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Huddle Up! Season 1, Episode 3 · Huddle Up!

• Paul Durham: Hello everyone, this is Paul Durham and it's time to huddle up for the Wilson Times Sports Podcast, bringing you conversations with the coaches, athletes, and people who make our local sports special. Welcome to episode three of Huddle Up, the Wilson Times Sports Podcast. This week we have a couple of guys who made their head coaching debuts at their alma maters this week. Joshua Sims at Bettingfield, class of 2009 graduate, and Marcus Johnson at Fike, class of 2006. It was a little bit opposite ends of the spectrum. Bettingfield lost 40 to nothing to North Johnston on Thursday. And Fike went to Northmore and won eighty to nothing, which we believe is some kind of record for as far as points scored, and I'm absolutely positive it's a record for winning margin. Let's hear what both of these guys have to tell us. All right, I'm here with Beddingfield High Head Coach Joshua Sims who made his coaching debut at his alma mater Thursday night against North Johnston. wasn't one that you wanted to remember for the the reason of the outcome coach, it was a 40 loss for Beddingfield, but obviously Something you probably don't want to forget with you and your team as you move forward because sometimes those losses are great motivators. Lots of things to improve upon, I'm sure. but where do you begin unpacking that loss with you and your staff, Coach? Joshua Sims Sr.: Yeah, well, first off, Paul, man, thanks for having me, man. Thanks to the Wilson Daily Times, man, for for always being a great beacon of of support for Wilson Wilson County schools as well as you know, just high school football and football in general and sports in general here in the area. but look, man, listen, man, forty to nothing was absolutely it doesn't feel like it was forty to nothing. I'm gonna be honest, man. It doesn't feel like that. we made mistakes. We kind of hurt ourselves, a lot of self inflicted wounds, man, and you know, hats off to that that program for taking advantage of our mistakes. but some of these games are games, man, I I've played in plenty of them and and now I've coached in in enough of them where it doesn't feel like that was the final score, man. So after the game, you and I talked and and I talked about man, you talked about man coaching you got that look in your eye like you want to go right back out there and go practice. And and that's the truth because we felt like we had a really good game plan going into that game and and it and what's very effective. But when you got bad snaps, you got bad handoffs, you know, fumbling the ball, putting the ball on the ground, things of that sort, things that that a young team are that's just gonna do. I I'd rather make these mistakes in August and you know, make these mistakes the first weekend in August and and then have a chance to be able to get it correct get it corrected than to make these mistakes in October when it's really starting to count in November when it's is playoff time and you you really want to try to make a run. I I don't want to make those same mistakes then. I don't want to make these same mistakes this week coming. and so we've got a lot of work to do to be able to get that done. But you know, it didn't feel like forwarded or nothing. I'm gonna be honest, Paul. It really didn't. we did a great job, hats off to my staff. We did a great job of analyzing the analyzing the film, came back in the next day, got the guys back in the building the next day. We looked at the film, we looked at those mistakes, and that's really step one. You know, you talk about how do we unpack it. that's step one. In order for you to unpack it, man, you gotta unzip that bag. And you gotta take it out piece by piece. You gotta take take every cloth piece of clothing out of the bag piece by piece. you cannot dump everything out of the bag at one time because then you got even more of a mess. but if you take it out piece by piece, organize it so it's understood that this needs to go here, this needs to go there, you know. It you go through the bag and see what may have fallen out of the the travel bag. You know, did your toothpaste fall out of the t travel bag? And and for us in in a lot of ways, we did have some things that that That got messed up in the process inside the bag. And so we had some cleanup we needed to do. but in order to be able to truly unpack the bag correctly and have it organized so that we don't have a mess up like that again, you know, it takes you to do it step by step, piece by piece. And so I feel like we've we've started that process, we've already gotten that process, but that process won't be concluded anytime soon. We've got a long way to go. And so I'm looking forward to this group and us truly unpacking this and really taking those steps forward. Paul Durham: Well, because