TERRE HAUTE —
Both of them have been past coaches of the South All-Stars in losing efforts. Both of them also experienced the problem of running out of quarterbacks in their all-star coaching stints.
So South Putnam’s Troy Burgess and Linton’s Steve Weber were natural choices to initiate a new format in the Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association’s all-star game, for which practice begins Sunday.
This year’s game, 7:30 p.m. June 23 at ISU’s Memorial Stadium, is the eighth in the series. The North All-Stars won six of the first seven, some in one-sided fashion. Burgess was on the field for one of the one-sided losses, and Weber had the same experience — although the Linton coach, who can’t remember how many times he’s been a head coach in the series, is also the only coach to win with the South All-Stars.
“Is this four [times as an all-star head coach]? Five?,” Weber said when asked that question this week. For sure it’s his seventh time on an all-star coaching staff, because there’s been only one year when he wasn’t involved as a head coach or assistant coach.
“This is my second time around,” said Burgess, “and I like [the new format] — one, because I get to coach kids [from schools] I didn’t get to before, and two, because [the change] should produce a more competitive game.”
“I liked [the new format],” Weber agreed. “It should provide more competitive balance.”
There is no more North and South in the format that was developed over the winter. Now the teams are simply Black and Gold. Once the WVFCA named its two Coaches of the Year, it was up to those two to draft the schools — and their players and coaches — they wanted to have with them. The only stipulation was that the two biggest schools, Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South, had to be on opposite sides.
A lot of strategy probably went into the draft … or maybe not.
“They told us we were Coaches of the Year, and a half hour later we started drafting,” Burgess said this week. “There wasn’t a lot of time to prepare.”
“We flipped a coin to see who chose first,” Weber recalled. “That was probably the most strategy right there, calling that coin flip.”
“I looked at the teams I was familiar with,” said Burgess, who will be in charge of the Black squad, “and I looked at everybody’s records [to decide which schools to draft].”
“I drafted based on records and based on kids [from those schools] you’ve coached in the past,” said Weber, who will coach the Gold team. “There was also a decision about who do you want to have help you [coach the all-stars] … you can always see the coach reflected in the kids [he’s coached].”
Weber’s draft will enable him to coach players from schools like North Putnam, Terre Haute North and Casey who have always been on the opposite sideline in other all-star games he’s coached. He also drafted Mattoon, which not only brings a six-player group — including a quarterback — but its coach, Troy Johnson, who will serve as Weber’s defensive coordinator next week.
Adding a complementary coaching staff was certainly part of his draft plan too, Burgess indicated.
“The smartest thing that I did was decide I was not going to call an offensive play or a defensive play,” he told the Tribune-Star, “so one of the first schools I drafted had the head coach that beat my brains out [in my other all-star coaching job].”
That school would be Marshall, whose coach Todd Evers will serve as the offensive coordinator for Burgess. Running the defense for the Black team will be Terre Haute South’s Mark Raetz.
Both coaches are happy with the rosters they have and anxious to start working with those rosters next week. Practices are 10 a.m. to noon daily at Memorial Stadium, with the all-star banquet and Hall of Fame induction on Friday night.
“I think we have a good mixture,” said Burgess. “We have good kids up front, I’m excited about our skill kids, and I have three of my own [from South Putnam], so that’s always fun.”
“I think we stand a pretty good chance,” said Weber, who has two of his Miners to coach one last time. “It’s gonna be fun. It’s always fun, it’s just that some years are more fun than others.”
Sports
All-Star game drafts new selection process
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Small ball: Ciara McClain bunts to advance a teammate early in the Viking�s sectional matchup with Brown County.
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West Vigo comes up short against 19-9 Brown County softball
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Valley baseball teams have been keeping busy heading into sectionals
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Northview powers way past Terre Haute South in sectional semifinal
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The Knights hit three home runs in an eight-run third inning to reach the championship game. -
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PREP ROUNDUP: South tennis cruises into regional final
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Terry enjoys strong year with Wildcats, and still enjoying suiting up to play
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West Vigo comes up short against 19-9 Brown County softball
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Coach: Tim Terry is the South Vermillion baseball coach and plays in the senior league on Sunday afternoons.
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Terry enjoys strong year with Wildcats, and still enjoying suiting up to play
South Vermillion’s Tim Terry is the longest tenured coach in Wabash Valley high school baseball as his Wildcats are set to begin sectional play Thursday against Owen Valley.
But on the Yankees, a 35-and-over team in the Terre Haute Men’s Senior Baseball League, Terry is “just a youngster” if you ask Larry Roesch, his 68-year-old teammate on the Volkers Group Yankees. -
Softball sectionals up for grabs
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Indiana State baseball series canceled
Heavy rain from Thursday through Saturday has forced Indiana State and Tennessee Martin to cancel their three-game weekend baseball series in northwest Tennessee.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman baseball to play DePauw on Thursday after Tuesday's rain
The Rose-Hulman baseball team has rescheduled its non-conference game with DePauw to Thursday night.
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Terry enjoys strong year with Wildcats, and still enjoying suiting up to play
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West Vigo comes up short against 19-9 Brown County softball
West Vigo got off to a good start but Brown County finished better in Class 3A high school softball sectional semifinal action Tuesday night at Edgewood.
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Manaea's shoulder causing him latest pain
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ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction
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ISU track sending record 22 to postseason
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ISU's athletic treasure trove
Think of every championship that Indiana State has won in each of its sports, past and present. Think of every tournament — postseason or regular season — which the Sycamores have claimed as their own.
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Manaea's shoulder causing him latest pain
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TRACKSIDE: Local drivers, owners looking to have strong night at Tony Hulman Classic
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Colts hoping for more high marks on draft picks
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Colts hoping for more high marks on draft picks
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Consultation: Rex manager Brian Dorsett talks with his pitcher and players during a time-out Sunday, July 15, at Sycamore Field. (Tribune-Star file/Bob Poynter)
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
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Colts' coordinators enjoying getting rookies acclimated
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Colts' coordinators enjoying getting rookies acclimated
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