PREVIEW: New Assistant Coaches Bringing New Philosophies to Moniteau This Season

WEST SUNBURY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Things are going to look a lot different this season in Moniteau.

New offense. New defense. New assistant coaches — some familiar faces, some not.

Change is in the air and the Warriors hope it brings with it more success on the football field.

(Pictured above, from left: Moniteau seniors Brock Beachem, Jayden Keene, Matt Baptiste, Logan Campbell, Adam Grossman and Peyton Kohlmeyer/photo by Kathy Sutton)

Cecil Blauser, who was the head football coach for Moniteau in 2013 before serving as an assistant coach at Slippery Rock High School since, is back as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach this year.

Dylan Neal, another former Slippery Rock High assistant and a player there, is the new defensive coordinator.

And Glenn Hazlet also joins the staff, bringing with him decades of coaching experience.

“Glenn has been coaching longer than I’ve been alive,” said Moniteau head football coach Bob Rottman.

The changes have already been profound for a program that has had just one winning season since 2011.

“In the past, it was me and usually like two other coaches on the varsity staff,” Rottman said. “Now it’s me and there’s like 10 assistants. That’s a big thing. I brought these guys in to do a job. I brought Cecil in to do his job. I brought Dylan in to do his job, and I’m letting them do it. They want to run what they are comfortable with.”

The new blood has already created a buzz around the football team this year.

“Cecil is excited to be back,” Rottman said. “Dylan is excited to be here. They’re bringing some new energy, and the volunteer coaches are bringing a lot of energy. The kids are buying into that. We are a young football team — it seems we’re forever young because we have small class sizes — but we have a lot of young talent. It’s going to be a matter of how fast they can mature.”

The offense will be completely revamped.

Moniteau will run a triple-option attack to try to highlight some of that young, explosive talent on offense.

Senior Logan Campbell will likely benefit the most from the switch.

Last year, Campbell rushed for 281 yards and five touchdowns and also caught a team-leading 17 passes for 181 yards.

“He’s probably going to be our workhorse,” Rottman said of Campbell. “His running mate in the backfield is going to be Kole Scott, he’s a sophomore, and he’s gonna be good. We also have a quarterback battle going on right now. Sophomore Brendin Sankey and junior Trent Beachem have been pushing each other to be better.”

Scott was dynamic in the small sample size he turned in at the varsity level last season, averaging 10.9 yards per rushing attempt. He also scored two touchdowns.

Beachem threw for 145 yards in limited action at quarterback. He left his final game of the season against Keystone in a medical helicopter after breaking his femur, but has made a full recovery.

“We have quite a bit of speed,” Rottman said. “We don’t have anybody who is lightning fast, but overall, our team speed is pretty good.

“We’re deep at skill,” the coach added. “We have some younger guys who are just athletes, and that’s encouraging. We have some guys back from last year, a couple of seniors in Brock Beachem and Adam Grossman, who can have some big years for us.”

So far in camp, players have digested the new offense and defense well.

“They’re learning new systems and learning new terminology,” Rottman said. “We incorporated some of the stuff we’ve been doing over the years with some new stuff. The new coaches are bringing in new drills in practice and it’s kind of a mash up of everything. It’s coming along. It’s working really well.”

The line has one returning starter in senior Jayden Keene, but the Warriors will be bigger up front than they have been recently.

Last year, the Warriors’ center weighed 149 pounds. The right guard tipped the scales at 146. The left tackle was 172 pounds.

This year, Keene is the only lineman who weights less than 200 pounds.

“They played tough football last year,” Rottman said. “But when you are going up against someone 100 pounds heavier than you for an entire football game, it wears you out.”

Which was where some of Moniteau’s struggles came from last year.

The Warriors were in several games before watching things unravel quickly in the second half.

“We played Central Clarion, the best team in Class 2A last year, the 2A champs, and we were down 13-0 at halftime,” Rottman said. “If you watch the film, we played with teams last season. I think we’ll be a very competitive football team. Our goal right now is to get back in the playoffs.”

The defense will also look different this year under Neal.

Playing free and unencumbered is the focus.

“The important part is really getting locked down on the base principles of your defense,” Rottman said. “As long as you get that down, it’s a little easier to adjust as you go. Keep it simple and play fast.”

Moniteau players are also hitting the field with a big chip on their shoulders.

Coming off 2-8, 1-8 and 2-6 records the last three seasons, few outside Moniteau believe the Warriors can accomplish much this year.

“It motivates us a lot to prove them wrong,” Campbell said.

Rottman, though, cares little about the opinions that people outside of locker room hold about his team.

“I don’t really concern myself too much about what other teams think of us,” Rottman said. “I know, to me, it’s more about wanting to improve. When we don’t have the season that I think we should have, or could have, it eats at me. One of the hardest things to do is to go up at the football banquet at the end of the year when you’re 2-8 and stand in front of all the parents and all the kids and feel like you let them all down. I get to know these kids really well, building a relationship with them over four years, so I want the best for them.

“They’re really good kids. They are hard workers and I think they have a chance to make some noise this year,” he added. “It’s really gonna fall back on how much do they want it? How hungry are they? What are they willing to put into it? How hard are they willing to go? We’ll be there for them, me and the coaching staff, every step of the way.”