By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
All the early reports from North Pulaski’s new football coach regarding the attitude and effort of his players have been very positive. There comes a time though when execution must become good enough to compete. With less than two weeks remaining until the Falcons’ first take the field against another team, that time is rapidly nearing.
The reports coming out this week about North Pulaski’s progression towards successfully running Teodis Ingram’s wing-T offense are also pretty good.
“We’re getting there,” Ingram said Thursday morning. “We’ve definitely gotten a lot better. Overall, I’m pretty pleased with where we are, but it’s hard for me to gauge because I don’t really know where these guys were at this time last year. But we’re improving. This week is really the first time I’ve felt good about execution.”
One of the things that’s helped execution is the return of prospective starting guard Brian Davis, who missed some recent practice for personal reasons. His return, Ingram says, adds quickness and that crucial spot, and has aided the offensive execution.
“Execution really improved since that young man came back,” Ingram said. “The guy we had playing there is really someone we see helping us out a lot on the defensive side. Brian brings that quickness you need at the guard spot.”
Ingram and the coaching staff are just installing the basics of the offense right now. “We’re trying to keep things real technical right now and not get into too much else,” Ingram said. “One of things I see from watching old film is the mistakes we were making. Losing the football, stepping on the quarterback or just missing assignments. We’re working really hard on just executing the basics and not doing those things that cause you to beat yourself.”
Ingram’s approach to teaching those things has been repetition.
“I’ve been asked how many times we’re going to run the fullback trap,” Ingram said. “I always say, ‘until I feel like we got it.’”
One group Ingram feels good about is the offensive backs. Tailback Derek Hart has become the go-to guy, but the head Falcons believes he has a committee of capable ball carriers.
“I really feel like any of our four backs could break it if we execute,” Ingram said. “Nick Dunn at wingback is doing a good job. “Frazier (Willie), can definitely run, and Shane Berrings is also doing really well. All the backs are working really hard and that’s something good to see.”
The team depth chart isn’t set yet, but that will change in the near future. The coaching staff has an assessment process that Ingram calls “snapshots”, that will help determine the two-deep.
“I take the offensive and defensive guys and I measure them on a scale of one to five on a variety of categories,” Ingram said.
Among those categories are ability, attitude, understanding of the system, conditioning and practice preparation. After the coaches have done their own evaluations, the staff meets to compare notes.
“I want the coaches involved because I want to make sure that what I’m seeing is what they’re seeing,” Ingram said. “I work with everyone on the team, but I primarily coach the offensive backs, so I want the input from the coaches to help us determine who is going to help us the most.”
The Falcons’ benefit game is scheduled for Aug. 25 at Hot Springs Lakeside.
