By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
When Miami Northwestern and Southlake Carroll take to the field on Sept. 15 in a game that could decide the mythical national championship, the two teams will have several things in common. They both are defending state champions, they both have preseason All-American quarterbacks, and, ironically, they both have brand new head coaches.
The Bulls posted a 15-0 record last year under head coach Roland Smith while winning the Florida 6A championship. With a number of returning starters, including quarterback Jacory Harris and All-American wide receiver candidate Aldarius Johnson, Smith and Northwestern figured to make a run at the national championship in 2007.
However a sex scandal involving a former player and a subsequent coverup of the incident by the Northwestern coaching staff prompted Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Rudy Crew to fire Smith and the varsity coaching staff.
Northwestern then found a familiar face to guide the Bulls. New head coach Billy Rolle guided the Bulls to a state championship in 1998 and was an assistant on the 1995 state championship team. After leaving Northwestern, Rolle led Killian to a state championship in 2004.
No such controversy surrounded the coaching change at Southlake Carroll. Todd Dodge, who led the Dragons to three consecutive Texas 5A-1 state championships and a current 48-game winning streak, accepted the head coaching job at NCAA Division I North Texas. Dodge was 98-11 in his seven years at Carroll.
Dodge leaves behind a talented squad headed by his son, Riley Dodge, who is the returning Texas 5A player of the year after throwing for 4,184 yards and rushing for 1,119 yards. A preseason All-American candidate, Dodge and his father will not be separated for long. The younger Dodge, originally committed to Texas, will play for his father at North Texas in 2008.
Hal Wasson, a former Carroll assistant coach, takes over as head coach of the Dragons. Wasson guided Keller Fossil Ridge to a District 6-4A championship last year and is 28-15 in his four years there. Wasson has a career coaching record of 122-83-2 in 19 seasons and he previously coached with Dodge at Carroll in 2001 and 2002.
Like Southlake Carroll, South Panola of Batesville, Miss., enters the 2007 season with a long winning streak and a new coach at the helm.
The Tigers named Lance Pough to replace the departed Ricky Woods, who left for a head coaching position at Bainbridge (Ga.) High School. South Panola won the last four consecutive Class 5A state championships under Woods and has a 60-game winning streak entering this season.
In an 18-year coaching career, Woods has a record of 204-40 and six state championships. In five years at South Panola, Woods' teams were 74-1. Pough moves over from Eupora, where his team went 7-4 last year. Coincidentally, Woods coached at Eupora early in his career, making this the second time that Pough takes over a program that has been coached by Woods.
South Panola, Miami Northwestern and Southlake Carroll aren't the only state champions with a new head coach. California Division I champion Canyon of Canyon Country will defend its first ever state championship with a new, albeit familiar, face on the sidelines.
Harry Welch, who guided the Cowboys to five Southern Section CIF titles during two different stints at Canyon along with last year's 27-13 victory over DeLaSalle in the inaugural CIF Division I Bowl Game, stepped down as head coach at Canyon in April, citing problems with administration as his reasons for leaving.
In a statement to the Newhall Signal, Welch said he could "no longer effectively coach with the environment created by our school administrator, and it is time to end that divisiveness."
Canyon named Chris Varner, the school's junior varsity coach, as the replacement for Welch.
Canyon's loss is St. Margaret's gain. Five days after stepping down at Canyon, Welch accepted the head coaching position at St. Margaret's, a private school in San Juan Capistrano. St. Margaret's went 14-0 in 2006 and won the Southern Section Division 13 championship. Head coach Jason Hitchens resigned as head coach of St. Margaret's, opening the way for Welch.
Welch heads to St. Margaret's with a career record of 198-47-2 and five Southern Section titles, including the last two in a row. His Canyon teams in the late 1980s also won 46-straight games.
Welch's name will still be prominently associated with the Canyon program, however. The Williams S. Hart Union High School District Board approved the renaming the Canyon High School football stadium "Harry Welch Stadium."
On the same weekend (Sept. 14) that Miami Northwestern meets Southlake Carroll in a game for national bragging rights, Canyon will play St. Bonaventure in a game that could affect seeding for the CIF bowl games. Like Canyon, St. Bonaventure will enter the game with a new head coach patrolling the sidelines.
John Mack, who posted a 163-47-1 record in his 17 years at St. Bonaventure, accepted the head coaching position at Ventura College, and he turned over the reins of the Seraphs to longtime assistant Todd Therrien.
Mack's teams won seven Southern Section CIF championships during his tenure and had a 43-game winning streak at one point. The Seraphs are 105-5 in their last 110 games, losing to Hart of Newhall in the Southern Section Northern Division quarterfinals last year.
Therrien inherits a talented group that includes preseason All-American candidate Darrell Scott, who transferred from Moorpark where he rushed for 3,194 yards and 45 touchdowns last year. Offensive tackle Vaughn Dotsy is also considered one of the top players in the country.
Therrien, a graduate of St. Bonaventure, joined the coaching staff in 1998 and was the team's defensive coordinator last year.