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Falcons coach brings stability to the program
By JOEY KNIGHT
Published August 11, 2007
TAMPA - If you want to slip on pads for Leto second-year coach Hugh Dehnert, you first must sweat a little. It's not a prerequisite, just a biological inevitability.
The Falcons' new locker room, on the stadium's southeast corner, is a virtual sauna.
"No air conditioning, if you can believe that," Dehnert said tersely, the purgatorial August sun shining in his 43-year-old eyes. "They didn't put an air conditioner in."
As Dehnert speaks, offensive coordinator Frank Rose stands inside the weightroom, scribbling plays in black marker - on a wall-sized mirror. Among those watching is sophomore wingback Terik Greensberry, who has biked 8 miles - one way - to make practice.
As Dehnert has learned, this job requires improvisation, perspiration and knowing the plight of your personnel. A Kansas City native, Dehnert isn't even bothering with two-a-days because he knows most of his players don't have the means i.e. transportation to make it to school for a morning workout.
But if optimism were an amenity, the Falcons would be suiting up in 70-degree comfort.
"We're heading in the right direction," Dehnert said.
The Falcons' numbers indicate that. On the first day of the 2006 preseason, Dehnert said 14 kids showed up at the time practice was supposed to begin, "and none of them had their physicals." This year, roughly 45 showed up, most with paperwork in hand.
What brought them out? A semblance of continuity, perhaps.
Dehnert's predecessors, Jerrell Cogmon and Scott Palmer, stuck around for a combined three seasons. By contrast, Dehnert seems enamored with the challenge of resuscitating Leto's program, having applied for the job when Cogmon got it four years ago.
"I think he's brought a little stability," said Rose, a 1992 Leto graduate.
"You'd come here and the head coach would leave, and so it was out of sight, out of mind. Now you come here and we'll get you in the door if you take care of the academic end of it. We'll highlight you."
As proof, Rose points to '07 graduates Rudontae Ashley and Luther St. Louis, both of whom are playing at Independence (Kan.) Community College. Had the two been more diligent in scheduling their college-entrance exams, Dehnert suggests, they might be at four-year schools now.
Hence the reason he has installed a mandatory study hall along with some spread formations to diversify the Falcons' offense, which struggled to a 2-8 finish in '06. According to Dehnert, 90 percent of this year's seniors have taken the SAT.
"If you don't have books (in study hall), you've got to go find somebody and get some," said senior team captain Marquis Nedd. "Get some work or something, go to the library and get a book or anything, but you must bring books to study hall."
Contrarily, Dehnert knows a Falcons transformation on the field is anything but academic.
Depth remains a concern; a dearth of linemen is among the reasons the Falcons are experimenting with the spread. And when you've got kids biking and carpooling to practice, a consistent turnout is hardly a certainty.
But for now, Dehnert appears ready to sweat out these lean years.
"We're about three or four linemen from being pretty good, I think," Dehnert said. "With the offense we've got, there's very little in terms of telling our guys where to line up. And with the defense, second year in, things are moving a lot faster.
"I'm pretty happy with the direction the program's going."
Joey Knight can be reached at (813) 226-3350 or
jknight@sptimes.com.
The Dehnert File
Age: 43
Hometown: Belton, Mo. (a Kansas City suburb)
College: Tarkio (Mo.) College (closed after filing for bankruptcy protection in '91)
Previous job: Defensive coordinator for five seasons at Orlando University High
Did you know?: Dehnert, now a trim 180 pounds, was a 230-pound offensive lineman at Tarkio.
What he's saying: "I'm sure Tampa Bay Tech and all those guys are like, 'Hey we've got Leto. Let's put a win next to that one.' But hopefully we'll be able to get something done this year."
[Last modified August 10, 2007, 20:32:11]
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