The evaluation of Coach Derouin

DISCLAIMER: I am aware of any personal bias I may have, which is why I present all my information with facts, straight from the evaluation handed to Coach Derouin from the athletic director.

First off, if you want to blame the last two seasons on Coach Derouin, that is your first mistake. With all due respect, Vince Lombardi couldn’t have coached those teams to any more wins, and anyone with knowledge of football would realize that.  You didn’t exactly have the 85′ Bears defense out there.  I’m not going into calling out people’s kids, so I’ll just leave it at that.

I wasn’t going to write this blog, and I was going to avoid this altogether. That was until I read the performance evaluation that was given to Coach Derouin on why he was being relieved of his coaching duties.

A lot of the information in this evaluation doesn’t match up with what I’ve seen in my eight years involved in the Bark River-Harris football program. Four years as a manager, or statistician and four years as a player. I attended every practice for eight years in the Bark River-Harris football program (Superfan was there for every single one as well).

One of the main issues stated in the evaluation was a “lack of commitment to the program.” The evaluation cited that since there have been no two practices per day, this was a lack of commitment by the head coach. That’s intersting, because I’ve talked to numerous players who have played at Bark River-Harris and NONE of them have ever stated that they had two a day practices. Coach Witham never held two a day practices, Coach Johnson never held them, and those two coaches never had their “commitment” questioned. The Broncos never held two a days even in the 70’s when the program was headed by Coach DeBakker.

Let’s talk commitment to the program. Before Derouin took over the program, there were no 7 on 7’s, or off-season workouts for kids to learn the offense, and get better. Coach Derouin organized those in the summer, as well as organizing a weight lifting program headed by a certified personal trainer from the YMCA (who he later added to the coaching staff, so he would always be available to the kids). Not to mention the hours Derouin would spend watching film. I’ve seen him watch the same game of an opponent six to seven times in a day, scouting out the opponent.  The kids were given every opportunity to succeed, if willing to put in the time. Want results? The class of 10′ had 13 kids annually attend the weight lifting program headed by the personal trainer. The members of that program made at least All-Conference honors, and the team posted a 9-2 record.

Derouin also headed a youth football mini camp for elementary and junior high kids for four years. He also ran the school’s annual 3 on 3 basketball tournament for seven years, where the program raised over $30,000 for new school uniforms. Where exactly is the lack of commitment?

The evaluation noted a “lack of a well-organized practice schedule with specific objectivies for each practice.”Before the year would start, Derouin would hand out a monthly schedule that detailed every practice date and time, every game, as well as the picture date, scrimmage date, and the date of the off-road garbage pickup which the football team is involved in (another community event Derouin is involved in, but lack of commitment?).

Derouin would handwrite every individual practice and detail the time slots with every drill, and post the practice schedule so everyday, therefore, the kids would know what was ahead for them. Each practice was made with a goal in mind on where to improve, and the drills were made to accomplish this goal. How do I know this? I was at the practices for eight years.  How is having a monthly schedule handed BEFORE the year, and organizing individual pracitces showcase a lack of a well-organized practice schedule?

“Too many times I’ve witnessed varisty coaches yell, “block that guy,” or, “tackle that guy,” said A.D. Nick Nolde. “My concern is that our kids are not being taught how to do those thinngs.”

“That guy” is the same guy who the coaches have been preaching to the kids on who to either block, or tackle, all week long. How do I know? Because I’ve been to the practices, and was a member of the team. Throughout the days leading up to the game, the coaches hammer the gameplan into the heads of the kids, so that they can know what to expect. Before every game, the team is aware of what the other team is going to run. The coaches do their job, and put the kids in a position to succeed. For example, everyone in the U.P. knows that Crystal Falls and North Dickinson are going to run, and how. You can give a dog a bone, but you can’t make him eat it.

For “knowledge of rules, regulations, and overall understanding of the sport,” Derouin received a one, which is as low as you can go. A ONE! Heck, my girl friend, who just started watching football last year would at least deserve a two!

“It is also evident that our varsity coaching staff lacks knowledge in basic philosophies in the game of football,” said Nolde.

Before the start of the 2008 season, Derouin decided to install an entirely new offensive system. He switched the program from the I formation (yawn) to the spread offense, which is based around passing and creating space. In that first season with an entirely new offensive system, Derouin coached the Broncos to a 6-2 record, and the first playoff birth since 2003. He would lead the team to its’ consecutive playoff appearance the year later with a 9-2 record, running the new offensive system he installed. The previous year, before the offensive change, the  team recorded a 2-7 record. Derouin also coached the top two passers statistically in the history of Bark River-Harris, and has had nine players nominated to the U.P. Football All-Star Game (he was nominated as a coach in the game in 2010)

The offense was so effective, that prior to the start of this past season, Munising, who decided to install their own version of the spread, CALLED Derouin and asked for advice and input on the spread offense. Why would an opposing school call another coach for input if he had no overall understanding of the sport? Look, if the school wanted to go into a different direction after two bad seasons, I could understand that. But what really doesn’t make sense is the evaluation and the fabricated information just so that they could have reasoning to fire Derouin. Especially when an Athletic Director is making inferences after only being here for four months, and not attending one single practice. How can he make these judgements? I, along with others have my own opinion as to how, but that’s not the issue.

God Bless.