DENNIS SILVA II AND GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITERS
In his second season at the helm of Hidalgo, David Duty has made significant strides developing the culture he desires for the Pirates.
“Last year, it was all just about football when I got here April 1. We had to hit the ground running,” Duty said. “We had to learn, because it was a new offense, a new defense. This year, we were able to do more things. We got more kids in our athletic period, we went through a boot camp. We made some philosophical changes that we feel good about. I brought in a couple more staff members that fit my mold. I feel real good.”
Those staff members include running backs coach Robert Meza and outside linebackers coach Elias Esquivel, both of whom bring familiarity with Duty as past colleagues.
“You’ve got to surround yourself with loyalty and guys who know what to expect,” Duty said. “This program was kind of in a rut before I got here. They were used to doing it a certain way, and we’re trying to build the mentality of the (Class) 6As to the 4A. Before I got here, football was treated like a seasonal sport. It’s not that way. You have to work year-round in this sport. But we’re getting there, and I feel a whole lot better about our base knowledge of the game.”
Long-term, the biggest change made this offseason for Hidalgo may have come at the junior high level.
Hidalgo ISD awarded Duty coordinators to go to Diaz Junior High, which Duty said “was not geared toward football,” and work with seventh and eighth graders during their athletic period. Duty brought in Chris Rodriguez as his junior high coordinator.
Rodriguez previously worked with Duty at PSJA Memorial and also worked as a defensive coordinator at Grulla High.
“A varsity defensive coordinator coming down to be a junior high coordinator for a couple of years, that’s huge,” Duty said.
Duty clearly has a plan in motion that is working. In his 15 months leading the Pirates, Duty has tripled the amount of kids in the football athletic period, from 22 to 66.
“This community had gotten away from football,” Duty said. “It had been put on the backburner after (Scott) Ford had left and we’re trying to put it back in the forefront. Other sports here are doing really well and we want to match that intensity.”
AIRING IT OUT?
Playing his first season at Weslaco East as a sophomore last year, quarterback Richard LeFevre quickly learned an important lesson about the Wildcats offense.
“We’re going to run the ball,” LeFevre said. “No matter where we’re at.”
Weslaco East gained 81.5 percent of its offensive yardage on the ground last season. The contrast was starker in 2014, with the running game racking up 93.9 percent of the team’s total yards from scrimmage.
But with the 6-foot-4 LeFevre showing promise in the passing game, East coach Mike Burget is tempted to make a major offensive change.
“Weslaco East has wanted a throwing team for a long time, and I honestly would love to have a throwing team,” Burget said. “I’ve had some good quarterbacks, but none like this kid here. He can throw the ball across the field on a dime. We’re going to open it up this year. We’re going to throw the ball a lot more this year.”
Talk of adjusted playcalling and offensive balance are easy to find in the opening days of practice, but LeFevre boasts the skill set to support a shift.
A first-time varsity starter last season after transferring to the program from Ben Bolt, LeFevre completed 46 of 89 passes for 731 yards and 10 touchdowns against one interception.
“We’re definitely going to spread it out more,” Burget said. “There are going to be some new formations, but if you look at it in the past, we’ve run spread sets. We’ve always spread it to run the ball. This year, we’re going to spread it to throw the ball.”
Burget said East will head to the line of scrimmage with the intention of passing on “the majority” of plays, though LeFevre will have the option to check into a run.
He’s earned that trust due to his football smarts — the result of his father, Jeff, being a coach. Jeff was the head coach at Ben Bolt for 11 years and now serves as East’s receivers coach and passing coordinator.
With LeFevre boasting the arm strength to snap off throws from sideline to sideline, the Wildcats can expand their route tree to include more outs and corners. LeFevre has also shown the ability to tuck the ball and pick up yardage on the ground when necessary, proving a load to bring down at about 265 pounds.
LeFevre said he felt a little rusty on the first day of practice, but looks forward to potentially working in a different style of offense.
“I think (Burget) wants to change it up a little bit,” LeFevre said. “By that, it means more balance on both sides of the ball. And the tempo is going.”
STARTING EARLY
Eighteen Upper and Mid-Valley programs got a head start on training camp Monday because they did not participate in spring ball.
The 14 teams that did participate in spring ball and have to wait until next week to start up: McAllen High, PSJA Memorial, PSJA North, Mission Veterans Memorial, McAllen Memorial, Edinburg North, Sharyland High, Sharyland Pioneer, Edinburg High, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, Mission High, McAllen Rowe, Edinburg Vela and Edinburg Economedes.