Belichick headlines Texas Football Coaches Clinic
AUSTIN – New England Patriots head coach and five-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick headlined the Texas Football Coaches Clinic over the weekend with a record number of coaches on hand. Nearly 1,000 high school coaches were in attendance over the weekend, with 962 registering to learn from some of the best coaches in football. The previous record of registered coaches was 684 for the 2006 clinic following the Longhorns’ 2005 National Championship.
@CoachTomHerman and I are happy to welcome Coach Bill Belichick to Texas to speak to our Texas high school coaches. #ThisIsTexas #HookEm ? pic.twitter.com/Cv0YUmBCEt
— Mike Perrin (@UTmikeperrin) April 7, 2017
Coaches came from 10 states – Arkansas, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia – and three countries – Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Belichick spoke to the large crowd on Friday evening and shared his appreciation for everything the high school coaches do. He noted the influence that a high school coach has on each player that comes through his program, recognizing that many on his NFL roster would list their high school coach among the most influential people in their lives to this day.
The clinic began Friday morning with participants having the chance to learn from UT defensive coordinator Todd Orlando, offensive coordinator Tim Beck, special teams coordinator Craig Naivar and associate head coach Stan Drayton. In the afternoon, Lake Travis High School head coach Hank Carter spoke before coaches observed position meetings and a Longhorns practice.
Tom Herman spoke on the importance of the high school coaches in attendance – first to his team following practice and then in front of the group of attendees as the evening session began. The Longhorns’ head coach ended practice by telling his players to say hello to their high school coaches if they were in attendance. Then, before introducing Mack Brown and Belichick, Herman reiterated the importance of all of the coaches in attendance and thanked them for what they do.
As Brown came on stage, he shared a similar message to Herman’s. He spoke on the importance of how the high school coaches prepare the student-athletes to be great people by the time they come to college so that the college coaches can continue to help them grow both on and off the field.
Following Brown and Belichick, the coaches in attendance had a chance to learn from UT’s position coaches during chalk talk sessions to conclude the first day.
On Saturday, strength and conditioning coach Yancy McKnight spoke to kick off the morning before DeSoto High School head coach Todd Peterman. The coaches then had a chance to wrap up the weekend by watching the Longhorns’ scrimmage inside of Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium.
Thanks again to @ESPN_CoachMack and Bill Belichick for speaking at our HS coaches clinic. Over 1,000 attendees is largest in Texas history?? pic.twitter.com/BqMjhXeMxB
— Coach Tom Herman (@CoachTomHerman) April 8, 2017
