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FOOTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR
Neshaminy's
Schmidt takes top honor for the third time
Mark Schmidt and his
coaching staff demanded a great deal from the
players.
And, to the Redskins
merit, they delivered.
By JOHN GONZALEZ
Courier Times
He is
driven, bordering on consumed. He is excitable,
bordering on cantankerous.
Those
are Mark Schmidt's character traits. That is, when
he's coaching. On the field, in the film room,
wherever there is football business needing
administration, Neshaminy's head coach is a whirling
dervish - a fiery paragon of work ethics and
preparation.
Born
from the mold of its coach, this year's team was
eerily similar. The 'Skins were a tough bunch, a
good group who fought with vigor during the week and
even harder on the weekend. Which is why they went
undefeated during the regular season, a perfect
10-0, becoming the first area team to do so since
1988. It was an effort that spurred them deep into
the postseason.
In
total, the season was fantastic, and perhaps a
little surprising coming off a 6-4 2000 campaign.
Still, whatever the expectations, the results spoke
for themselves, which is why Schmidt is the Courier
Times football coach of the year. It is the third
time in his seven seasons at Neshaminy that he has
been so honored.
Schmidt and his coaching staff demanded a great deal
from the players. And, to the Redskins merit, they
delivered.
So
that is what you know about Mark Schmidt - he is an
aggressive coach, who works every amount of
potential from those entrusted to his care. But
there is another side to Schmidt. A side hidden
behind the extraneous melodrama, away from the field
and the public eye. There is a side to Schmidt that
you don't know, and one he'd probably rather you not
find out about.
He
is, in truth, a soft touch. A man who is as
predisposed to hug as he is to holler.
"That
man can make guys who you never thought could play
football, play it and play it well," said senior
linebacker Jay Collins. "But beyond that, he's just
a good man. He helps us with so much stuff outside
of football. I can't even tell you how much he means
to a lot of us. He's like a father to me."
Sunday, December 2, 2001 |
