Coaches assess before district kicks off

Football coaches not having to work on a Sunday during the season brings unbridled joy to their households, but also some out-of-sorts feelings from the coaches themselves.

Coaches are creatures of habit. They know what they are supposed to be doing at a particular hour on a particular day. So when they aren’t doing it, they can get a bit fidgety.

But it’s also a time for the staffs at Carroll, Colleyville Heritage and Grapevine to take a mental break because the last seven games are where it really matters. This is their scheduled bye week. After this bye, the pursuit of the postseason begins.

So here is a look at each of these programs and what their respective head coaches have liked and not liked through the first three games.

Carroll Dragons (2-1): lost to Tulsa Union, 21-10; d. Arlington Martin, 37-14; d. Rockwall, 30-23

What head coach Hal Wasson has liked: “I really like how hard we are playing. Plus, our kicking game has been a strength. We can do some things with field position. I’m glad [quarterback Mason Holmes] is running, because we know he can do it. I like how we have been able to work through a bunch of injuries. There’s five new coaches, so getting to know each other during the course of a game and how we work is important.”

What Wasson hasn’t liked: “It’s still some of things that you know are going to be something we have to work on. We’ve been too inconsistent with our discipline. Plus, the vision in our running game still needs to be improved. We also have to create a new line of scrimmage. Our offensive line is getting some blocks. That’s fine. But we have to push people off the line of scrimmage more.”

Colleyville Heritage Panthers (1-2): lost to Aledo, 41-36; d. Frisco Heritage, 59-34; lost to Euless Trinity, 35-21.

What head coach Joe Willis has liked: “Definitely, our intensity is 100 percent better than what it was last year. We have kids playing at a higher level. Our preparation has been there. We’ve been physical and fast. I really like some of the things [quarterback] Cam Roane has done for us.”

What Willis hasn’t liked: “Consistency from play to play is still a problem. We’ve done some really good things. And there are times when we’ll do it for three straight plays. And then two plays later, we won’t do that. That’s what has hurt us. We have to be able to do a better of job of running the ball and stopping the run.”

Grapevine Mustangs (3-0): d. Azle, 29-20; d. Abilene Cooper, 61-7; d. Frisco Heritage, 63-21.

What head coach Randy Jackson has liked: “I like where our wide receiver corps are. That was the biggest question coming into the season. [Quarterback] Alan [Bowman] is playing well. Our defense is a physical unit.”

What Jackson hasn’t liked: “We need to cut down on the penalties. Those are some things we’re doing that are hurting us. We’re also still committing a few too many errors. It’s things like a missed assignment. But those are normal in the early part of the season.”

This story was originally published September 14, 2016 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Coaches assess before district kicks off."