HHF/GID Interview with Michael Davidson - Head Coach Mishawaka Marian

[Guest DT]

HHF Interview with Mishawaka Marian Head Coach Michael Davidson

 

The Knights have been on a tear in 3A over the past few seasons and despite some heavy graduation losses, look for Marian to make another run to Indy in November.

 

Coach, Thanks for visiting with us at Hoosier High School Football

 

Question 1

No doubt, you have had a very busy summer, which included your selection to the North staff for the IFCA annual North - South All Star Game. Despite the disappointing outcome of the game for the North, can you tell us about the all star experience and what is was like to be a member of Grant Moser's staff for the week in Anderson?

Question 2

The Marian program has been on quite a run over the past two seasons, winning 23 of 25 games with only 1 regular season loss and two semi state defeats against Indy parochial powerhouse Chatard. Your 2020 team closed the gap considerably on Chatard in the north semi state, dropping a close 18-13 contest after losing to the Trojans 45-0 in the 2019 semi state. How would you assess the overall improvement of your program over the past two seasons, relative to overall talent level, team depth, strength and conditioning, and overall execution of your offensive and defensive systems.

Question 3

The NIC gives you a wide variety of schools to match up with during the regular season. 2020 was likely Marians best ever season in the conference, as you earned the historic win over Penn, and easily handled all of your other NIC matchups, and beat rival Mishawaka to boot. You missed out on a chance to run the table and lost a highly anticipated matchup with Elkhart die to Covid. What is your overall assessment of The NIC, do you like the current divisional structure, and seeing that you have added Angola for 2021, what do you like to do with you out of conference scheduling?

Question 4

You lost a lot of talented seniors off that 11-1 team from last season. Who do you have coming back that will be stepping into key roles where you will need to replace a lot of production and a great deal of leadership?

Question 5

How has the local feeder system contributed to your current run of success and is that system aligned with your basic offensive and defensive philosophies so kids are better prepared to make an impact when they reach the high school level?

Question 6

Chatard moves up to 4A this year, eliminating the possibility for you to run into them again in the postseason. We are getting a wide variety of feedback, positive and negative, regarding the Success Factor and its impact on the tournament and on overall competitive balance. What are your thoughts on the SF, as you are potentially directly impacted due to the removal of Chatard from Class 3A?

Question 7

What has been your most satisfying / most gratifying moment over this great 2 year run that your program just completed last November?

 

 

Responses

1. It's been a very busy summer, indeed, but thankfully I have a great staff that allowed me to step away and really enjoy the experience of the All-Star game without having to worry about what was going on back home. The relationships with the staff and players are ones that I appreciate the most and will cherish forever. Grant did an amazing job bringing us all together, and I can certainly see why South Adams has had tremendous success during his tenure. Obviously, we didn't want the game to turn out in that manner, but I am thankful to have had the opportunity to learn from and work with the other coaches. It was great to get to actually coach for the week, instead of worrying about head coaching responsibilities, and get to know all the defensive players. The defensive staff and players all bought in and gave great effort all week. I feel confident in what we do and how we do things at Marian, but it was awesome to hear from Grant and the rest of our staff on how they do things both schematically and culturally. I'm excited to take a few things back to Marian and improve our program!

 

2. I can honestly say the 2019 Chatard team was one of the most impressive teams I've ever coached against. We closed the gap in some areas, but all the credit to them and their staff in being able to have sustained success and replace a tremendous senior class. First off, we were far from healthy in 2019 missing our starting QB and our starting RB was only at about 50%. We had a few other injuries that depleted our depth and didn't allow us to perform to our full potential. In 2020, we were much healthier at those positions and across the board. Our talent level on the perimeter was more experienced and we did a better job offensively of expanding our system to the point where defenses had to worry about 5-6 guys on the field at all times. In 2019, we were somewhat limited in that capacity. The focus and commitment that Indianapolis area schools, and many other schools around the state, place on strength and conditioning is a gap that we have not closed and that we continually have to overcome. The strength and conditioning gap between us and many of the other upper tier teams in 3A and above will remain the same until our athletic department, administration, and school board make our weight room and strength and conditioning a priority. Our kids adapt and overcome. I take it as a personal challenge to help develop our kids to the best of our ability with the limited support and resources. It is sort of a reflection of our program though... We're never going to have 6'5", +250lbs across the board up front with a bunch of athletes running sub 4.5 40's. But our kids develop a grit with what we have to get as much out of themselves as they possibly can, to ultimately make themselves better as individuals, and to overcome adversity both on and off the field.