you're right, it did not seem like forty And I think, you know, every game comes down to a few plays. And I think the two that really broke your back Friday night or Thursday night, excuse me, was obviously that fumble. you're down sixteen you know, you can come back from that. You'd move the ball if you could just hold on to it long enough. And the defense had played well at times. Obviously they had some good luck. They dropped two fumbles, recovered both of them. One of them turned into a twelve yard touchdown run. Joshua Sims Sr.: Yeah. Paul Durham: but that fumble that you guys lost and they returned at forty four yards and then you didn't recover the second half kickoff and they got a fifty yard touchdown. It was like the game was over at that point. but you know, those two plays really kind of made it worse. I felt like the game was within y'all's reach up until that fifty yard run to start the second half and then it really kind of was over. Joshua Sims Sr.: Yeah. Paul Durham: but you know, there again you learn from that stuff and move on for your guys. I'm sure they're Probably remembering it. Let's talk about some good things Friday night. I mean Thursday night. I keep saying Friday night. I keep wanting to say Friday night. But Thursday night, your passing game was on point. You had two quarterbacks, Rayshaun Bynum, Kwacie Holiday Jr. They combined 12 of 18 passing. That's good any day. Wasn't any long passes, but you guys were clicking. What did you like Joshua Sims Sr.: Yeah. Paul Durham: most about that as a former betting field receiver? and what still needs work? Joshua Sims Sr.: Yeah, man, I I'm gonna be honest, man. That was a that was a big time silver lining for us, man. you know, having that happen. And and listen, it would have continued to keep going. You know, we made some some seismic mistakes in some situations. We had a drive where, you know, three out of the four plays on that drive, we either had a bad snap or we had a penalty. And so when we had some drives like we did that we put together with Kwacie at quarterback, that drive before we got to halftime, man, where, you know, ball is in the air, our freshman Smaja King. comes down with the ball. We felt like he had two feet down and and kind of got to moving. And we we went went back and looked at the film. it was like, dog, man, that's supposed to be touchdown. But you just have moments like that, man, that make you be like, okay, we can get this done, man. I'm gonna be honest, man. we have a good football team. But the truth is, Paul, we're young, man. 80% of my of my roster is supposed to be playing on that night, on that Thursday night. That's the reason why you keep flipping between the Thursday Paul Durham: Yeah. Joshua Sims Sr.: and Friday is because 80% of our roster is supposed to be playing on Thursday nights, man, and playing JV football. But there has to be that I've asked them to come up and play varsity football. And the truth is that you're gonna make some young mistakes. But when you got silver lining like that with a sophomore quarterback like a Rayshaun Bynum who we believe, I told you at the beginning of the season, he can make every throw, man. It's not a situation where he can't make the throws. He can make every single throw. But it's about being able to help him to understand: hey, you don't have to try to get that extra yard or two. Throw the ball out of bounds, man. Get get down, you know, things of that sort. Let's live to punt. It's okay for us to punt. But what we can't have is we can't have a situation where you're trying to get outside, trying to make an extra play, and then you mess around and get hurt. And then, of course, on them sidelines, the way where the offensive line is at, that's where the most trouble can always happen. And so, you know, I'm very proud of that. I'm very proud of us being able to go 12 of 18 from that perspective. We have some opportunities to be able to go and do even more. but you know, of course, such is life. we had some situations happen, some some injuries that happen, and luckily, thank thanks to God, man, that those injuries were not significant and and guys will be back. We'll be back a hundred percent come this Friday against Dixon. But to your point, man, I was very, very proud to see twelve of eighteen in our first game bringing back the spread. the truth is that man, this is the third system for a lot of these guys in three years. for the majority of these guys, it's the third system in three years that they've had to play up under. And so A lot of the ways that I called offense, a lot of ways we called offense, a lot of the things, the terminology, Coach Parker, who's co-offensive coordinator, the terminology he uses, or Coach Lyndon having to adjust the terminology from last year being in one system to this year being in a different system. A lot of that stuff is is is interchangeable. These