Schutt Sports High School Coaches of the Year

SOUTH

John Parchman,
Hoboken HS, Hoboken, NJ
Robert E. Lee HS, Midland, Texas
1999: 15-0, Class 5A,
Div. I state champs
Record at school: 57-8-1, 5 years

When you win a football state title in Texas, you've done something. When you do it two years in a row, that's really special.

And special is a very accurate way to describe coach John Parchman's Midland Lee Rebels. In the last two seasons, Lee High School has claimed back-to-back Class 5A Texas Bowl state titles, won 30 of 31 games, and this year the school claimed the mythical national crown as USA Today's No. 1 team while finishing No. 3 in American Football Monthly's final top 25 rankings.

Parchman has always had success while coaching 29 years at nine different schools - all in West Texas - but never experienced anything like what's going on at Lee. "We're kind of the big show in town," said Parchman, noting that there are no college or professional teams within 125 miles of Midland. "We deal with the attention. If you know you're going to always have three TV cameras out at practice, then it's not that big a deal. You'd be surprised how humble the kids are about everything. Most of them are just football players that enjoy the game."

And play it pretty well.

In a conference that includes two state powers from Odessa, crosstown rival Midland HS and two strong programs from Abilene, it's no walk in the park to advance on to the playoffs. "They're all large 5A schools, all football towns, and I think our conference has won 18 state championships," Parchman said. "It's been tough out here."

But the Rebels have almost made it look easy in recent years. Parchman credits an experienced, stabile coaching staff, a super feeder program that his staff oversees from the seventh grade on, and of course, a great group of talented players willing to give it their all to exceed on the football field. With Ron Tucker of the St. Louis Rams following Casey Jones of the Denver Broncos, Lee HS alums have claimed a Super Bowl ring in each of the last three NFL campaigns.

"In my five years here we haven't had a coach leave, except one who retired," Parchman said. "We enjoy working with each other. All of our coaches visit with the young kids in town and we nurture that (winning tradition) as much as we can. Our program is hard; it's not for everybody."

But enough kids handle the demanding year-round commitment, the strength programs and football classes, to make Lee one of the nation's top prep programs since Parchman took over.

Not only has tailback Cedric Benson scored five touchdowns in each of the Rebels' two championship games, but the speedy, 5-foot-11, 205-pounder is back to try and make it three in a row. Benson finished his junior year with 3,517 yards - the fourth-best total ever in Texas - and scored 51 touchdowns. He may be the nation's top recruit his senior season.

Even though several seniors have moved on, it's a safe bet that Benson will line up in the I, the Rebels will run the ball two out of three plays, and Lee will continue to rack up the wins in 2000.

SOUTHEAST

Dennis Dunn,
Evangel Christian Academy, Shreveport, La.
1999 record: 15-0,
5A state champs (4th straight title)
Record at school: 107-8, 8 years

Evangel Christian Academy coach Dennis Dunn believes his school and his team may actually get a little extra help from above. While not everyone shares Dunn's beliefs, no one can argue with his success on the football field.

When Evangel Christian knocked off West Monroe HS, a much larger school and Louisiana's 5A defending state champions, 20-14 at the Super Dome, Dunn's squad had claimed its fourth straight championship and extended its winning streak to 60 games. Only a 31-28 loss in the state semifinals in 1995 separates the school from seven straight state titles and 71 straight wins.

"We're a very Christian school not in name only," said Dunn, whose team finished No. 1 in American Football Monthly's final Top 25 national rankings and also claimed the Fox Fab 50 national title. "We believe God has been very instrumental in our success."

Featuring a wide-open passing attack led by quarterback Brock Berlin (now at the University of Florida), the school was able to move up to 5A and win it all even though it could have competed at 4A or maybe even 3A because of its smaller enrollment.

Fortunately, Berlin was at his best in the finals, helping erase a 14-6 deficit and cap a brilliant prep career with his third consecutive season of at least 4,000 yards through the air. "Brock had a great night," Dunn said. "It might have been his finest game."

Berlin then graduated early and got an early start on his football and educational career at Florida, attending classes in January and getting acquainted with coach Steve Spurrier's playbook earlier than most seniors from the Class of 2000. Berlin was proceeded at Evangel by a quarterback who threw for 4,650 in 1996, and Dunn's first quarterback at the school was Josh Booty, one of the most prolific high school quarterbacks ever. Booty is now playing quarterback at LSU after giving professional baseball a try in the Florida Marlins system.

