All the momentum the Pirates appeared to have built after ending a 16-year playoff drought last fall seemed to hit a wall this summer.
The sudden resignation of head coach Bruce Dini caught everyone off guard. It also left the program without a head coach eight weeks before the start of the season.
"It's a total rebuild from the ground up,'' first year head coach Kyle Cassamas said. "No doubt, it's a challenge starting this late. I'm focused on the future, not the end result.''
That's not to suggest Stevenson won't look to build off of last year's postseason appearance. Hope has turned to expectations for those that are back in uniform on the Pebble Beach campus.
"With the new coaching staff and character of players we have, we believe we can be a playoff team again,'' Stevenson quarterback Alex Murray said. "I'm looking to get to the next level.''
While the program has some parts to work with, starting with Murray, the revamped Mission Trail Athletic League has the Pirates in the Upper Division.
Duplicating last year's postseason run will be a tall order. Yet, to assume last fall was a fluke would be misguided information.
"We're smart kids,'' Stevenson running back Ben Mudd said. "It's a new system. It will take time. But it's not complicated. If we keep grinding, we'll be fine.''
Granted, graduation stripped Stevenson of some key components, including The Herald's Athlete of the Year in Will Lansbury.
Hold off on the eulogies.
Stuck behind a record setting quarterback, Murray could have started for a lot of teams last fall. He knows the system and his accurate and athletic.
"My goal is to build a great foundation for the future,'' Murray said. "But I'm not looking at this year as a rebuilding project.''
When Cassamas - hired in mid July - referred to it as a total rebuild, he was talking about a brand new coaching staff, a new system and a new attitude towards building the numbers in the program.
"My focus is the process,'' said Cassamas, whose squad started eight days after the official starting date because of border students. "My seniors are planting seeds for the future.''
One of those seniors is Mudd, who chalked up nearly 200 rushing yards and a team high four rushing touchdowns in the teams final five games.
"I'm trying to set a good example for the younger kids,'' said Mudd, who missed the first half of last fall with injuries. "I want to help lay the foundation for the future.''
But is the future now at Stevenson?
There is a core back that got a taste of the postseason, including receiver Daniel Garrett.
"We certainly don't want to go 16 years between playoff appearances,'' Cassamas said. "This place is a potential gold mine with our location. We should have more than 48 kids in the entire program."
The key or concern for Stevenson is what it has been for the last two decades. Depth and health. The roster will again hover around 22 to 25 players.
With an up-tempo offense, the defense doesn't always get a lot of time to recover. Not that it will matter with seven players potentially going both ways.
"I'm attacking it like we're coming off a playoff season,'' Cassamas said. "We're changing things up. But that doesn't mean we don't believe we can't get back to the postseason."
The Pirates were an offensive juggernaut in the first half last year, producing 250 points. But in the second half, that figure dropped to 103 points.
Stamina will always be an issue when your numbers are down. Then again, this is a program that has produced four winning seasons in the last five years.
"We implemented summer workouts for the first time here in the morning and evening,'' Cassamas said. "The turnouts were great. We're not as far behind as people think.''
And while the lack of a full off-season, the traditional late start to practice and a nine-game schedule instead of 10 are all obstacles to overcome, the Pirates are always a sleeper team in the MTAL.
No comments:
Post a Comment