The Mule Fan

Spring Training Report-Volume 4

A Spring Visit with Coach Don Byrd-May 29, 2009

The Mule Fan: What are your views on how spring training went this year?

Coach Byrd: I thought it went very well. I was excited about the improvement at all positions. The kids got better. Each practice they looked like they were quicker on their assignments. They looked like they played with their pads lower. It was fun to watch them progress. We went three weeks. We had our game and then last week we worked out just on individual assignments and so forth just to polish some areas where we thought they needed some work and get the most out of the days that were allowed.

The Mule Fan: The offense has the most experience returning. How did it progress? What were you most excited about and in what areas do they need to focus?

Coach Byrd: I thought our execution level became better and better each and every practice so I was excited about that. I guess the thing that I’m most excited about and this really goes for the whole team is that I see depth at a lot of positions. I see depth at quarterback, receivers, offensive line. I’m starting to see how it’s unfolding and I’m excited that there’s not just one player at those positions but there’s two or three that we can stick in there and win and be productive. They need to work out this summer and get after it because there are some people nipping at some people’s heels to get their position. It’s neat to experience that.

The Mule Fan: In the spring game, we noticed a lot of 4-3 defense (four down lineman, three linebackers) vs. the five man front that you have traditionally run. Is that dictated by personnel or do you have broader change in mind defensively?

Coach Byrd: We’re moving a little bit more in a 4-3 direction. You see so many different types of offenses. You see so many different types of formations. It’s a little easier to line up in the 4-3. It also takes a little pressure off the secondary. Instead of having five defensive backs and having them learn a lot of different responsibilities, we can let the linebackers adjust a little bit more and let the secondary stay in their base coverage a little bit more. So we looked at that and I thought it went very well.

The Mule Fan: And you can still slip out of that into nickel coverage for passing situations pretty easily can’t you?

Coach Byrd: Oh yeah, to go to a nickel or 4-2-5 as they call it. Basically all you have to do is slide one linebacker out over a receiver and balance your other two. Then you have a 4-2-5 which we’ve run a lot. We worked on a linebacker lining up on a tight end so we’d be in a 50 front which we’ve done for years too. So we can get into things we’ve worked at over the years. But we wanted to try this base. Coach Moody and Coach Hooks have a lot of experience with the 4-3. We put in some things that they brought to the table and it worked out well.


The Mule Fan: How much work are you able to do in the spring on kicking game and special teams?

Coach Byrd: We didn’t do a whole lot with it. We probably need to start doing a little bit more. We were just basically trying to concentrate on fundamentals of football. We had changed our scheme defensively to run more 4-3 so we really wanted to look at that. We made a couple of little changes on offense. Not anything big but we really wanted to emphasize the running game a bit more so it took away from our time with the kicking game. We let the kickers kick a lot off to the side but actually going out and running it in a team setting we didn’t get to that. That’s something we’ll have to hit pretty hard in the fall. I don’t like doing it a whole lot because you like your younger kids that are not getting on the field that are on varsity to be on the kicking teams. And we’re not sure who that might be at this time so you hate to line up a kickoff team then when you start up again in the fall you shake up the personnel and you really didn’t get a whole lot accomplished in the spring. So we kind of shy away from that.

The Mule Fan: Now we’re into the 7-on-7 season with one competition completed in Houston as we do this interview. By all reports, the event in Houston was quite successful.

Coach Byrd: It was a lot of fun. The neat thing is you’re over at the (Houston) Texans facility. So there’s the “Bubble” which we got to play two games in. And the grass at other practice field is phenomenal. It’s just a neat environment. Then you see all these athletes that are from the Houston area. You see a lot of speed and size. You see some very good football teams. So I love putting out kids in that atmosphere and seeing how they perform. They didn’t get intimidated at all. They came out and won our pool. They won three games. Two of them we had to come back from behind at the end and win which shows a lot of composure and maturity. We took care of that and in the first round we played Klein which had a very good team and won the whole tournament. We lost by two points 33-31. And we gave up a pass right before half that we should have probably played a little better, been a little deeper and were ready for. We didn’t do as well on our extra points. So those were two things but we were there nip and tuck with them and again they were the team that won it. Then we ended up playing Cy Falls in the semi-final and beat them. So we were 4-1 in Houston against great talent. I really wanted to win that first game in the playoffs because that would have qualified us for state and that would have been neat to qualify for state that early. Again we have depth at a lot of positions and I’m pleased with the way we played.

The Mule Fan: What’s the remaining schedule for 7-on-7?

Coach Byrd: We will have league play on Tuesday nights starting in June on the 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th. We’ll have two teams and both of those will play two games. We’ll really have three teams because we’ll get there a little early with one group and we’ll play some other schools. So we’ll have three teams for the league play. Then we have two more state qualifying tournaments. On the 20th of June we’ll play here at Alamo Heights. It’s a 16 team tournament and the top two will go to the state tournament. Then on the 27th we’ll go up to Hays Consolidated which is just south of Austin and play in their state qualifier. So we have two more shots at qualifying for state and state is around July 10th over in College Station. So our goals are first of all to get better, learn more about ourselves and become a team. Number two is to qualify for state. It’s a great situation for our kids.

The Mule Fan: As the kids get ready for school to be out, do they know from you and their position coaches what you are expecting of them for the next two months before they come back in August?

Coach Byrd: They should. When we have our final exam they will meet with their position coaches and the coaches will refine this by telling them this is what they need to work on and this is when they need to be there, here’s what our strength and conditioning program is. They need to do what summer’s there for. Be with their family and if they have vacations they need to do that. But if they’re here in town they need to get out of bed and get up here and work out. That’s our philosophy. I hate with so much going on that time for the family vacations isn’t what it used to be. But we do believe in that. We’re just going to try to get them up here when we can and hope that they’ll get a little stronger and a little quicker over the summer.