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Programs Struggle To Keep Up

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By KATHERINE SMITH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 10, 2008

Updated: 08/10/2008 02:22 am

TAMPA - Some of the best football players in Hillsborough County gathered under the bright lights of Raymond James Stadium in December.

The annual all-star game featured talented players representing all of the county's high schools.

Leto High head coach Hugh Dehnert served as the West team's defensive coordinator. During a week of practices and in the game, Dehnert coached a collection of senior players.

Someone asked Dehnert how it felt to coach some of the players who should have been on his Leto team instead of playing for other schools.

"I try not to think about 'what if,'" Dehnert said. "This is the situation we're in, and I deal with it. I try not to think about, what if a certain player hadn't transferred to another school and were still playing at Leto. I also try not to think about winning the lottery."

Robinson coach Mike DePue doesn't play the "what if" game either. But he does question a system that allows the inequities to continue.

"I'd like to see a fair playing field," he said. "Right now, it's a have and have-not county."

Meet the have-nots. Teams such as Leto, Robinson and Blake, programs that struggle to field competitive teams in highly competitive Hillsborough County. When practice opens across the county on Monday, these teams will take the field minus a few players who bolted for other schools.

Sirchauncey Holloway's situation exposed the ugly side of transfers. The former Plant City standout running back was suspended for the entire football season when FHSAA officials discovered he used a false address in his transfer to Armwood.

Keeping It Together

An even uglier side? The programs that are left to fend for themselves when talented players are lured away by the brighter lights of winning programs.

For Leto, a team that finished 3-7 last year, it is trying to conduct an offseason program when 20 athletes (at the most) show up for workouts.

Numbers also are a problem at Blake. Coming off a 2-8 season, there were some days during spring practices when only 14 players were on the field.

So, how do you conduct a practice with only 14 players? Blake coach Sean Washington got a little creative. He placed cones on the field to simulate players so the team could run basic drills.

"I'm a workaholic," Washington said. "If I have one kid show up for practice, I'm going to coach that kid."

Devotion is key when coaching struggling programs. Since Dehnert's arrival in 2006, when he inherited a team that was 1-9 the year before, Leto's win totals have increased each season. But that hasn't equated to more players in the workout room or on the field.

But there are the faithful, those who believe playoffs are a legitimate possibility, even when so many other programs have perks that Falcons players can only dream of.

"Sometimes you get jealous," Leto senior running back Antwoun Howard said. "We'll show up for games with like 15 people and see Plant with two buses full of players. But they can have all the accessories, 'cause we don't really need it. It's just football. We're not worried about looking fancy."

Leto might not have the shine of other county programs, but that hasn't prevented rival coaches from coveting some of the players. Junior tailback Jeremy Deering is garnering some Division I attention, a fact Dehnert is almost afraid to reveal for fear it will lead to a different kind of recruiting - high school recruiting.

And it already has. Deering said he was recently approached by another high school coach about playing at his school.

"He was telling me I should be over there instead of at Leto," Deering said. "I just smirked at him."

This offseason, DePue said he lost two players to Plant and another to Hillsborough, a player who is on "his fourth school in four years." That a parent would allow a child to transfer to that many schools, DePue said, is the heart of the problem.

"The parents play the game," he said. "They shop their kids around. Whatever happened to having a sense of loyalty to your neighborhood?"

Rebuilding Traditions

Now when DePue addresses parents, in addition to informing them of the practice schedule, what kinds of equipment the kids need and academic requirements, he asks a simple favor. If their child hears from the coach or a player of another school, DePue would like to know.

"I want to put an end to this," DePue said. "We are not going to be a developmental program for other schools."

These have-nots used to be the haves of the county. There were glory days at Blake, Leto and Robinson. Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Michael Jenkins once ruled the county as a Leto Falcon, leading his team to a Class 6A-District 5 title in 1998 with a win against Hillsborough to earn a spot in the playoffs.

Robinson, a 1-9 team last year, used to be the pride of South Tampa and the county. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Knights' appearance in the state's first official championship game, against Coral Gables in 1963.

For 34 years, Blake held the distinction as Hillsborough County's only public school state champion (1969) until Armwood won back-to-back titles in 2003 and '04.

"I tell my players you have tradition," Washington said. "There were some great days here. But everybody wants it now. Everybody wants to jump on the bandwagon instead of building it."

Building it when the numbers continue to dwindle is tough. The have-nots try to find comfort in moral victories as they struggle to survive.

"What I have right now, what I've assembled, are kids who believe in what we're doing," Washington said. "I'm not going to put an emphasis on wins and losses. I'm trying to build men. I want to teach them life lessons and the program will turn around itself. It will."

Reporter Katherine Smith can

be reached at (813) 731-8025

or ksmith@tampatrib.com.

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