Along the sidelines of the football field, students cheer on the players from the bleachers. Cheerleaders chant and sing to every play. The announcer recites the name of the player who just added points to the board. Teachers, parents, friends and family all come to watch the high school sport. But behind every play, cheer, win and loss, are the ones who put it all together: the coaches.
The football team went to its most recent playoff game in the 2014-2015 season and has gone to the state playoffs every year since 2001 under the coaching of Bill Hall.
“The team is full of hard workers,” Hall said. “I wish Coach [Brian] Harrington and all the players the best success in the world. I hope Coach Harrington hangs around for a lot longer than I did, and I hope they get a ton of wins and finally get that football state championship we’ve been wanting.”
Coach Hall was the head coach for 14 years before handing over the position to Harrington. Although he no longer bears the title of head coach, he still coaches special teams.
Harrington was the defensive coordinator in the past and has worked with Coach Hall but took over the title of head coach just this season.
“[Harrington] is really into making sure the players have a good time, and I feel like that is a really good way to coach your kids; it’s more than just winning for us,” sophomore Dylan Hamer said.
Many players are satisfied with Harrington’s coaching, adding that it is similar to Hall’s but with personal touches and different factors.
“The biggest difference is the offense,” Harrington said. “I’ve gone back to my roots, and we are running the ball a lot more. My football philosophy is that hard work, faith and accountability will produce positive results.”
Players add that he runs by a “work hard, play hard” system.
“You mess up, you run for it. The better you do, the easier the practices are,” senior Jaquan Headen said.
A more drastic change this year was the roster change.
“The lineup is different this year,” sophomore Omar Sbaiti said. “That’s one of the things that was definitely changed.”
Since Coach Hall and Coach Harrington worked together in the years past, older players say they have been able to get used to Coach Harrington before he took the head coach position; his voice has been heard on the field long before now.
“It wasn’t a whole lot of change; it wasn’t like a whole new staff came in,” Hall said. “We do have a couple new coaches, but [the players] have accepted Coach Harrington well and seem to be working hard for him.”
Players agree that the football program is still flourishing and improving every day, through daily training programs and hard work.
“Not too much has changed besides the new head coach,” sophomore Will Yentsch said. “We still grind hard all day, everyday, nonstop.”
Hall says that he is glad he had the opportunity to be the head coach, and he wishes the best for the Chargers.
– By Zoe Willard