Friday Night Lights: Piedmonts turnaround started with investing in program – Oklahoman.com

This sounds crazy, but the first booster club meeting that I had we had been here about a month and we told the booster club to be prepared to have a meal on Thanksgiving Day, Hall said. We as a coaching staff felt like we had a real opportunity to practice on Thanksgiving.

Halls background as a coach stood out to Piedmont athletic director Layne Jones. When making the hire, it was almost a no-brainer choice.

Hall was the perfect fit to continue rejuvenating the program.

Superintendent (James) Whites vision has always been we wanted to be good not only academically but athletically, as well, Jones said. He always had a vision that we could win at a high level.

The seniors on this Piedmont team would have their third head coach in four years. Even with the positive signs they initially got from Hall, many were hesitant. Getting them to buy in was critical, Hall said, because once they did, he knew the underclassmen would follow.

The No. 1 thing we knew we had to do is, we had to build relationships, Hall said. A lot of that I think is on (the players) kind of buying into us and forming relationships with us and letting some walls down that have been built because of having so many head coaches over so many years.

When they let those walls down, I think we got a lot better.

Learning the offense was another challenge. It was the Wildcats fourth offense in three seasons, and it was unorthodox, too. The flexbone look, though it hasnt gone away, is tough to learn because of its precise movements but more difficult to stop when run effectively.

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Friday Night Lights: Piedmonts turnaround started with investing in program - Oklahoman.com