guys are gonna continue to understand it, but I was very, very proud that the first week in August, we went 12 18 in the air. And and we got we gotta finish it out. we switched out quarterbacks because Ray had gone down. He had got hit that play. where he fumbled the ball and they scooped and scored, he actually had hurt his wrist. And so we we needed to get him out of there to protect that young man to be able to get him a chance to get to the doctor, get it figured out what was wrong and what happened. And luckily he was not injured significantly. Man, he had a a little bruise and and it hurt. And and when it's your first game playing at quarterback and things are kind of going a little bit awry, you know, sometimes that can feel a little bit different. But Ray Ray's a tough kid. He'll be back this Friday against Dixon. But that's the reason why we switched out quarterbacks, man. We went to Kwacie because Elder Statesman, he's a senior. He's played quarterback in this system for us during the summer as we were preparing to get ready for the season. So we still got a lot of things to work on timing-wise as far as some being able to make the throws, but we're gonna be alright Paul Durham: Yeah, I was wondering about it. I wasn't sure if Ray shaun got hurt or not. But hey, Kwacie I mean, he you know, his his passes aren't the tightest spirals, but they were accurate. They were right where they needed to be. and so that's I think was a big reason you guys were able to compete some complete some passes there in the second half. Now, Coach, I'm gonna ask you, you knew as a Beddingfield graduate, 2009 graduate, obviously the teams you played on were a little bit deeper and and more talented. Because those were some of the best teams I remember seeing at Beddingfield. But you knew Joshua Sims Sr.: Yes, sir. Paul Durham: this was going to be a challenge. obviously you didn't come here thinking everything was going to be rosy. it never is in life, and certainly not coaching football. And obviously, if you've coached at Beddingfield or played at Beddingfield, you know there's some challenges. Now, did this game reveal any deeper challenges for you guys to get back on that path you want to be in? Or are you prepared for this? And how are you going to get these kids to put this game behind them? Joshua Sims Sr.: Yeah, man, we we I I don't think that this revealed any deeper challenges, Paul. I I think that this is is such as life, man. We've got a great deal. Here's one of the positive things, right? Is after the game Thursday, I was approached by three additional kids. and their parents via either phone call or or they walked up to me, you know, as I was leaving out of the building and said, Hey coach man, I want to play for you, man. I believe that you you got a chance we got a chance to do something special. And I want to be a part of this. I just wasn't very, very communicative during the summer. I didn't know what was going on. I mean that right there alone, if we we talk about revealing any any d deeper challenges, what that does is it it actually reveals a deeper opportunity. you know, Bedding field Is and I understand this place. And I I love this place with all my heart, man. And and everything that we have as far as an opportunities in front of us, it's gonna be done inside of the football field. We've got some things we gotta update and fix. The only challenge that sits in front of us is that we're young. We don't have enough high school snaps collectively on our team yet for guys to know how to be able to correct the mistakes that we're making. So they've gotta go through it to get to it. I mean, that's just the truth, is that this team. has to go through some challenges, go through making mistakes. And so that's what that was my message to them Friday when we got back inside the building is that guys, some of these mistakes, you guys are just gonna have to make. It's not enough for me to tell you. It's not enough for your coaches to tell you, hey man, don't do this, don't do that, don't do this, don't do that. You've got to go through these challenges. You got to make the mistakes so you know, hey man, I gotta get this, I gotta do this, right? Like we had, you know, nine penalties for 70 yards, man. That is you know, that is resident of of young mistakes. when I'm seeing some of my receivers, their feet just a little too tight. That's something that, you know, I get a chance to get on the film and show you. Hey, man, you got your feet too tight. You're unbalanced. That's why you jump and fall. That's why you fall starting. You don't even have your eyes inside that offensive line, man, looking at the ball. that's why you jumping off. That's why you fall starting. Hey guys, when you when we're shifting, if you're making a bad shift, just stop. Stop moving, and then we can reset. W the but again, that's just things that we've