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HHF/GID Interview with Rensselaer HC Chris Meeks


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HHF Interview with Rensselaer Head Coach Chris Meeks
RCHS has a boatload of returning talent and Coach Meeks has high expectations for this group.
Coach , thanks for joining us here at Hoosier High School Football :
Question 1
For starters, tell us a bit about how your summer has been going with football drills, team competition, and overall preparation for your Bombers as you prepare for the coming fall season.
Answer 1
We have had a great summer thus far. Our practices have been crisp and sharp. You can tell the players and the coaches are so appreciative to getting back to normal after what we went through last year. It is great getting back to scrimmaging again. We went to the Manchester Team Camp and had scrimmages with Greenfield Central, Mississinewa, John Glenn, Michigan City, Calumet, Plymouth, Lake Central and others. We are learning a lot about ourselves.
 
 
Question 2
Coach, you have had a great run at RCHS, and you currently stand at #21 on the Indiana Football Coaches All Time Win List with a 175-90 record over 22 seasons, including a state championship in 2015 and numerous sectional and regional titles throughout your career. Your program annually is considered one of the strongest, most consistent and stable 2A programs in the state. How would you assess the overall health of your program in terms of numbers, talent development, strength and speed, and the internal competitive drive of your players to compete at a championship level every year?
Answer 2
Rensselaer has always had a rich tradition in football. Our first high school game was played in 1898. The Chicago Bears had training camp at Saint Joseph’s College throughout the 60’s and 70’s. So our town has always thrived on football. When you look at typical Bomber teams, we are usually not very big, but our kids will lock horns and get after it. We work very hard on being fundamentally sound and mentally tough. We want to pound the football at you, mixing in play action pass, play aggressive defensively, and dominate the special teams. So we may not pass the typical eye test as a team, but these are our type of guys that we need to run our system to be successful. If you go back to the state championship we won in 2014, we were very much undersized to Evansville Mater Dei. But our kids understand what we have to do be successful within our program and what we do works for us.
 
 
Question 3
Last year was an odd season due to Covid. Your team advanced to the sectional final before losing to Andrean 28-14. How did the overall Covid experience impact your team last year, did you feel like you left anything on the table, and how do you expect your kids to rebound this season with a full summer to prepare ?
Answer 3
I think the best way to describe last year was surreal. I was mentally exhausted when the season came to an end. Every day I wondered who would be quarantined, or is this the day our team gets shut down. Thank God the IHSAA, the IFCA, our great football officials, school administrations, and health departments devised a plan to make football work in Indiana. These people gave us a chance and our players and coaches made it work. We are all so thankful to be back to somewhat normal now. A negative that turned into a positive last year was when we had a team call us early on game day and said they could not play that night due to Covid. We immediately found North Knox from Southern Indiana who was looking for a game too. Our athletic directors agreed to let us play on Saturday at a neutral sight in Covington. That was an awesome day of football and a great experience.
 
 
Question 4
The Hoosier is a very solid conference from top to bottom, and gives your team the opportunity to do some travel during the regular season. What is your outlook for the conference in 2021, who do you see as the pre season favorite, and are there any dark horses in the wings looking to make a move up in the league standings?
Answer 4
I absolutely love the Hoosier Conference! It’s a great conference with tremendous football tradition. There for a while we even had Sheridan in it. There is definitely some travel but it is well worth it. When you look at favorites you have to start with West Lafayette. They bring back several starters and they are the top dogs til someone beats them. We lost a heartbreaker to them in double overtime last year. Hamilton Heights, Western, Tipton look to be very strong in the East Division. Cass was young last season but improved each week and Northwestern has a new coach so they are an unknown. In the West, West Lafayette and Lafayette Central Catholic are always the teams to beat. Twin Lakes is excited about
the group they have coming back after a nice season last year. Benton Central will be an unknown also with a new coach. We have some nice pieces coming back but we’re inexperienced in several areas as well. We hope to improve week to week and hopefully make some noise.
 
