Coaches' Clinic

Jayson Williams is linebacker and special teams coordinator for San Antonios John Marshall High School. Even though its his first trip to the Angelo Football Clinic, hes known about this gathering for years. “My old high school football coach used to come here a bunch,” Williams said as he finished registering. “College coaches would come here a bunch. So I always wanted to make it a point to get out here.” And like other high school and college coaches from Texas and surrounding states, Williams says hes in San Angelo this week because he wants to stay ahead of the game. “If you want to be competitive once you get out of the area, out of San Antonio, and compete with those powerhouse Houston schools and Dallas schools, youve got to be able to get out and get new ideas,” Williams says, “Because theyre always traveling, always trying to pick up on the latest, greatest stuff. So weve got to do the same.” Picking up on the “latest greatest stuff” means listening to guest speakers like Lousiana State University head coach Les Miles. They have the chance to see how technology is changing the way coaches and players analyze the game. Steve Gauvey of CoachComm demonstrated a software program which could mean an end to the old days when coaches diagrammed plays on a chalkboard. With this software, the play is demonstrated on a three-dimensional simulation And Gauvey points out, “You can actually run the same play over and over. Or you can actually go to the next play on the progression.” “This [software] was actually available a year ago only at the college level. Just last year, last July was the first time it was available to the high school market.” The football clinic started 34 years ago, with just over a dozen coaches in attendance. More than 16-hundred are here this week. And organizers say its a good opportunity to promote the city...and Angelo State University. “Its probably one of the largest, if not the largest private clinic in the nation,” says Jerry Vandergriff, former ASU football coach and a director of the Angelo Football Clinic since it started. “And its known from border to border. And as a result theres been lots of things in San Angelo and Angelo State that have been exposed at the same time. And there are a lot of guys that have increased their knowledge of the game, including us.” From an economic standpoint, its one of the citys top money-making events, generating more than a half million dollars during its three-day run.