Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part mid-summer interview with new Bryant football coach Buck James, assessing the team’s progress so far. Part two will focus on personnel.
With the dead period underway in which it is mandated by the Arkansas Activities Association that there be no contact between coaches and players, Bryant head football coach Buck James sat down to assess his team’s progress learning a new system with mostly new coaches.
James’ staff seems to have settled in with only defensive line coach Brad Stroud remaining from former head coach Paul Calley’s staff. Former freshman assistant coaches Kirk Bock and Travis Queck have moved to the high school staff as quarterback and linebacker coaches, respectively. Shane Clancy, formerly the head coach at Bauxite and, more recently, Bethel Middle School is James’ offensive line coach.
Joining the staff are former James’ colleagues, Robert Hooks, Darrell Burnett and Joe Teague. Hooks coaches receivers and is the offensive coordinator. Burnett coaches the secondary and is the defensive coordinator. Teague coaches running backs and special teams.
During the early summer, the Hornets competed at one 7-on-7 event at Little Rock Christian and participated in a team camp.
“I felt like it was good,” James said of the 7-on-7. “We didn’t play 7-on-7. We really ran our offense and our defense, what we will do in the season. I thought in pool play, we did really well doing that. But when you get into the tournament situation — we played with a tight end, three receivers and a running back.
“I thought we did good especially for the first time we’ve been together like that in a competition,” he said. “I think we went 4-1 the first day, then 0-2 the second day but we did a lot of good things. I think for 14 minutes of each game, we played really, really well.
“We got the ball thrown over our heads too much on defense. But that’s going to come with reps. We were playing some press coverage, up in their grill a little bit. We’ve got to have the confidence to hit guys in their chest and rail them and redirect their routes. That’s a lot different than what they’ve been used to. So we gave up some big passes.
“But, all in all, I thought our kids competed well,” James concluded. “We executed some stuff well. We played four quarterbacks. Not a lot of people were doing that. It was good for our team. It sort of showed us where we are. We’re going to try to take the next one a little bit more serious, try to be more competitive. We wanted to just get a lot of kids a lot of reps. I think we took a little over 30 kids to (Little Rock Christian). Most people take 18 to 22. We learned a lot about ourselves, about our team and where we need to get to.”
The next Monday, the Hornets went to team camp.
“I felt like we did extremely well,” James stated. “We played against Pine Bluff, Maumelle, Watson Chapel and CAC. We more than held our own. I thought we executed well. We took every kid on our squad so we had roughly 140-plus there.
“We put two teams in it,” he mentioned. “Basically, we had three offenses going and three defenses going. Again, we got a lot of kids a lot of reps where most schools just bring one team, one offense and one defense. So a lot of our younger guys got a lot of reps against a lot of other people’s varsities.
“I thought it was good for our football team. We saw a lot of bright spots. We actually threw and caught the ball better in that than we probably did in the 7-on-7. We were able to run the ball a little bit. I thought our linemen did a really good job in our one-on-ones and competed well. That was a bright spot. I felt like the team camp was a good experience.
Another team camp scheduled before the break was postponed until July 11, the first day after the dead period. A 7-on-7 at Malvern will follow later in the week.
“What we’ve done really is mirrored what they did last year,” the coach explained. “I doubt this is how we do it next year but I wanted them to have a routine that was semi-familiar.
“We’ve had the kids come in at 6 a.m.,” he said. “The quarterbacks have been coming in at 5:30 a.m., and we’ve been working out until about 8:15, two mornings a week. Then we’ve been coming in by position groups with their coaches one other time during the week. Just working on basic skills, drills, fundamentals, techniques; working on running, discipline in our stuff and weight lifting.
“We were just trying to maintain until after the dead period,” James explained. “After we get back, we’re going to really try to start to get our strength back up, trying to have strength gains and stuff; trying to do a little bit more conditioning, getting them in shape a little bit more. Hopefully, by the middle of August, we’ll be in football shape. Right now, I’m more interested in getting them bigger and stronger than I am about running them a whole lot.”
In the overview, James stated, “All in all, we’ve had a good summer so far. Our attendance has not been where I would like for it to be. You know, football, we try to work to 100 percent. It’s not like a lot of sports where you might think that 50 percent of what you’re doing is pretty good or 75 percent. We try to work to perfection. We’ve had a lot of kids that have gone to church camps and mission trips, which is good stuff. We’ve had kids missing for baseball games and vacations. But, hopefully, we’ll get most of that out of our systems so when we come back we’ll be able to hit on all cylinders with all our kids.
“It’s a chemistry thing, as well; knowing who you can count on, knowing that the guy beside you is going to do his job and the guy on the other side of you is going to do his job and all three of you know what’s going to happen when the ball is snapped. You have to have some camaraderie; you have to have some prior knowledge of what you’re going to do. That’s where you catch up.
“I just want our kids and our people to understand that we have guys that we demoted to second team just because we thought their effort was poor at team camp,” the coach related. “We’re working groups. We move them because of their effort, because of their attitude, because all of us are not going to be very good at what we’re doing right now.
“But the way we work, the way we prepare to work, the way we play when we’re in there, it’s going to have a big say in who’s going to be out there on the field because I would rather have a guy who’s going to play his guts out and give 100 percent on every play and be less talented than a guy that goes out there and plays (hard) every five plays.
“I’m built different. I think heart and character, discipline, having some fortitude carries a lot,” James said. “To me, I want to be able to trust you. I want you to be accountable for what you’re trying to do. I want you to be committed to your team. Those are the things that will help you win and have a good football program. Good players are going to come and go.
“It’s the same thing that Coach (Kirk) Bock expected in baseball and Coach (Mike) Abrahamson expects in basketball. It all goes hand-in-hand. Having an athletic program that speaks for kids giving their absolute best and playing at a high level and not worrying about ‘me’ or ‘I’ will help propel us into a situation that will make us a program that can be mirrored around the state of Arkansas if not around this region. We’re in a situation where, if we can get to that level, the sky’s the limit. I think that playing with great heart carries a lot of merit.
“I said all along we had to have a good summer and, if I had to put the first part of summer on a grading scale, I’d say we’re somewhere between a C and a B from the standpoint of getting everything accomplished I wanted to get accomplished.
“The attitude of our kids has been A-plus,” he asserted. “They’ve worked hard. For the most part, they’ve let us know what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. Our coaches have put in a lot of time and, from a philosophical standpoint, I think our kids and coaches have done a tremendous job. We’ve got to come back after dead period and have a really, really good summer.”
