your thoughts. I do believe there will be some resistance to change, but the kids will adapt. I think some of the "older guard" coaches from around that area will be more resistant to change. And Holland is a big time strength and conditioning supporter. If I'm not mistaken, the strength coach at Pelion was the coach of the year for 2A and the whole state last year. Him and Holland will run a very tight ship in the weight room. I think Holland will do things that Pelion has never seen or been part of before. And he has a couple of good, young coached at Pelion that can help him. If he could replace a couple, they will be a very good staff and team.
FootballLvr said: ↑
I'm sure Coach Holland is a fine coach. I wish Pelion nothing but success. But to imply that Coach Holland built HKT from the ground up is disingenuous at best. HKT, and Coach Holland, benefited from the RB from Williston transferring in. Good players often make coaches look better than they are and not-as-good players often make coaches look like they are incompetent.
HKT has never had a season like they had his first year making it to the upper state finals with guys that basically started learning his system in the summer since there was no spring no weights, and very few guys to even do anything with during the summer and until school started basically had to beg kids to play in order to play and no Jenkins that year and look at the result. He did build that from the ground up because he instilled discipline where they were lacking from years of bad coaching. His second and third year state titles with far less talent than you know about and yes it is great to have a RB like Jenkins but if it wasn't for Holland doing what he did in the summer and the spring it wouldn't have mattered if Barry Sanders was there if you can't block it right then it doesn't matter. Not saying Pelion will be built that first year but he will make them contenders and having them playing very well.
I'm sure Coach Holland is a fine coach. I wish Pelion nothing but success. But to imply that Coach Holland built HKT from the ground up is disingenuous at best. HKT, and Coach Holland, benefited from the RB from Williston transferring in. Good players often make coaches look better than they are and not-as-good players often make coaches look like they are incompetent.
HKT has never had a season like they had his first year making it to the upper state finals with guys that basically started learning his system in the summer since there was no spring no weights, and very few guys to even do anything with during the summer and until school started basically had to beg kids to play in order to play and no Jenkins that year and look at the result. He did build that from the ground up because he instilled discipline where they were lacking from years of bad coaching. His second and third year state titles with far less talent than you know about and yes it is great to have a RB like Jenkins but if it wasn't for Holland doing what he did in the summer and the spring it wouldn't have mattered if Barry Sanders was there if you can't block it right then it doesn't matter. Not saying Pelion will be built that first year but he will make them contenders and having them playing very well.
You guys would only imagine what it is like to have at most 30 guys on your roster and half that can really play how hard it makes it to have enough to practice and make your starters better and turn the into back to back state champs. Its harder than you think and it almost nerve racking to have to recruit kids to play in your own hall ways.
Well I deleted a sentence about the "coaches" you mentioned. I didn't want my thoughts to look personal. However, the gravy train needs to end but at a smaller school, I don't know if that is possible. If Coach Holland makes it very difficult on all parties involved, they most likely will just move on.