By Joshua Staloch
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – On a Friday evening at Dahlin Family Stadium, home of the Green Bay Southwest Trojans, all four corners of the football field, including the center, are seeing action.
Position groups, along with their coaches, are walking through formations – everyone learning where they need to be when the play comes in from the sideline.
The Trojans are preparing for the start of a new season in the Fox River Classic Conference.
All that’s missing as the sun starts to set to end the first week of practice is a football.
Southwest co-head coaches Tim Birr and Pat Wallace are counting on their team getting back on track after an uncharacteristic 3-6 effort in 2018.
They know a successful turnaround means focusing on the basics.
This means the first hour of the early-season practices were all about fundamentals and instruction.
“We’re being simple with it now,” said Birr. “We’re not throwing a ton of stuff at them yet – just trying to get good at a few things versus giving them so much that their heads spin.”
Things could have been much different last season for the Trojans, but three narrow losses prevented them from qualifying for the postseason.
Southwest dropped a close 21-17 game to open the season against Pulaski and then lost a 30-28 thriller to De Pere on a last-second field goal.
The team also dropped a 14-13 contest to Notre Dame Academy in week eight.
Staying competitive in the FRCC is a tough assignment to be sure, and the Trojans are pragmatic enough in their thinking to realize they simply don’t have the numbers to platoon every position the way some of their competitors might do.
Southwest will have athletes at the skill positions making plays offensively, but those same players are likely to be playing hard on the other side of the ball, too.
“We’re going to have to be strategically smart about how we approach games,” said Wallace. “The conference is deep, but we know if we can improve a bit and get to four wins, we can get to five and get into the playoffs. After that, we start thinking about contending for a conference title.”
The staff at Southwest has also made it a priority to correct problems on special teams, which frequently saw the competition starting drives near midfield.
Graduated quarterback Nick Howard (first team all-conference) threw for over 2,000 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2018, while also rushing for about 650 yards.
Another loss will be from the absence of wide receiver Will Pytleski, who was the FRCC’s co-receiver of the year after hauling in 71 receptions for 1,034 yards and eight touchdowns.
Defensively, the Trojans also lost first-teamers Isaac Klarkowski (lineman) and Josh Yasha (defensive back) and second-teamer Alex Kaczmarczyk (inside linebacker) due to graduation.
Yasha was also an honorable-mention pick at receiver, while Howard received the same honors at outside linebacker.
The Trojans have no returning all-conference players returning this season.
Coach’s Spotlight
Name: Tim Birr
School: Green Bay Southwest
Years coaching at Southwest: 20 (9 as co-head coach)
Other football coaching gigs: Pulaski, Trinity University (Deerfield, Illinois)
Hometown: Pulaski
Most memorable coaching moment: “Two years ago in the WIAA playoffs, we made it to the third round of the postseason playing at Menominee, which we had played in the second round the year before.”
Coaching mentor: “Leslie Frazier, who was the head coach at Trinity when I coached there. He is currently the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills and was previously the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. He taught me how to deal with different types of athletes, different demeanors, different backgrounds and the different priorities that individual players have. As a player, I was offensive-minded. I played quarterback in high school and in college, so I didn’t understand the defensive side as much as the offensive side.”
Best high school player you’ve coached against: “Doug Free of Manitowoc comes to mind. He played tight end there. He went on to play at Northern Illinois and then turned pro and played for the Cowboys. And of course, there’s Alec Ingold of Bay Port, now with the Raiders in the NFL. I’d say those two guys were very tough to coach against.”
Goals for 2019: “Our main focus is to get better every day. We’re pretty young, and we’re working with a new starting quarterback, but our o-line is going to be bigger than last year. Defensively, we don’t have a lot of returning starters, so the bottom line is we need to be improving all the time. Overall, we’d like to get back to the playoffs.”
My style of coaching is: “I don’t scream and holler a ton. That said, the kids know when I’m upset about something. I want them to know I respect them as young men, and I expect them to meet me halfway. We talk a lot about respect among the team.”
Coach’s Spotlight
Name: Pat Wallace
School: Green Bay Southwest
Years coaching at Southwest: 16 (9 as co-head coach, 7 as an assistant)
Other football coaching gigs: Eau Claire Regis, Green Bay Preble
Hometown: Green Bay
Most memorable coaching moment: “Our two state semifinal runs at Southwest in 2011 and 2017.”
Coaching mentor: “It started with Jim Hayes at Southwest – he was my high school coach. The way he helped me through the system and how he cared about me a person and as an athlete taught me a lot about how to be a coach.”
Best high school player you’ve coached against: “Bay Port’s Alec Ingold.”
Goals for 2019: “We need to get back to having a strong family foundation within our program. We also know we need to get to the four- or five-win mark.”
My style of coaching is: “It’s changed over the years. Early on as a coach, I was very focused on the x’s and o’s.”
Green Bay Southwest 2019 regular season schedule
8/22 – Ashwaubenon
8/29 – De Pere
9/6 – @ Manitowoc Lincoln
9/13 – @ Bay Port
9/20 – Sheboygan South
9/27 – Green Bay Preble
10/4 – @ Pulaski
10/11 – @ Notre Dame Academy
10/18 – Sheboygan North
- All games begin at 7 p.m.