Did the players get the message? "Yes, sir"

By Rex Kirts

South's football players received a new message Wednesday. And they responded in a manner appreciated by new coach Kirk Kennedy, with "Yes, sir," and "No, sir."
A new kind of discipline is in.
The Panthers heard a lot of words such as accountability and responsibility and Kennedy's concepts thereof. In the audience were his revamped coaching staff, last year's players and some players who didn't play last year. There were even some who never played football before.
Kennedy is a forceful presence, and that's the way his football teams play. They run the ball and play defense. And they win championships. His last seven teams at Lowell won sectionals, and his 2005 team won the class 4A state title. Two others were state runnersup.
"WE WON'T OVERWHELM people with Xs and Os. We'll win with the way we play the game," he said. "We will out-hit, out-execute and out-last them. We're gonna be tougher.
"You can do a lot with effort. We'll work hard on talent, but talent alone won't win ball games."
The beauty of the Panthers, especially offensively, will be in their simplicity, he said, "It's not what we do, it's how we do it. A lot of football today is too cute. Football is still blocking and tackling."
Kennedy said he doesn't like losing, but his version of losing doesn't always show up on the scorboard. "If we do everything we can we'll win," he said. "The most important indication of success is how did we work, how did we prepare. The scoreboard is irrelevant. Your effort is relevant.
"We will not lose. If we do everything we can, we'll win."
THE PANTHERS will be expected to work a lot. Kennedy hasn't been pleased that several players not in another sport haven't been doing much.
And he was definitely displeased that some haven't doing much in the classroom.
"You do your (classroom) work when you're supposed to do it," he said. "You are competing for your future right now!"
Kennedy has also heard enough excuses and explanations about this and that.
"EXCUSES AND EXPLANATIONS - not gonna happen!" he said. "Excuses and explanations will get you beat every time.
"We're going to organize this programa to be successful. We're building for now. We expect to win now."
The new coach told the players they should set high goals, to have a plan. "Think big," he said. "The plan we had a Lowell worked. The plan worked because we had efficient execution.
"Expectations. Accountability."
He talked a lot about personal conduct and appearance. He expects the players to dress up on Friday's.
"THE CORNERSTONES of this program are gonna be character and toughness," he stated.
Toughness on the field means to do things right mentally and physically. "Give attention to details. Do things right.
"There will be accountability and responsibility. And there WILL be good team chemistry."
Kennedy stressed the importance of operating as a group. He is not about individualism, such as wearing earrings and pants hanging down past the rear end.
He closed, saying, "We've got to out-work our opponents. That's our niche. We're not going to let non-talent be an excuse."
A new day has dawned on Panther football.

By Rex Kirts

Kirk Kennedy laid down the law today.
It was the first full meeting of his new staff and players, and he'll get his program underway.
He announced the staff, the summer calendar, the workout program, policies, procedures and expectations. "So from today . . . I'll have my things in. Accountability will be in, for all of us."
Accountability will come as a surprise for some players. Those players, for instance, whose attendance in the after-school weight program has been less than satisfactory to a team hoping to contend for championships.
So far Kennedy, who officially began his duties on April 15, has "just been trying to get everything organized." That includes selling a house and buying a house and all the hassle of getting relocated from Lowell.
Change is on the way, which is to be expected any time there is a coaching change.
"There will be a lot of change," Kennedy said. "I want the kids to embrace change. I want them to improve their attitudes and their work ethic and work hard at getting better. I fully expect things to start cranking out from Wednesday (today) on."
Getting his staff settled has been a priority. It contains many of the assistants under previous coach Drew Wood and some "new" members returning from past Panther regimes.
Kennedy will be the special teams coordinator.
The offensive coordinator will be Pat Cannon, who will also handle the running backs. Tyler Cabanaw returns to handle the offensive line and will be helped by Alan Dick, who returns to coaching after a few years out of football. John Livingston will coach the quarterbacks, and new to the staff is former wide receiver Jordan Canada, whol will handle the wideouts.
Dean Walendzak returns as the defensive coordinator and will handle the middle linebackers. Greg Bodie is the outside linebacker assistant. Jerry Farrar will handle the defensive line and get help from Drew Frey, who is up from the freshman team. Handling the defensive backs will be Phil Kluesner and Duane Higgs. Kluesner, the head baseball coach, worked in football when he was at Columbus North.
Returning to the coaching ranks on the freshman team will be Tommy Richardson and Chris Finley, the principals at Lakeview and Marlin elementary schools. They will be helped by Harold Green.
Both Cannon and Walendzak will be coordinators of new systems. Instead of a spread offense, Kennedy is an I formation run-oriented guy. And defensively the Panthers will operate from a basic 4-4, with variations.
"Alan Dick coming back is huge," Kennedy said. "And we've added Kluesner and were able to keep Dean. The staff will be a fulltime staff, be at every meeting and every practice. They'll have ownership in the program."
Kennedy said he will be a delegator but that the input from the assistants will be valuable. "I believe in hiring good people and getting out of the way," he said.
During games Kennedy will be on the sidelines with the coordinators in the press box. "As the assistants learn their jobs it will free me up to manage the game on Friday nights," he said.
May's workouts will center on the weight room in the first hour PE class and after school and the drills at Teamwork on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
In June, there will be workouts Monday, Wednesday and Friday, one session from 8:30-11 a.m. and one from 6:30-9 p.m. The morning workout will be for varsity and junior varsity players and the evening workout for incoming freshmen and anybody else who can't make the morning session. Work will be in the weight room and on the football field. The end of the evenings will be devoted to position-specific drills.
July will lean heavily toward conditioning workouts. There will be a team camp for one week, starting July 12.