"We're a wide-open spread offense and we love to throw it," admitted Dunn, whose staff has worked with Chicago Bears offensive coordinator and former Lousiana Tech coach Gary Crowton. "We're similar to what Gary's offense did at Tech."

Even so, Eddie Smith had a pair of 100-yard rushing games in the playoffs and Nemi Rogers reached the century mark on the ground in the title game. Defensive tackle Steve Lee (6-3, 300) and defensive back Phillip Geiggar are headed to the University of Texas and receiver Justin Hermes will play at Kentucky.

But that's not to say Dunn is ready for a rebuilding year. Dunn and his staff that features several former head coaches - including Denny Durham, who was the school's initial football coach in 1989 when the sport debuted at Evangel - will plug 6-5, 180-pound Brent Rawls in at quarterback and count of a bunch of newcomers who also are not used to losing.

"We've got several holes to fill," Dunn said. "But we've got a great group of JV, freshmen and eighth-grades that were all undefeated. Once the kids have had success it breeds itself. We always have a group of seniors that are very goal-orientated. The next senior class doesn't want to be the one to end the steak."

EAST

Ed Stinson,
Hoboken HS, Hoboken, NJ
1999 record: 12-0,
Group 3 state champs
Record at school:185-46-3,
23 years

The town and the school aren't all that big and the demands on the players are immense, yet those who stick it out at Hoboken HS in New Jersey can expect to get a lot in return.

A perfect 12-0 1999 season climaxed by the school's second straight Group 3 state championship leaves the program with a 38-game winning streak and a 62-1 mark over the last six years. Only an overtime loss in the title game to a team quarterbacked by Chris Simms in 1997 has kept Hoboken from winning 63 straight games and six titles in a row.

"It's programatic," coach Ed Stinson said in trying to explain the great run of success. "Each year it's an 11-month commitment for the coaches and the players. The last six years we've had four weeks off after the championship game."

That's when the grueling cycle of strength training, flexible conditioning, position drills and group work leads into the formal football camp each August, the preseason and then the regular campaign has beaten a path to the title game the first Sat. in December for each of the last six years.

"Not everybody can commit to 11 months, yet we don't apologize for that," Stinson said. "It's a combination of players and opportunity, with opportunity being the program."

Every year Hoboken seems to produce Division I players, but last year's squad was led by a special pair, RB/DB Tyrell Dortch, who is off to Michigan State after being named the Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey and rushing for four TDs and 288 yards in a 27-7 defeat of Wayne Hills in the title game at Giants Stadium, and Carlos Perez, who used his great speed and hands to land an offer from Florida even though Hoboken's Delaware Wing-T offense relies on a strong ground game. Perez averaged 25 yards a catch and went over 100 yards against Wayne Hills.

"We can't replace two All-Americans," Stinson said. "We're going to need more of a broad-based effort. This year more of the kids will have to step up and share the load."

It will help if the defense keeps up its stingy ways. Stinson's first team defense has only allowed 12 touchdowns total during the school's back-to-back title years.

Stinson said the school's decreasing enrollment will most likely bump the football team down to Group 2 in the year 2000. But another big effort may lead to another big celebration for Hoboken HS. "Each year it's a kick," Stinson said. "The mayor has a parade, the school's closed and the younger schools make posters. We have tremendous support from the mayor's office on down." MIDWEST

Joe Bunge,
Naperville Central HS,
Naperville, IL
1999 record: 14-0
Record at school: 121-40,
14 seasons

After past nationally ranked teams at Naperville Central came up short of winning the big one, veteran coach Joe Bunge began to wonder at times if he would ever finish on top.

Twice in recent years his Redhawks had fallen deep in the state playoffs to a team they had beaten in the regular season, including a one-point loss suffered in the state championship game to rival Wheaton Warrenville South. But Central left little doubt in 1999 that it was the best the state of Illinois had to offer, capping a perfect season with a 56-31 victory over Schaumburg in the Class 6A championship game.

