Comeaux gets first look at Bobcats

For most teams spring practice is kind of a nuisance.
It only last a week to 10 days, and usually most of the coaches are so tired from coaching the other sports, that spring practice just kind of serves as a reminder, at the end of the school year, that football is the next sport on the list.
Spring practice can also be a good thing for head coaches.
It is the first chance coaches will get to catch a glimpse of what their team will look like with the graduating seniors gone, but for the Erath Bobcats, spring practice is the first time their new head coach will get a chance to look at the entire team in general.
David Comeaux is the first year head coach of the Bobcats and last week was his first chance to get a look at the Erath football team.
“We had a good week last week,” Comeaux said. “I was pleasantly surprised. The first two days were difficult. Not because of the kids, but because of the coaches.
“Spring time is really tough on the smaller schools because coaches are everywhere.”
The fact that most of his coaches were coaching other sports was Comeaux’s main concern heading into spring practice.
“It took the coaches a couple of days to get back in the swing of being a football coach because most of them had just finished coaching another sport,” Comeaux said. “Once we got the jitters out, everything went well and we got in a good week of practice.”
Spring practice in Erath was suppose to start two weeks ago, but that couldn’t happen because four of Comeaux’s coaches were in the middle of other sports.
The other concern that Comeaux had was making sure the players and coaches learned as much as they could during this two week long spring practice.
“It is kind of like coaching on the run,” Comeaux said. “It’s like that because everyone on the field is trying to learn. The players are trying to learn from the coaches, and they just learned it a few hours before they had to teach it to the kids.
“So, it’s a little crazy out there, but despite the players and coaches having to learn, they have done a great job. Both the players and coaches have stepped up and done a great job, so far.”
Players and coaches learning a new system is always one of the struggles of a new head coach, but Comeaux feels that his team is adapting pretty well in the short time they have had to learn the new system.
“The kids are excited,” Comeaux said. “They have been practicing hard, and having a little bit of fun. Our system and philosophy have changed, but I think they are adapting pretty well to it right now.
“The main goal of the spring practice is for the players and the coaches to just learn as much as they can, and so far they have done a great job at doing that.”
The one part that Comeaux feels has been most beneficial for him are the few players that don’t play other sports.
Those players have been able to workout with Comeaux and simply because they have had a little more time, have a little better grasp on the new system that Comeaux is trying to implement.
“It has been a long process for us getting back on the field,” Comeaux said. “Erath is a 3A school and most of the kids play multiple sports. Fortunate for me I had a small group of kids that didn’t play other sports. So, they were with me after school running and doing football drills.
“Those kids are the core of my team right now. Those guys know what to expect and they are my leaders on the field right now. I am proud of them and the rest of the guys that are jumping in feet first.”
Through the first week of the spring practice schedule, Comeaux is excited about his team’s progress so far, and knows that they will only get better the longer they are in the system.
The Erath Bobcats spring practice schedule will end on Thursday night with a spring game against Berwick, at Erath.
The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m., and will be your first chance to get a look at the David Comeaux Erath Bobcat’s football team.