Rogers, Broncos begin preparing for new season
The Kirk Rogers era at Lake Belton officially began Monday morning when the Broncos hit the practice field for the first day of fall camp.
After not holding spring drills because of the coaching change that brought Rogers to Lake Belton, the Broncos — who will make their Class 6A debut this season — began practice a week ahead of other 5A and 6A teams in the state.
“I was excited,” said the Broncos’ first-year head coach, who served as an assistant at Austin Westlake and Southlake Carroll. “When you look at it with all the coaching changes and summer workouts, this is the first time we’ve had all hands on deck and I think the energy was really great. If we carry the energy we had today throughout the season, I think we’re going to be pretty good.”
Rogers added that the energy he’s seen from his team is only a portion of his evaluations. The real challenge, Rogers said, will come Saturday when the players put on pads.
“That’s when the physical evaluation starts,” Rogers said. “Right now, we’re really just looking at, ‘Are they giving a great effort and are they executing the game plan?’”
Rogers isn’t the only one on staff ready for pads. New defensive coordinator Mark McMillan is eager for a full-contact practice but also understands the importance of the work that is being put in before then.
“It’s hard to judge intensity when it’s just helmets right now and you can’t go true 11-on-11 until you put pads on,” McMillan said. “Until then, we’ve got to learn how to compete in every situation and see every drill as a competition. As coaches, we’ve got to teach that and preach that until we can kick up the intensity.”
Much of Monday’s excitement was a product of being back on the field, but there’s also a special energy that comes with new leaders in charge.
“I definitely feel like the energy’s picked up,” junior quarterback Jessiah James said. “We’ve got our new coaching staff now and really everything’s going good. We’re really working our butts off right now.”
The Broncos finished 5-6 after a fourth straight exit in the bi-district round last year before Brian Cope’s departure for Class 5A Division II New Caney West Fork, and the sub-.500 record sparked a desire for change among the returning players.
“I think we all just want something different than what’s been happening so far at this school,” senior linebacker Gavin Carpenter said. “I think we all want something different, and we’re all striving to get it. I think we all just want the best.”
In order for change to happen, players and coaches will face the adjustment of installing new offensive and defensive schemes. Rogers said that implementing a new playing style hasn’t been too much of a challenge after summer workouts, but there will be a constant “installation mindset” until he sees a certain level of execution.
“There’s still old habits we’re trying to break,” Rogers said. “I’m not saying that last year’s coaching staff did it the wrong way, but we have a certain way that we’re going to do things and we’re going to hold players to that standard.”
As practices continue and coaches get more opportunities to review tape, Rogers and his staff are confident things should fall into place.
“We’ve got to look at some attention to detail in certain parts of drills that aren’t going against the offense,” McMillan said. “We’ve still got to be locked in but our effort was there, so I think we’ll continue to get there. I think it was a great Day 1. Now we’ve got to go look at ways to make it an even better Day 2.”
Fans can get their first glimpse of the Broncos’ new style when they travel to face Leander Rouse in a scrimmage Aug. 13. Because of not holding spring workouts, Lake also has a second scrimmage set against Pflugerville Weiss on Aug. 20.
The scrimmage against Weiss will be the final tuneup before Lake officially opens non-district play at home against Cedar Park Vista Ridge on Aug. 27. Other non-district opponents include Round Rock McNeil, Huntsville and Killeen Ellison before the Broncos begin District 12-6A play against Hewitt Midway on Sep. 25.
“We took things a little bit by bit this summer through skill camps. But now that we’re in fall camp, we’re in that mode, especially with the tough schedule,” Rogers said. “(Former Carroll head coach Todd Dodge) always had a saying that I believe is true and it’s that it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. Right now, we’re making sure that we’re going to be really good at how we do things.”
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