"It was really a good feeling to finally achieve a goal that you've been working on for a long time," said Bunge, who has guided Central to the state semifinals four times in the 1990s and had advanced to the quarterfinals seven other times before finally claiming a state crown. "We had been close a few other years. For 30 years, like every other coach, we'd say at the start of the season that we wanted to win a championship. When it finally happens, you say, 'Holy Cow!'"

Central, as usual, played one of the tougher schedules in the state. Five of its nine regular season games came against state playoff teams, and the Redhawks had to beat DuPage Valley Conference foes Wheaton Warrenville South (1998 state champions) and Glenbard East a second time in the playoffs after defeating them en route to Bunge's sixth conference title. The Redhawks have traveled to national power Massillon (Ohio) and played host to California power Bishop Amat two years ago.

"Whoever will play us," Bunge said, assessing his team's schedule. Four times in the 1990s the program was ranked by USA Today, and Central has gone 27-14 in the playoffs under Bunge's tutelage. Last year's team finished No. 5 in both the American Football Monthly's final Top 25 rankings and USA Today's final poll.

The 1999 version finally completed the mission, outscoring its opponents 579-194 and setting the state record for most points scored in a title game when tailback Ryan Clifford capped off a state-record 51-touchdown season by helping the Redhawks run up 56 points in the finale.

"You can't win a state championship without the players and the assistant coaches," said Bunge, who coached in the Chicago Public League before coming to Naperville in themid 1980s. "I think tradition has something to do with it."

And there's plenty of talent back next year to carry on the winning ways. Quarterback Owen Daniels (6-4, 215 pounds) will return after completing 91 of 148 passes for 1,708 yards and 16 TDs with just one interception. Speedy receiver Kevin Noel has drawn attention from everybody including Big Ten powers Ohio State and Michigan, and eight lettermen return from the team's quick, attacking defense.

WEST

Roger Dupaix,
Skyline HS, Salt Lake City, Utah
1999 record: 13-0, 5A state champs
Record at school: 141-30,
14 years

After a whole lot of success in the 1960s and 1970s, Skyline High School had some struggles in the early to mid 1980s. But coach Roger Dupaix helped get the program back on top and it has stayed there for quite some time now.

When Skyline cruised past Taylorsville 49-18 last fall, it had claimed its fifth straight Class 5A state title (Utah's large-school class) and seventh in the last 10 years. The school dominated the state in the decade and looks prepared to carry the success into the new millennium.

"It's been wonderful," said Dupaix, who has reached nine state championship games at Skyline and compiled a lofty 118-16 record in the 1990s." The kids are very cognizant of what Skyline teams have done in the past. There's a big commitment to keep that tradition alive."

Like most of the nation's top programs, Skyline has a stable, experienced coaching staff and no lack of players. Five of Dupaix's assistants have been with him at the school all 14 years despite offers to take head coaching jobs elsewhere. "It's just fortunate we've been together this long," Dupaix said. "The stability of the coaches and having so much tradition are two of the reasons (for all the success)."

Quarterback Branden VanLeeuwen passed for about 1,000 yards and ran the team's wishbone option well. He was named State MVP by one news service in Utah, while defensive back/wide receiver Bo Nagahi was named the state's top player by a couple other services. Offensive lineman Steve Dahl (6-6, 290) and running back Rob Sirstius are each headed to the University of Utah along with Nagahi, and defensive lineman Jon Matich is headed to Weber State.

"We had an outstanding class of 2000," said Dupaix, who had one of his alums (defensive end John Frank) taken by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Draft in April.

Even with the loss of that talented senior class, Skyline will be strong again this fall. Steve Tate will play quarterback after guiding the jayvee squad to a perfect record in 1999 and then playing free safety on the championship squad in the playoffs. Running back Matt Cannon saw plenty of action in the playoffs last year and should have a big campaign as a starter in 2000. "We've been real fortunate," Dupaix said. "We have a two-platoon system and play a full JV schedule."

Skyline averaged 41.5 points during its unbeaten run last year and won the title game by five touchdowns, but there was a scare in the quarterfinals when they fell behind 15-0 to Hillcrest. Dupaix said the kids were nervous briefly but turned things around to win 49-22.

The team's speedy attacking defense forced the most turnovers ever at Skyline and deserves much of the credit for the team's 20-game winning streak.