The Southern Standard caught up with WCHS head football coach Matt Turner on Wednesday at his repair shop in Rock Island. Here are excerpts from that interview.
SOUTHERN STANDARD: We are in your shop and you are not here because school is shutdown. This is your day job now instead of teaching, right?
MATT TURNER: I decided to step back this year. Shade Tree Repair has always been here. My dad started this business a long time ago.
STANDARD: Can you explain why you made this transition?
TURNER: I did this because I think it will make me a better ball coach. My teaching job was very demanding, and I was not able to prepare and get things done for the football program. I was fortunate that I had this on the back burner that I could fall back into.
STANDARD: I heard Tom Brady quote his head coach Bruce Arians recently in a podcast. He said that football is a simple game, but very challenging to get 11 players to execute well at the same time. How do you keep the entire Pioneer football team on the same page during the shutdown?
TURNER: I was talking to another head coach recently and I said that I don’t really feel as though I have gotten to coach any football this year with this pandemic. The game of football is very simple, but getting the timing down is tough and add the pandemic to it … I feel like from the top down from the federal government, all the way to the top, there is no clear direction or protocol to follow.
We made the decision last Tuesday (Aug. 24) to shut it down. I hated to hear that the school system was shut down by Mr. Swallows, but I honestly think that is the only way we can start practice on Monday with a full squad.
STANDARD: What are you and the coaching staff doing during this shutdown or what are you not doing? Reviewing film of Mt. Juliet?
TURNER: As soon as we knew we were not playing White County, we started breaking down last year’s film to break down what they do.
Some coaches say that you can spend too much time breaking down film, preparing for one opponent. We literally are going to worry about us next week. On day one we will get the kids acclimated to pads and helmets again and ease into contact.
We are going to start with blocking and tackling, install what we do. Run our plays. Work on special teams.
STANDARD: As a football coach, how is the pandemic affecting your job?
TURNER: It is tough. I don’t really know what the right thing to do is. I believe we have been very proactive. Risk/ reward with that first home game, but we actually lost two good home games. DeKalb travels well. White County travels well. We are going to lose revenue this year versus last year.
It is one thing to see it (COVID) evolve in your own locker room, but it is another thing to expose someone else to it. We made the right decision about DeKalb County.
We had 40% of our team affected by COVID the week of White County. We had to make a decision. It doesn’t just affect Warren County football but everything attached to it.
STANDARD: Is there anything you want to say to the public who will be coming to the game against Mt. Juliet?
TURNER: I want to fill the hill. I think a lot of it is common sense. If you are feeling under the weather, or if you know you have been exposed, don’t come out. If there are any questions, put a mask on. I am not a doctor, but I do know if it ups the chances that our team can play, let’s put a mask on. Make sure we are washing our hands. If your kid seems to be sick, don’t send him to school.
STANDARD: You will be practicing on Monday?
TURNER: Yes, we will be practicing on Monday, 3 to 6 p.m. There will be a parent meeting after practice in The Facility to discuss the state of the union with the football program. We are also going to try and sell our smart cards.