 
Question 5
The Cracker Barrel season opener with Kankakee Valley is a big game for your kids. James Broyles' program showed some considerable improvement last year, and expectations are for a continued upward climb for the Kougars. What does this game mean to you and your program, and are the Bombers in position to bring that trophy back home to Rensselaer?
Answer 5
Coach Broyles and his entire staff are doing a great job at Kankakee Valley. The Cracker Barrel game is a great way to start the high school football season. It’s the battle for Jasper County. It’s great for the schools, communities, and teams to have a rivalry game like this right from the get go. From our coaches standpoint, we love the fact we are playing a very solid 4A school that is definitely on the rise. These games have always been highly contested contests with huge crowds. Both teams have very high expectations. We will definitely have to play very well to beat them.
 
 
Question 6
Strength and conditioning programs continue to be a point of differentiation between good programs and elite programs. How would you describe your program at RCHS in terms of facilities, equipment, coaching and overall player development?
Answer 6
For a small school I like our weightroom. We have some weightlifting classes during the day in which I teach. We also provide opportunities for our players to lift before school and after school. Many of our players are two and three sport athletes in which we encourage. So we need to be creative in terms of finding times to get our kids in the weightroom.
 
 
Question 7
Did you have a chance to get away with the family and have some fun this summer? What type of activities do you enjoy when you are away from football?
Answer 7
We did not get away at all this summer. But in the past we have enjoyed trips to Panama City Beach, Banff, Canada, and Scottsdale, Arizona. Our family loves to go to concerts. Two years ago we had 9th row seats at a Queen concert in Chicago. I would highly recommend that to everyone!
 
 
Question 8
Who are some of your key upperclassmen returning to impact roles for the 2021 season?
Answer 8
We have a nice group of offensive players returning. Up front we have Jacob Pickering, Ky Risner, and Jordan Cree. Dylan Kidd returns at running back after rushing for 1400 yards. Kelton Hesson rushed for 500 yds at the wing and was our leading receiver. Tate Drone is back at QB. Defensively we will be led by Cree who had 25 tackles for loss. Kidd and Hesson back at linebackers. Lakin Webb will be joining them as well.
 
 
Question 9
You've got a great coaching staff with a lot of experience. Who are some of the guys that have been with you since the early days when you started to build this program that you have today?
Answer 9
Most of us started together as a staff in 1999. Brian Zacher is our Defensive Coordinator. Matt Stevens works with our skill players. Eric Nowlin played for us and then came back as a film guy and then a coach. Adam Lyons was a lineman for us in the beginning and has come back as a line coach. Jeff Phillips, Steve Phillips and Doug Hannon are also long time coaches. All of us except Coach Stevens are Rensselaer grads, but he has been around so long, we have adopted him as a Rensselaer grad. We are all best friends as well. We love working with the Rensselaer kids and each other.
 
 
Question 10
The Success Factor was implemented to assist in the drive for competitive balance. Do you feel the SF has achieved its objectives? Any unintended consequences, either positive or negative?
Answer 10
I think the success factor was definitely a positive. But, I believe it should be factored over 4 year cycle and not two.
 
 
Question 11
Would like to see any changes made to the post season tournament structure?
Answer 11
I actually love our tournament. We have had situations where we lost some key players early in the season, had a poor regular season record, then get them back for sectionals and make a nice post season run. It’s always fun for every team in Indiana to watch the IHSAA football draw regardless of team record. It’s a new start. I would like to see seeding of sectionals, maybe at least the two best teams.
 
 
Question 12
As you evaluate this roster and oversee summer drills, what are your expectations for this 2021 version of the Bombers, and do you feel this team can make a run downstate in the postseason?
Answer 12
We currently have 50 players grades 9-12 on our roster. We have high expectations for this group. We are very experienced at the skill positions. Up front we believe our offensive and defensive lines can be very strong. We will be playing some underclassmen but we feel they are very talented with a high upside to them. We just need some time to build team chemistry and get some Friday night game experience. If we can get on a roll at tournament time then I definitely feel like we can make some noise. Our nemesis the last two years is Andrean and they will definitely be loaded again this year. But, we love our guys and we are looking forward to the many challenges that lie ahead!
 
 
 
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