any sort of assistant athletic coach. His butterscotch hair was businessman short, his shoulders broad but not musclebound. He didn’t have the traditional beer belly many coaches carried around, and he liked to keep his phone in a brown leather case attached to his belt. He might not fit into the stereotypical mold of a football coach, especially when he’d never played a day in his life—but right now he was beyond spellbound by the entirety of his first few weeks of football practice.
In all his twenty-eight years, he had never, ever thought about doing something like this. But he had to admit, using his computer skills to come up with a software program for the good of a team gave him new perspective. On everything. Yeah, he was taking to this team thing like a duck takes to water. He with his lone wolf, statistically inclined brain and his makeshift Google glassware. Who would have thought?
After the first two days of practice as assistant to the offensive coordinator, he’d been deemed Coach Razzle by the players.
Coach Razzle! That was cool, right?
The crazy success they were having with his razzle-dazzle pitch-back-and-throw plays, along with his end-around and back-around scramble-’em-all-up plays, was bringing new life to the team.
Of course the defense didn’t like him much at the moment because he was making them look like a bunch of clumsy Neanderthals out there. But once the Bulldogs started scoring against other teams, he figured they’d come around okay. At least he hoped that’s how it would work out.
Because Henderson’s football team hadn’t done much lately. The decline came on the heels of the first State Championship win for the Henderson baseball team, causing the town’s interest in football to wane and making baseball the sport in Henderson. Over the last ten years, the Mighty Bulldogs had consistently lost an average of fifty percent of their football games.
Josh himself had been in high school at the time of the big baseball win. Of course, he hadn’t been a student at Henderson then. No, he’d watched it all unfold from Henderson’s archrival in the next town over, Oxford. The school that lost to Henderson just before they headed off to the state championship.
Being raised in Oxford wasn’t something he shared with his Henderson students. There was no love lost between these two towns when it came to sports and other rivalries. He bet they’d look critically at his strange coaching suggestions and possibly misinterpret his intentions. They might worry that he was over here in Henderson to sabotage the team’s efforts, even though he’d been their AP Computer Science teacher going on five years now. He wouldn’t be surprised if his loyalties were questioned. It was just that kind of rivalry.
Still, the old Henderson guard had been happy to call on him and his computer skills to do what he could do to get this “Henderson football thing” turned around. That’s what Big Jim DuVal, head of the Boosters Club, had said when he’d addressed the entire faculty at the end of last year. “We’ve got to get our sports teams back on top,” he said. “There is no reason we can’t have a winning football team and basketball team right along with our illustrious baseball team.”
Everyone knew Big Jim had a storied history playing quarterback at Henderson High. Then he went on to have a winning career as a running back at East Carolina. So it was no secret that the overwhelming love for baseball this town had developed had been burning his ass but good. Now Big Jim’s own nephew was refusing to play tight end this year, so he could focus solely on his pitching arm as Coach Evans suggested.
Speak of the devil.
Coach Evans came around the corner at a jog and practically banged into Josh as he was opening the training room door.
“Hey, Josh! How’s your summer going?” Vance asked, but both men were immediately distracted by the squealing and giggling going on inside the
In all his twenty-eight years, he had never, ever thought about doing something like this. But he had to admit, using his computer skills to come up with a software program for the good of a team gave him new perspective. On everything. Yeah, he was taking to this team thing like a duck takes to water. He with his lone wolf, statistically inclined brain and his makeshift Google glassware. Who would have thought?
After the first two days of practice as assistant to the offensive coordinator, he’d been deemed Coach Razzle by the players.
Coach Razzle! That was cool, right?
The crazy success they were having with his razzle-dazzle pitch-back-and-throw plays, along with his end-around and back-around scramble-’em-all-up plays, was bringing new life to the team.
Of course the defense didn’t like him much at the moment because he was making them look like a bunch of clumsy Neanderthals out there. But once the Bulldogs started scoring against other teams, he figured they’d come around okay. At least he hoped that’s how it would work out.
Because Henderson’s football team hadn’t done much lately. The decline came on the heels of the first State Championship win for the Henderson baseball team, causing the town’s interest in football to wane and making baseball the sport in Henderson. Over the last ten years, the Mighty Bulldogs had consistently lost an average of fifty percent of their football games.
Josh himself had been in high school at the time of the big baseball win. Of course, he hadn’t been a student at Henderson then. No, he’d watched it all unfold from Henderson’s archrival in the next town over, Oxford. The school that lost to Henderson just before they headed off to the state championship.
Being raised in Oxford wasn’t something he shared with his Henderson students. There was no love lost between these two towns when it came to sports and other rivalries. He bet they’d look critically at his strange coaching suggestions and possibly misinterpret his intentions. They might worry that he was over here in Henderson to sabotage the team’s efforts, even though he’d been their AP Computer Science teacher going on five years now. He wouldn’t be surprised if his loyalties were questioned. It was just that kind of rivalry.
Still, the old Henderson guard had been happy to call on him and his computer skills to do what he could do to get this “Henderson football thing” turned around. That’s what Big Jim DuVal, head of the Boosters Club, had said when he’d addressed the entire faculty at the end of last year. “We’ve got to get our sports teams back on top,” he said. “There is no reason we can’t have a winning football team and basketball team right along with our illustrious baseball team.”
Everyone knew Big Jim had a storied history playing quarterback at Henderson High. Then he went on to have a winning career as a running back at East Carolina. So it was no secret that the overwhelming love for baseball this town had developed had been burning his ass but good. Now Big Jim’s own nephew was refusing to play tight end this year, so he could focus solely on his pitching arm as Coach Evans suggested.
Speak of the devil.
Coach Evans came around the corner at a jog and practically banged into Josh as he was opening the training room door.
“Hey, Josh! How’s your summer going?” Vance asked, but both men were immediately distracted by the squealing and giggling going on inside the
Similar Books
