Former Ball High coach returns to isle
LEAGUE
CITY — Paul Lanier has a lot of great memories walking the sidelines at Kermit
Courville Stadium in Galveston. He hopes to add a few more Friday night, only
this time he’ll be pacing the visitor’s sidelines.
For the first time since he resigned as the Ball High head
football coach following the 2002 season, Lanier returns to Kermit Courville
Stadium on Friday as the offensive coordinator for the Clear Lake Falcons.
And for the second consecutive year, the Falcons can win the
District 24-5A title with a victory over the Tors. But unlike a year ago, when
the two teams met at District Stadium both unbeaten in district, the Tors have
already been eliminated from the playoff chase.
Lanier downplays his return, but you can bet it’ll be an
emotional one for him and his former team.
“You never lose that feeling that you had with them,” Lanier
said. “But it’s been two years. And just like last year when we played them,
we’re playing for a district championship. Those thoughts will last until the
first horn, and then it’s a war, and we go to work.”
Lanier compiled a 47-22 record in six seasons with the Tors.
Ball High went unbeaten in District 24-5A during Lanier’s first three seasons
with the Tors, culminating with one of Ball High’s finest seasons in school
history in 1999. That year, the Tors went 12-2, losing to eventual state
finalist Katy, 24-10, in the Class 5A, Division II state quarterfinals.
The Tors went 4-6 in 2000, the first of two consecutive
years that they would miss the playoffs, but it was Lanier’s only losing season.
The Tors went 7-3 in 2001, but tied
Alvin and La Porte for third place and lost the
tiebreaker to La Porte. Ball High rebounded in 2002, made the playoffs and lost
to Pearland in the first round.
Three months later, Lanier resigned.
While many people believe Lanier was forced out, Lanier said
the decision to step down was his and his alone.
“I think every coach knows when it’s time,” Lanier said. “I
told (Ball High athletic director) Sandy Mader when she first hired me, ‘You
won’t ever have to tell me to go. When it’s time, I’ll know when to go.’ It was
time.”
And Lanier felt like it was finally time for him to go.
“I just felt like we hit a brick wall,” he said. “I didn’t
feel like it was getting any better. It wasn’t right for the kids. I probably
didn’t feel like I was making a difference anymore. Once you feel that way, you
need to let somebody else do it.”
Lanier wouldn’t elaborate, but he doesn’t return to the
island with any bad feelings.
“Oh no,” he said. “Too many good people there.”
Yet it wasn’t easy for Lanier to walk away, especially since
he knew the team was loaded for the 2003 season.
“It was tough to walk away, especially from that team,
because I thought that team was going to be as good as that ’99 team,” he said.
“That was a hard thing to walk away from. They did well, got in the playoffs and
had a good season.”
Lanier’s decision turned out to be a godsend for
Clear Lake head coach
Troy Aduddell. Clear Lake was coming off a 5-5 season, and the Falcons hadn’t
reached the playoffs since 1999. Aduddell had already decided to transform the
traditionally pass-happy Falcons into run-oriented team, and he wanted to return
to his roots and run the option. He knew he had the talent to do just that, but
he needed an offensive coordinator who could pull it off. Lo and behold,
Lanier’s services suddenly were on the market.
“It was pretty much a no-brainer,” Aduddell said. “It all
fit. Paul didn’t want to leave the area at that time. So it was fortunate on my
part to get him.”
Lanier was sold and joined the staff. But Aduddell had to
sell his Falcons on the idea.
“When you talk to the kids — and that’s my job as a head
coach — I have to make sure they understand I’m going to do what’s best for the
program,” Aduddell said. “What’s going to make us win as a football team? It may
not be the best for you as an individual. They have to understand I’m doing it
for the cause of
Clear Lake football.”
Not everyone bought into it. T.J. Jordan, knowing most
college coaches like a quarterback who has thrived in wide-open passing offense,
conveniently moved to nearby Friendswood, which runs a pass-oriented spread
offense. Jordan, who moved to Friendswood in 2003 and sat out a year as mandated
by University Interscholastic League rules, has thrived in Friendswood this
year. The senior is among the
Houston area leaders in passing with 1,746 yards
and 19 touchdowns for the Mustangs.
“He’s doing a great job over at Friendswood,” Aduddell said.
