Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Busy Spring For New Milford Football Coach

Fagan laying the groundwork for his new program

By Mike Dyer

Patrick Fagan will begin his first season as Milford’s head football coach this fall. Fagan coached Milford’s secondary last season. Prior to that, Fagan, 38, was defensive coordinator at Princeton for a year and defensive coordinator at Loveland for seven seasons. Milford will move from the Greater Miami Conference to the Fort Ancient Valley Conference Buckeye division next season. Fagan took time to answer a few questions recently:

Question: What has this spring been like for you in preparing for the football season this fall?

Answer: The winter, and so far this spring, has been very busy.  I've been laying the groundwork for the Milford Football Program by: meeting with Youth Coaches; meeting with Junior High players; meeting with Parents; attending clinics with my staff; teaching our Junior High kids about our strength program and of course, coaching our high school kids in the weight room.

Q: What have been some early, positive signs about the commitment of your team?

A: There have been some very positive signs early on.  The most positive is the coaching staff that I've been fortunate enough to assemble.  Our kids are going to benefit from great coaching.  There have also been some new kids involved in the football program.  That is a good thing, because we graduated a very large class last season.  The kids that are working with our staff in the weight room have been working very hard.  Additionally, getting the opportunity to coach the junior high kids twice a week in the weight room has been tremendous.  They are a special group.  They are laying the foundation for great success.

Q: What do you hope to get accomplished this summer in preparing for your first game?

A: The one thing that I think we most need to accomplish at Milford, between now and our first game, is to change the mindset of the kids.  Kids at Milford have worked very hard for very long without having the level of success that they envision.  They want to win so badly they can taste it.  It's our job as coaches to change their "want" to win to a realistic confidence that they will win. 

Q: Milford was 2-8, 1-6 in the GMC last season. What changes are you looking to implement to change that record?

A: For us to change the mindset of the kids, we as coaches need to do things differently.  One of my core philosophies as a professional is a belief that in order to get the most out of people, I need to be positive in my communications with them.  My father ingrained that in me as a young person and I demand it of myself.  I demand that of my staff.  The atmosphere around the football program last year was not what I would characterize as a positive atmosphere.  I feel that needs to change.  That being said, we need hold high expectations for our kids on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.  Those expectations need to be met.  When they are not, it doesn't do anyone any good to be soft on a kid.  We will deal with missteps as consistently as we do positives.  In general, though, I think you get better results with a carrot than with a stick. 

Q: How do you change around the attitude of the program?

A: Speaking strictly X's and O's, our schemes will be different than last year's in most ways.  We're currently hashing out the details in spring meetings.  In general, though, offensively, we'll put a high priority on running the football, controlling the clock, and contributing positively to field position.  Defensively, we're based out of a 4-3, but will be somewhat multiple in our alignments.  We have very concrete keys that we read at all 11 positions. We will put a high priority on stopping the run, creating turnovers, and denying the big play.  Our offensive and defensive schemes must compliment one-another.

Q: What will be different about the offense? How about the defense?

A: Our schemes will be simple.  Our kids need to know their assignments so clearly that they don't think about them.  They react.  Good offenses and defenses allow their kids to exert mental energy on what the opponent is doing.  If a kid is busy thinking about what he is supposed to do on a given play, the battle is lost.  It's too late.  I believe that simplicity breeds confidence, and confidence in assignments allows kids to play fast.