Our sports correspondent Jacob Polacheck sat down with Eudora football coach Sean Hayden last week to preview this year’s season.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
JP: First off, you’re one week in. How have you felt about the team thus far? SH: I felt like we got a lot better this year overall. We allowed 188 total yards of offense to Piper. One year ago at this time, they had 415 yards of offense in the first game. We actually outgained them in offense this game. We’re still getting better.
JP: You mentioned the improvements on offense. What would you say are the factors that led to the offensive improvement? SH: I think just starting and having a good summer, installing stuff early. Now we can be pretty basic and the kids know what we’re talking about. We can play hard and fast. We’ve still got to improve and put the ball in the endzone.
JP: You’ve got your quarterback returning this year. What have you seen from him that has impressed [you]? What are your thoughts? SH: Well, that first game he grew up a lot. He wasn’t quite sure of himself maybe before the game or going into the first quarter, but by the fourth quarter he was pulling the ball and had some grown man runs. I’m very proud of him and excited to see where he goes from here.
JP: You have a pretty veteran offensive line. You’ve got a bunch of older guys. What have you seen from them in terms of leadership and how they’ve been playing? SH: Yeah, practice has been good. They keep each other in line. We need to see them take it up a notch. I think they need to have some confidence in themselves, get off the ball and just bury people because they can do it. They just need to see that they can do it.
JP: You talked about your special teams. What are some of the things you guys have been focusing on when it comes to special teams? SH: Well, we’ve just got to spend more time on them in practice, with how important they are. They’re a third of the game, but we were treating them like they were less than that, but we’re not going to do that anymore. We’re going to put the time in to focus on them.
JP: This is your second year as coach. What have been some of the things in terms of your coaching style that you’ve been working on that you’ve changed over the last year? SH: I think just trusting my assistants to do their jobs more. I think I’ve done that. They’ve done an awesome job. Last year, I tried to do too much, and I never slept. I was always stressed. This year has been pretty stress-free in that regard. I don’t let things dwell as much. It’s not the end of the world. We’ve got to see the positives in things, and we’ve done a good job of that.
JP: Obviously, you have your younger brother here. He transferred. What’s it been like coaching him? SH: It’s been good. He’s a good kid. He’s a good, hard worker. He’s a good leader. I was pretty rough on him at the beginning and I realized that, so I’ve kind of calmed down a little bit on him and it’s been good to have him around.
JP: Talk a little bit about this defensive unit, specifically the secondary. What have you seen from them? What has impressed you? SH: Our secondary is fast. We’re also pretty young, but we’re fast and we’re physical. So, I’m going to let them fly around. Like I said, I probably complicated things a little too much in the first game. That’s my fault. We’re going to line up and let them play football. I’ve been very impressed with them.
JP: Your wife is also a teacher here. What does it mean to you to coach here, having your wife here, your younger brother? What does it mean? SH: Well, community is big for us. That’s why when I was looking for a football job, it had to be somewhere that she could teach and be because it’s very important to us. She’s all-in on her job. She loves her job. She loves the people of this community. She loves her students and the same with me. We wanted our next move to be somewhere that we could be the rest of our lives and that’s here for sure. JP: In your coaching, what are some of the things that you’re working on with the rest of your staff to focus on? SH: We’re continually trying to improve. We meet on Sunday nights and the first thing we talk about is “What can we do different that we didn’t last week?” What can we do practice schedule-wise? What can we do offensively? Defensively? Special teams-wise? My theory is that we’re either getting better or getting worse. We can’t stay the same. There are always ways to improve, and I feel like we do that pretty well as a staff.
JP: It seems like you have a pretty good mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen. What have you seen from the upperclassmen in terms of leadership, helping out these underclassmen? SH: We only have 10 seniors, which is a tiny senior class, but they’ve been excellent leaders. They keep kids on the straightened path. They see an issue, they’ll tell kids, “Hey, knock that off.” Their leadership has been awesome. I’m very impressed with that.
JP: What would you say your vision for this program is in the coming years? SH: We’re going to be one of the top teams in 4A for the rest of history, coming up in the next couple years. We’re building it right now. These kids, this class right now, is building the base for it. I’m excited for this class. This has been my favorite team to coach thus far in my career. They are setting a foundation for us to be successful for a long time, but these younger guys have to keep that going. If they don’t keep it going, then we won’t.
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