LINCOLN -- First year head football coach Scott Davenport came in preparing to maintain Lincoln's 2013 surge to playoff contender with the Wolves winning twice and advancing to the 4A quarterfinals.
On Friday, fans had their first opportunity to view the football program under Davenport's direction during 'Meet the Wolves' at 6:30 p.m. at Wolfpack Stadium.
Fans brought towels, stain removers, dryer sheets or gave donations at the gate. Lincoln introduced their seventh grade, junior high, and senior high football, volleyball, cheer and dance teams, along with the coaching staffs.
Davenport was officially hired at the May 19 Lincoln school board meeting and he was working on familiarizing himself with the program from the get-go. With the departure of former head coach Brad Harris and his sons, Drew and Brayden, both projected to earn spots on the 2014 varsity roster, there was some tweaking to do with the offense.
Along with 17 seniors who graduated Drew was going to have to be replaced as starting quarterback. In addition to coaching quarterbacks someone was going to have to call plays which were all part of former head coach Brad Harris' responsibilities.
"We've had meetings as a staff together and we've been looking at some personnel decisions," Davenport said.
New coaches must rely heavily on existing staff when they first come into a program and Davenport said he thinks the changes fits in well with the personality of the team and what the Wolves will be doing this year.
"I'm really looking forward to getting started and continuing our journey that we have here at Lincoln towards a year in and year out contender in that 4A."
Among the changes, assistant coach Jim Myers has taken over coaching the quarterback position and coordinating the offense. Myers served as defensive coordinator under Harris and was also preparing for the transition in the spring.
On the day he was hired, Davenport expressed confidence in Myers' knowledge of players and tactics.
"He's putting a package right now to be able to display our kids' talents whether it be throwing the ball or whether it be doing a little bit more in the running game with the quarterback," Davenport said.
Davenport a former guard with the Razorbacks will be taking charge of the offensive line assisted by assistant coach Austin Lewis saying he was impressed with what he saw from watching 2013 game film.
"That offensive line is the heart and soul of every team and it was no different than it was last year with them," Davenport said.
Assistant Garrett Hammons has moved to runningbacks coach where Davenport said Hammons will be asked to do a little bit different things blocking as well as running the ball in the Lincoln offensive scheme.
"I think he's going to do a great job there. So, there will be a few changes," Davenport said. "Anytime there's turnover in a staff there's going to be people that are going to be asked to do some different things."
Davenport was aware former quarterback Drew Harris was asked to do a lot in 2013 not just in the passing game but also in the running game. Davenport's vision is for the Wolves to continue to be a balanced, dual threat type offense which gives all players, whether it be running the ball or passing the ball, the best chance to move that ball and be successful.
"We're losing a lot from last year with a great senior class but we have a great junior and sophomore class and ninth grade class that are going to move up," Davenport said.
One impact player returning is Alec Pitts, who had long touchdown receptions against Dover, Farmington and Prairie Grove in 2013.
"Coach [Justin] Bounds has talked very well about Pitts. He has great speed. Coach [Jim] Myers has been coaching him in track. He's definitely a weapon that we're going to try and get the ball to anyway that we can," Davenport said.
Davenport predicted the offense would not focus exclusively on Pitts' abilities, but would distribute the ball around to all of Lincoln's playmakers. As for defense, Davenport plans to allow the kids to run around and play an attacking, aggressive style of defense.
"We'll try and use our playmakers to best of their ability as we can not only on offense and defense but special teams as well," Davenport said. "It's going to be a fun, exciting year for Lincoln Wolves."
Sports on 08/27/2014