gotta fix that of course comes with not having a ton of, you know, high school snaps, snaps on this level and and opportunity. So we're gonna get those things fixed. I don't think there's any deeper issue or challenge. I think what it is is that we're just young and and there's a lot of growing up we got to do. But I will say when this team grows up and they and it clicks, it's gonna be a problem. It's gonna be a problem. I just as a as a head coach and as a Beddingfield grad and as a person who's dialed into the community, I hope that we can be able to kind of figure that out and and get that thing to clicking a little sooner rather than later. But it's gonna click, man. These guys they've already put it in behind them. I I taught these guys about the 48 hour rule earlier this summer. That that's my same thing. 48 hours, I don't get on social media. I don't care win lose, or draw, win lose or tie. I'm not getting on social media. I don't wanna hear from it. I I'm gonna probably talk to you, of course. Immediately after the game, but after that, I don't wanna talk to any outside voices and convers have any conversation with outside voices outside of that. And that's something that this this young team and this team in general has has taken on too. That's a part of taking on the personality of the head coach. So forty eight hours after we're now forty eight well past forty eight hours after the game, it w it's over with. we're now on to Dixon, we're on to the next ball game, and we're gonna be able to get that out of our mind and get ready to rock and roll. And I've got enough text messages and phone calls from parents and players that say, Coach, man, I'm I'm hungry to get back out there. We're ready to go. Paul Durham: All right. Well, I know you were ready to go out there and practice Friday and I could see it on your face. So you can't wait to get out there Monday for practice and and get ready for Dixon. And you guys are probably gonna find that you know things get a lot better with each week because that's the thing about being young. You don't stay young forever. You get experience every time you snap the ball. So Joshua Sims Sr.: That's right. Paul Durham: that will be a good thing for you guys. Coach Sims, thank you so much for joining us on Huddle Up This Week. Hope to have you again on the show on the podcast a little later in the season. And best of luck to you. Joshua Sims Sr.: Yes, sir, man. Thanks for having me. Be Bruin! Be Bruin! Let's go. Paul Durham: All right, I am here with Fike High football head coach Marcus Johnson, who could not have had a better debut as the head coach of his alma mater, winning 80 to nothing at North Moore on Thursday. I think that's a record for the points scored for a Fike football team. I'm almost 100% positive that is the biggest winning margin for a Fike football team. Man, what obviously a lot of things went right for you guys. What worked really well, Marcus, you can just jump in at any point to talk about what went well because so many different things did. Marcus Johnson: man, I would think man everything kind of went in our favor in that game. The ball stayed on our end of the field the majority of the game. I mean opening the game up with with the kickoff return for a touchdown. Our first series on defense we had a three and out, got a chance to get on the field on the short end of the field. We had a had a play drawn up and it you know, we made some mistakes here, but we ended up capitalizing off of it with a bomb to Braylon. other than that, I mean, what I can't ask for a better situation, but I definitely didn't expect it to be in that type of manner. Paul Durham: Now, exactly. You you nobody expects to win a football game eighty to nothing. So now you're going into week two, you got the home opener this Friday against South Johnston, a team that you probably even remember I think was in the conference with Fike when you were there as a offensive assistant a few years ago. they're not probably gonna be as easy to beat as North Moore I'm guessing, but obviously you guys are you know, ready to roll. Now what After beating a team eighty how are you going to go back to work on Monday and be like, all right guys, this is what we did wrong Friday or Thursday, we gotta work on this? What are the things you still think you need a lot of work on? Marcus Johnson: I mean we we still have to show up, you know, our our discipline is gonna be a a every week type of thing and that's something that can't go unnoticed. There weren't a lot of penalties, but there was still some things in areas that we could tighten up, you know, being in place and how we executed the opportunities we did have. Getting a chance to actually see our special teams, you know, that's gonna be a question mark because we weren't on special teams a whole lot this past Thursday. Paul Durham: Well, and also being in a real