NationalHSFootball.com
Winning a state championship is the crowning achievement for many coaches. For others, it’s routine. Either way, it’s become a yardstick for measuring high school coaching success.
Each year, American Football Monthly conducts a survey of head coaches of state champion teams. While the statistics we gather, particularly the data regarding teams’ style of play, are certainly interesting, it’s the comments and personal stories we receive that reveal the most about what it means to win a state championship.
Obviously, there is no single factor that can guarantee a state title. Rather, it’s a combination of motivated players, dedicated coaches, well-though-out offensive and defensive schemes, hard work, motivation and sometimes luck that are most often responsible for delivering a championship trophy.
As we approach the 2014 playoffs we will take a look back at five championship teams with unique stories that rose to championship heights in 2013.
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Doniphan, Nebraska is in Cornhusker country. The town of 829 in central Nebraska is surrounded by farming operations. The Doniphan-Trumbull High School colors are red and white. The football field lies adjacent to Tom Osborne Expressway.
But the missing ingredient from the school’s football program prior to Brent Bruckner being named head coach was a culture of winning. He spent four years as an assistant before getting his chance to steer the ship in a new direction. “It was an evolution, no question,” Bruckner said. “When we started, there were a few kids that would work hard and do the right things, but not enough of them to make a drastic difference to the results. It just wasn’t enough and we needed change.”
One challenge was the small size of the school. Doniphan-Trumball is a Class C2 school with a district-wide enrollment of 479. Its senior class graduated 29 students in 2013.
Bruckner instituted change on several levels. “One change was to focus on youth and get players accustomed to the level of effort that we required. Another change was to make the weight room a place to build football players and not guys that could just lift weights. The third change was to inject pride into what was happening with the program throughout at the school.”
The new course did not take hold immediately as the team was 14-21 in his first four years. “When we first started to make our changes, there wasn’t a lot of interest. Some thought that it was crazy – that it was too much. I talked about winning state and, even as I said the words, they felt like a distant dream,” he said. “Buying into the process and improving every day was a huge part of it. We built it in the weight room and that was part of a shift because of what we did on offense and defense and so the weights had to change, too.”
Bruckner said the team has to adjust what it does schematically based on what kids come out. When he first took over the team had a quarterback that was 5-foot-6 and they ran a lot of zone-read while the last two years they had a pocket passer who was able to throw it downfield more frequently – even setting state offensive records for their classification – with an up-tempo, no-huddle attack.
Eventually, the foundation was built for a 10-3 semifinal appearance in 2012 and the 13-0 state championship of 2013. For the 33-year old, it was a decade in the making and the trophy was tangible evidence that his mission to change the culture of the program and, by extension, the school, was a success. “Confidence in the school and a pride in being there wasn’t there before. Now you can see that and people are proud to say they go to school here and they play sports here.”
The pride of winning the state title is something that Bruckner believes can continue to infiltrate the school. He is stepping aside as the head coach for a seat in the principal office where he hopes he can keep effecting positive change throughout the school. “I think that I can push this culture of success throughout the halls and make this place very special.”
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