By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove ISD board room was the site of Bulldawgs’ Head Coach Rodney Southern’s first recording of “Southern Talk.”
The program was previously known as “Coffee with the Coach” and is held weekly prior to the Bulldawgs varsity game.
Southern Talk starts at 11:30 a.m. and is open to the community, providing a light lunch and refreshments while attendees watch and listen as Bulldawg Media records a Q&A with Southern, along with other coaches of the football program.
The full show can be heard on Bulldawg Radio prior to Friday’s game at https://www.ccisd.com/page/bulldawg-radio.
First up, Southern talked with CCISD’s Director of Communications, Kurtis Quillin, about Southern’s return to Copperas Cove, and also the return of some former Bulldawgs and some new faces.
This week, the Bulldawgs take on the Ellison Eagles on the road at Leo Buckley stadium, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. this evening.
“They look like Ellison has always looked to me, always athletic, especially on the perimeter. They always have at least one or two big defensive linemen/defense. I think they’re very athletic,” Southern said on Tuesday.
He said it was a challenge when looking at Ellison’s scrimmage play last week, because it was at an indoor facility when they faced Manor.
“The biggest question is, when you play your first one, you know, obviously we didn’t show a whole lot the other night, and how are they going to respond to the things that that we do, in terms of what we’re going to do offensively?”
This week, Amaury Del Real, Defensive Coordinator, and Scott Shroder, Offensive Coordinator, joined Southern at the microphone.
“I think the main thing that stood out to me was how well we ran to the ball,” said Del Real of the Bulldawgs’ scrimmage play last week against Lake Belton. “I thought it was more physical than we were in the spring.”
Del Real is new to the Bulldawgs coaching staff this year, coming from Huntsville where he was Southern’s DC. Del Real is also a former Belton Tiger who also played under Southern’s coaching when he was in high school.
Schroder also came with Southern to Copperas Cove from Huntsville and was also an OC for Southern at Belton.
Southern called Schroder “one of the smartest football guys I’ve ever been around.”
Schroeder talked about his first look at the Bulldawgs during last week’s scrimmage.
“We kept things pretty simple, basic…We blocked what we’re supposed to block,” Schroeder said of the Bulldawgs’ showing against Lake Belton. “We did those basic things pretty well. And knowing where we can go forward from there, there’s a lot of upside right there. So I’m very pleased.”
As far as the players on offense, Schroder thinks the outlook is bright.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in our offense,” he said. “We need to turn around, hand the ball to KJ, throw the ball to Ashton, Trey... They’re doing a great job. I’m excited to see how they do in a real game setting at this point.”
Craig Davis, a junior, will be the starting quarterback for the Bulldawgs out of the gate.
“That’s really just because we haven’t seen him a whole lot. We feel like with Craig, we have a lot of upside with him, only a junior, it’s like I told those guys, TJ is fully capable of going in there and winning a ball game for us, moving the ball…It’s just somebody’s got to start, you know. So we went with Craig, and you guys have responded to that, and they’re ready for whatever role they’ve got to play, and we’ll see how it goes.”
Southern was asked what his final three notes are for the players before the fight song plays tonight.
“Number one for me is, take everything that you’ve been taught to this point, and don’t lose sight of that on the sideline when the heat gets turned up,” Southern said. “In every game, there’s going to be something bad happening, a penalty, hopefully not us turning it over, but you’ve got to respond to those things. At times, responding and reacting are two very different things. We’ve got to respond the right way.
‘Second thing is, when the ball is snapped, know what your job is. And that’s a simple thing, but that’s a very difficult thing, because all of a sudden ‘there’s a guy either running at me or trying to hit me as hard as he can. And Coach, you’re asking me to keep my composure and do a job.’ And that’s absolutely correct.
“The last thing is, this is the first time this group of people – and sometimes kids don’t understand this, and I think coaches sometimes don’t understand – when we walk out of that tunnel tonight, this will be the one and only time that that group of people will do that. There can be a guy get hurt that doesn’t get to do it the next week. So, embrace what you’re doing, because it is special.
“I tell kids all the time, what we do is, to me, as unique as there is in terms of the growth of young people, because there’s going to be a lot of things happen and a lot of emotions, and we’ve got to try to embrace all of that.”
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