game, it's you know, one that you have to fight and scrap for throughout. Obviously you got a lot of guys in in action on Thursday and got to play a lot of people. but I think the the bottom line for you guys is y you gotta you know, you gotta shore up some areas, but I don't think anybody's concerned with your ability to score points when you have a quarterback like Sam Finch throwing the receivers like Braylon Loftin and Daryl Loatman You've got a lot of weapons. How are The rest of the team, I think you and I talked right at the beginning of practice and again at the scrimmages. it was concerned, you know, you gotta build your line depth. You didn't have a lot of experience coming back with the linemen. How are you guys looking in those areas that you were concerned about going into the season? Marcus Johnson: going into the season, as far as we started out, I mean we we've had a chance to gain a couple of new faces. hopefully with school starting back on Monday, we'll get a chance to get a few more kids out. But those guys just getting those guys a chance to go out and compete against somebody else this past Thursday and come out healthy was the main thing. So I think that's a a big burst of confidence for those guys also. Paul Durham: Well, Marcus, you sort of have had a very hectic month being named the interim head coach when your your predecessor and I guess your boss back in the spring, Coach Lewis, Rocky Lewis, who was the AD and football coach at Fike, was not offered the chance to come back in those roles. He's still at school as a physical education teacher. Obviously, we're not gonna get into all those details. That's a whole other podcast if it ever comes down to it. But it is a a unique and sort of strange position that you find yourself in too having to lead the team through some summer workouts once Coach Lewis was on suspension during the summer workout time and then suddenly find, you know, right before s practice started that you were going to be the interim head coach and had to sort of come up with some staff guys in that time too. How have you managed to stay grounded and on task with so much to deal with and also how have the the players you know, obviously Friday or Thursday's outcome was really good. But how they dealt with that sort of flux of of changing things, so much change with such a short time to get it done. Marcus Johnson: You know, just creating a plan, having things in place, being as organized as we could be and operating as a well-oiled machine. I'm thankful for the guys that I do have around me on the staff. couple of familiar faces from other sports, couple of familiar faces from, you know, my past time working there. And just guys that you can c can trust, you know. And the kids have really bought in. Like you said, we've been with them now since June. And I I couldn't ask for a better group, but they're a very mature group of kids and they really understand and they they've taken pretty well to the changes that have been made. but the our structure right now and how we operate I think has been the main thing and and keeping the open line of communication amongst each other. Paul Durham: Well I know this is something you're probably not even gonna concern yourself with until the season's over and you shouldn't, but have you thought about this this sort of interim thing as sort of a season long audition for this job? Marcus Johnson: not so much. It's been more so of like a day by day thing. Like we're we're in this together. We know it's the little things done well along the course that's gonna that's gonna determine our overall success. So as far as me thinking that far down the road, you know, I I try to encourage those guys to just we're gonna do this one day at a time and what will be will be. Paul Durham: All right. Well you gonna probably have a big crowd at your game on Friday night. You score eighty points, everybody's gonna wanna go out and see the show. What can you tell fans who wanna come out and see Fike football this season? Marcus Johnson: Let's keep it exciting, man. I I I've enjoyed this this first victory. It's time to put it behind us. You know, we have more things that we have to handle along the road and I hope that it turnout is great, you know. Just just seeing those faces back and seeing those stands filled up like the days when I played. Couldn't ask for a better outcome. Paul Durham: All right. Well you're bringing back that glory to Fike. hey, you're already in the record book as the coach is the the biggest winning margin in Fike football history, I'm pretty sure. but we look forward to this season for you, Marcus, and hopefully we'll have you back on Huddled Up at some point during the season, probably more than once. So good luck to you and the Golden Demons this season and we'll be checking in with you soon. Marcus Johnson: All right, thanks, Paul. I appreciate it.