 

3. I think we have a very challenging NIC schedule that helps prepare us for high quality teams later on in the 3A playoffs. Going against the size and physicality of Penn and New Prairie, the athleticism of SB Adams and Elkhart, and a bitter rival in St. Joe gives us a wide range of competitive programs that get us right for the playoffs, not to mention they are all larger schools. 20 years ago when I played, we weren't in a conference. It's nice now for the kids to get excited about playing for a NIC championship, but our message is always to focus on how the regular season prepares us for the playoffs. When you look at our out of conference schedule, I like the competitive nature and establishment of all 4 programs we face (Mishawaka, CMA, Bremen, Angola). We want to survive our schedule from a health perspective, but want to be challenged to a level that will prepare us physically and mentally for a deep run in November.

 

4. The 2021 Knights will look quite a bit different and will have to rely on some key seniors and a good defensive group while we get some younger, inexperienced players up to speed. Our LB (Michael Murphy & Setefano Sete) and DB (Greg Atkinson, Brady Hoskins, Gabe Kerr, and Kaleb Lusanga) core return 6 players and our DL returns 3 guys with a lot of experience. Offensively, we have to fill 4 out of 5 offensive line positions and our entire backfield. We have 2 guys with lots of experience at RB (Murphy & Lusanga), but have never been relied upon as "the guy". At WR, we have a special weapon in Atkinson, but will need others to step up so that defenses can't focus just on #1. A lot of people have asked this question, and the best answer I can give is that if we fill in the holes like I think we are capable of, I think we'll be pretty tough come playoff time.

5. Next to the lack of support for strength and conditioning, our lack of feeder school connection/involvement is our next biggest hurdle. The ICCL does a tremendous job promoting the game and getting kids interested in football. But unlike most schools, we have no direct control over any feeder programs. When a freshman comes in, we have to teach him from the ground up. Whether a player's coming from a catholic middle school or one of the surrounding public schools, they are a clean slate and don't have any of our verbage or drills or schematics down from what they were taught in middle school. We have to teach them everything from how we stretch to how we block and tackle to how we do things off the field as well. It typically takes 2+ years for us to see players develop to a point where they are ready to perform at the varsity level. A lot of credit goes to our staff at the Freshmen and JV levels for working with those kids to get them up to speed.

 

6. We've been close to the cut line for the success factor over the last 7 years. If we had won state in 2020, both us and Chatard would have moved up to 4A. It's a rule that I'm fine with. I understand it's purpose. As a 3A school that could be strongly impacted by a great 2 year run, or maybe a smaller school with a great couple of classes, I could see the downfall for punishing kids in 2021 for what happened in 2019-2020. It's one of those things that I don't really think about. If we are successful enough to the point where we'd have to bump up, do you really think I'm going to complain?

 

7. It's hard for me to call one single moment as the most gratifying over this 2 year run, let alone the other 13 years I've coached. Looking at our victories and championships, it's hard to say one over another. A lot of teams would have folded on the road at Penn (turnovers) and Mishawaka (late TD) and simply given up. Down at the North/South All-Star game I had both of our players nominated to be captains. That says a lot about them and their families, but also says a lot about our program and the type of young men we develop. Certainly overcoming all of the COVID obstacles in 2020 would rank up there. Also the way our 2019 seniors responded in the off-season after getting blown out by Fort Wayne Bishop Luers comes to mind. Those guys had a focus and tenacity about them that isn't present in every off-season. Sorry... I guess all of those come to mind when you ask about the most gratifying moment, and I'm probably still missing one or two.

 

 

Thanks Coach and we greatly appreciate your responses. Best of luck to you and your team this coming season.

 

 

Tim Phillips

Hoosier High School Football

[NE8Fan]

Love reading these.  Would love to see Luke Amstutz from East Noble or Jarred Souder from Leo.

Edited July 19, 2021 by NE8Fan

[Guest DT]

4 hours ago, NE8Fan said:

Love reading these.  Would love to see Luke Amstutz from East Noble or Jarred Souder from Leo.

Sauder interview just posted