NFL coaching changes have big impact on top high school programs

When the Indianapolis Colts fired head coach Jim Caldwell in January, one of the first questions that Carmel (Ind.) head coach Kevin Wright had was: Who would coach the running backs?

The question was not born out of a concern for the Colts' ground game, which finished 26th in the league last season. Rather, Wright, who guided Carmel to a Class 5A state title in 2011, wondered what would happen to Colts running backs coach Kevin Walker, and more specifically, his son Jalen.

The younger Walker moved into Carmel's school district when his father left his position with the University of Pittsburgh last winter to take a job with the Colts under Caldwell. He dominated middle school football and quickly established himself as one of the top young players in the area.

With his father's job status in flux, Wright wondered if the seventh-grade phenom would ever suit up for Carmel in a varsity football game.



"His son was an impact player right away. Led his middle school team to a title," Wright said. "When everything went down with the Colts, we were hoping Coach Walker would keep his job."

Family matters

Often lost in the media deluge that accompanies high-profile coaching changes is the reality that many coaches have families that are affected, both positively and negatively, in the transition.

It can be especially difficult for children, according to Wright.

"It's a little unsettling for kids," he said. "Sometimes we forget when we look at coach moves that there are young kids that are involved."

Wright should know. He left a position at powerhouse Warren Central (Indianapolis) to become the head coach and athletic director at Union (Tulsa, Okla.). Essentially, he left one high school national power for another one nearly 700 miles away.



That type of move is nearly unprecedented on the prep level. However, Wright said that the uncertainty of the future - and the toll that can take on a family - is not uncommon for high school coaches, even highly successful ones.

"Coaching is tough when you have a family. We have a kids, and we talk about that all the time," Wright said. "My family has moved several times."

Plant (Tampa, Fla.) head coach Robert Weiner, who has coached the sons of several prominent coaches, said it's something that the kids become accustomed to.

"For some of them, it is a little bit hard," Weiner said, mentioning that many miss the friends they left behind. "It's like an army brat kid. That's what it's like to be someone in college or pro football. That's the nature of the business. They understand that."

According to new Plant defensive back Tristan Cooper, it's something that people outside of the coaching community tend to overlook.

"I don't think too many people pay attention to it. I know I do," said Cooper, who moved to Tampa from Baton Rouge after his father left LSU to join the Bucs. "For example, when LSU hired Coach Kragthorpe, the first question the coaches' kids ask their dad is does he have kids, how old are his kids. Coaches' kids have that kind of bond."

Best of both worlds

Coaches seek out a good fit for their child both athletically and academically, according to Wright.



"I think that's probably what coaches and their families look for when they have to look at making a move," he said, "schools with good athletics and good academics."

For Austin Roberts, who is set to transfer this spring from Plant to Carmel, the process began with a simple internet search.

"My brother Avery and I just started Googling schools, seeing their (academic) ratings, how good their football team's record was, the coach's phone number," he said. "I have a sister in middle school. My dad wanted to find a good school district. It was a full family effort."

Often, relocating to a district with a top public school with a successful sports program is the answer. Weiner, whose rosters have included Eric Dungy (son of former Buccaneers and Colts coach Tony) and Trey Holtz (son of USF head coach Skip Holtz), said that it's simply a case of parents wanting what's best for their children.

"They like to have their kids at really, really good places. And I like to think our place is a really, really good place," Weiner said.

Other times, the son of a coach might land at a top private school. That was the case when Bobby Petrino became the head coach at Louisville in 2003. He enrolled his sons Nick and Bobby Jr. at Trinity (Louisville, Ky.), a Catholic all-boys school with the area's most successful football program.

Greg Schiano transferred his oldest son, Joe, from Immaculata, a co-ed Catholic school not far from Rutgers, to Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.), an elite private school in Tampa, after leaving the Scarlet Knights to become head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In one of the most high-profile transfer stories of the offseason, freshman phenom Kahlil McKenzie announced that he expected to transfer from Southwest (Green Bay, Wis.) to De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) after his sophomore season. McKenzie's father Reggie left the Packers to take the GM job with the Oakland Raiders.



De La Salle, which has yet to hear from McKenzie or his family, stands to benefit greatly.

Even if it may be transient, what these players bring to high school teams is often more than combine numbers can quantify.

Coaches on the field

Weiner still remembers the moment when Eric Dungy truly arrived in Plant's offense. When he transferred from Park Tudor to the Florida powerhouse, he was far from the player that signed with Oregon in 2010.

"Eric was like his father," Weiner said. "He was not a great, great high school player. He was a late bloomer. Eric was really not a great player when he came to us."

However, he spent every possible minute in Weiner's office, dissecting film and absorbing everything he could.



"He drank in the game," Weiner said.

When Dungy had earned time at receiver (he also played defensive back), his first play displayed his football acumen. He caught a pass, was seemingly taken down but never hit the ground. Without any hesitation, he got up and kept running for a touchdown.

"That's just a guy who's watched and talked football with his dad," Weiner said. "You don't teach that."

Weiner said that, though it's hard to calculate, the intangible of being a coach's son is very valuable to a high school program.

"Across the board, if you have someone in that situation, you just know the kid has been around football all his life. You know you have a football, gym rat mentality. That's just something you can't replace," he said.

Weiner pointed to Trey Holtz, who was invaluable to Plant last season. After losing out on the starting quarterback battle, Holtz served as the team's holder and rugby punter, making correct reads and booting several punts inside the 5-yard line in the playoffs.



"You get a lot of benefits with a kid like that, even if he's not the No. 1 guy scoring touchdowns."

{PAGEBREAK}Revolving door

As quickly as a coach's son can show up on campus, one can depart just as swiftly.

Plant learned that lesson in recent weeks. Roberts, who Weiner believes will be a Top 10 national recruit as a senior, is preparing to transfer from Plant to Carmel (He also considered Cathedral and Noblesville.). His father Alfredo was not retained by Greg Schiano and landed a job with the Colts in February.

Roberts will be difficult to replace. Weiner said it was painful to read out his 40-yard dash times - 4.51 and 4.52 - on his notoriously slow hand time, knowing Roberts likely would never suit up for Plant again.

"Those times aren't for me. They're for someone else," he joked.

Wright, who could only confirm that Alfredo and his brother Avery did the school's shadow program for prospective students, said he has read articles in the paper about Roberts transferring there, but could not comment any further since he has yet to enroll in the school.



"From what I've read, they're coming," he said.

Meanwhile, University Lab's (Baton Rouge, La.) loss is Plant's gain. When Ron Cooper left LSU to join Schiano's staff with the Buccaneers, his son Tristan enrolled at Plant.

There's also the chance that Ron Cooper, who coached the likes of Patrick Peterson, Morris Claiborne and Tyrann Mathieu, may offer a few pointers at Plant's practices, similar to what Alfredo Roberts did during the NFL lockout, another perk to having a coach's son in the program.

"He just wanted to coach. My receivers coach was out of town for our spring game and Alfredo was our lone coach for that position. It was so cool," Weiner said.

What the future holds

For now, Kevin Wright is in the clear.



The Colts' new head coach, Chuck Pagano, held on to running backs coach Kevin Walker, meaning his son Jalen, the jewel of the Carmel football middle school program, is not going anywhere - for now.

"We're hoping he'll be here all the way through his high school years," he said.

If not, some school just like Carmel, but located in the shadows of some different NFL stadium, will be the beneficiary.