“But I still think T.J. could have done the job here at quarterback if he’d
given it a chance. He didn’t want that.”
Aduddell and Lanier considered three players for the
all-important quarterback job and eventually settled on Scott Oswald, who was a
receiver at the time and wasn’t too eager for a change.
“I didn’t know what to think,” Oswald said. “I was willing
to move, but I honestly didn’t want to. I wanted to stay at receiver. But I was
willing to move for the team. It worked out.”
Aduddell believes Lanier’s addition helped sell Oswald and
the rest of the team on making the transition. Ball High had great success
running the option under Lanier, and the system made Dwayne Brown, a sophomore
quarterback during Lanier’s last season at Ball High in 2002, an up-and-coming
star.
“Scott’s a kid who wants to win at whatever he does,”
Aduddell said. “He’s the point guard of the basketball team. It’s not like he
hadn’t been a leader and been that type. He took it on and knew what Paul had as
a quarterback down there. Dwayne did a great job — 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000
yards passing — the year (Lanier) came to us.”
Oswald, however, said he really wasn’t attracted to the
starring role. He just wanted to do what was best for the team.
“I thought about it (Brown’s success), but I went from
catching the ball to running and taking snaps,” he said. “It’s a weird
transition, but it worked out good.”
That it did. Oswald ran for 782 yards and 10 touchdowns on
140 carries last season and led
Clear Lake to its first district title since 1994.
In fact, the Falcons beat Ball High, 27-24, in overtime in the regular-season
finale to go undefeated in district and hand the Tors their only district loss
of the season.
The Falcons bowed out to eventual state champion
North Shore, 50-0, in
the first round of the Class 5A, Division I playoffs with a 9-2 record.
What a change it was for
Clear Lake and the Falcons. A team that had thrown
for nearly 2,000 yards in 2002 and was traditionally a passing team, threw for
only 346 yards in 2003, while running for a district-best 2,771 yards.
“They (the players) embraced me pretty well and really did
everything I asked,” Lanier said. “They worked hard for me. That first year, we
struggled early, and we were winning because we were playing such good defense.
That allowed us to come around. By the fifth game, we came around and did well.
Of course, we got
North Shore the first round. If we could have
played somebody else, I think we could have won a couple of games.”
The Falcons will get a chance to go further this year. They
are 8-1 overall, the lone loss a stunning 31-13 loss to
Alvin on Oct. 15, and they’ve
already clinched a playoff berth. If the Falcons beat Ball High on Friday and
Pearland takes care of Alvin, then Clear Lake will finish the regular season
tied with Pearland, but the district champion based on head-to-head competition.
If Lake and Alvin both win, then Alvin will the district champ.
Oswald has put up some incredible numbers this season. He
leads the district in rushing with 1,372 yards and 22 touchdowns on 170 carries.
The Falcons, as a team, have compiled 3,118 yards rushing and just 420 passing.
And thanks to Pearland’s addition to the district and the
fact the Oilers have locked up a playoff berth,
Clear Lake will go Division II
and avoid North Shore in the first round of the playoffs.
Now their job is to secure the district title and the
Division II top seed by beating Ball High, which has suffered through a 2-7
season.
“The pressure’s on us to win a district championship,”
Aduddell said. “We were district champions last year. We want to repeat that.
These seniors owe it to themselves. They’re going to go out and try to take it.”
But the Falcons know it won’t be easy. Not in
Galveston.
“You’re looking at good kids, good athletes, and they’re
going to play hard, knowing Paul,” Aduddell said. “Going over there at the Rock,
they love playing there. It’s going to be a great game.”
Lanier finds no satisfaction in Ball High’s misfortune this
year. In fact, he has great respect for second-year coach Ron Holmes and his
staff.
“I think the world of them,” he said. “You don’t ever wish
anything bad on anybody. They’ve got young kids and some injuries. I went
through a year where we lost everybody, and we went 4-6. Of course, we lost two
games by six points and we were in the battles and came up short. All coaches go
through that. We’ve all been through it.”
And Friday’s return won’t be anything different for a man
who’s made coaching changes before and returned as the rival coach. Still, he
accomplished some great things at Ball High and produced some great athletes.
“A lot of great memories down there, a lot of great people
and great kids I got to coach,” he said. “I’m very fortunate I’m coaching a lot
of great kids now.”