'12 Team Preview: Miami Trace Panthers
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
"Rebuilding Tradition" is the motto of the 2012 Miami Trace Panthers, and to gain that tradition back, the Panthers have hired a new head coach in 32-year coaching veteran (25 as head coach) Steve Bartlett, as he brings his brand of winning football to Fayette County and the South Central Ohio League.
Bartlett has been a varsity head coach at Southeastern (South Charleston) and Dayton Carroll, and now in his first year at MT, he looks to do at Miami Trace what he did at Dayton Carroll, which is win football games.
At Carroll, Bartlett's teams were 112-58, making the playoffs nine times. Now in his first year at MT, he's taking over a tradition-filled program, but a program that hasn't won a league title since '07 and hasn't made a trip to the playoffs since '05.
Bartlett wants to change that as he replaces former head coach Mike Bernard, who coached the Panthers for the past four seasons. Last season, MT finished in a three-way tie for second place in the SCOL with a league mark of 4-2 and an overall record of 5-5. They scored 236 points, while allowing 252.
"Right now, we're still trying to figure out who we've got and how we can best use them to score points," Bartlett said during the second week of two-a-days. "I know Jimmy Stroker (returning quarterback from last season) throws the ball real well. We've got kids who can catch the ball, and I think right now, our offensive line's doing a good job.
"We've definitely got to get better before the 24th of August, but I think we're headed in the right direction."
The "right direction" is back to the top of the SCOL, a spot where the Panthers haven't been since the end of the '07 season when they shared the league championship with Clinton-Massie and Washington. Since the re-formation of the league back in '03, the Panthers were champions of the SCOL four of the first five seasons the league returned. In their entire history in the SCOL, MT has won 20 league titles, dating back to their first one in 1971.
That's the tradition the Panthers are looking to "rebuild."
"I think the kids are starting to catch on to the system. There's a lot of good kids out there, a lot of kids working hard," Bartlett said. "We have 15 seniors this season, and in practice right now, it seems like there's a different guy every day that catches our attention.
"Every day, there's a guy that jumps out at us and kind of wows us that day. It seems like maybe the next day, it's another guy. That's a very good thing."
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This season, with the SCOL being eight teams, the non-league schedule will consist of the first three games where MT will open the year vs. Circleville, followed by away games at Wilmington and Logan Elm. Their league slate will go with away games at London, Madison-Plains and Washington while home league games will be vs. Hillsboro, East Clinton, McClain and Clinton-Massie.
"Your expectations are always to win as many games as you can and continue to get a little better each day," Bartlett said. "I think if we do that ... I've been around a long time, and some of my best teams have been the ones that have just gotten a little bit better each day and continued to improve, and that's what I'm hoping happens with this team.
"It's too early to tell now. I've seen a lot of good things here with camp in July and two-a-days here in August. We've seen a lot of good things, but we've got a long way to go before we're ready for Circleville."
Bartlett said he prefers to run the football more with his offenses, but he eventually goes with what personnel he has and what he thinks works for them the best.
"Well, in the past I've run the ball more, but I'll let personnel dictate that," Bartlett said. "I have run the ball, I've had years where I've had 1,000-yard passers and years where I've had 2,000-yard rushers. It kind of depends on what we feel like we've got and what we feel the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents are."
What about the Panthers' defense in '12?
"Same way with defense, we're going to be a fairly young defense," he said, "Right now, we're still trying to learn the fundamentals and the basics of the defense. We haven't really hit it yet, we're trying to get people into the right places right now. If we can get them in the right places, we're going to be okay. If we don't, it might not be good.
"Defensively, we'll run a 5-2. We're not a real complicated football team. What we hope to do, we hope to do really well. It's just constant repetition, repetition, repetition until we just know what we're doing."
As the year begins, Bartlett said he really likes his player's work ethic and their willingness to learn.
"I think the work ethic's there. We try to instill a little more discipline and try to get back to our roots, for lack of a better term," Bartlett said. "There's a great tradition here and for whatever reason, the last couple years they've struggled a little bit, and we're just trying to get back to that tradition.
"I'm learning things about them every day. Obviously, there's some athleticism, but there's more to football than just athleticism. That's kind of where we're at right now. We're learning a little bit more about them each day."
Bartlett has been a varsity head coach at Southeastern (South Charleston) and Dayton Carroll, and now in his first year at MT, he looks to do at Miami Trace what he did at Dayton Carroll, which is win football games.
At Carroll, Bartlett's teams were 112-58, making the playoffs nine times. Now in his first year at MT, he's taking over a tradition-filled program, but a program that hasn't won a league title since '07 and hasn't made a trip to the playoffs since '05.
Bartlett wants to change that as he replaces former head coach Mike Bernard, who coached the Panthers for the past four seasons. Last season, MT finished in a three-way tie for second place in the SCOL with a league mark of 4-2 and an overall record of 5-5. They scored 236 points, while allowing 252.
"Right now, we're still trying to figure out who we've got and how we can best use them to score points," Bartlett said during the second week of two-a-days. "I know Jimmy Stroker (returning quarterback from last season) throws the ball real well. We've got kids who can catch the ball, and I think right now, our offensive line's doing a good job.
"We've definitely got to get better before the 24th of August, but I think we're headed in the right direction."
The "right direction" is back to the top of the SCOL, a spot where the Panthers haven't been since the end of the '07 season when they shared the league championship with Clinton-Massie and Washington. Since the re-formation of the league back in '03, the Panthers were champions of the SCOL four of the first five seasons the league returned. In their entire history in the SCOL, MT has won 20 league titles, dating back to their first one in 1971.
That's the tradition the Panthers are looking to "rebuild."
"I think the kids are starting to catch on to the system. There's a lot of good kids out there, a lot of kids working hard," Bartlett said. "We have 15 seniors this season, and in practice right now, it seems like there's a different guy every day that catches our attention.
"Every day, there's a guy that jumps out at us and kind of wows us that day. It seems like maybe the next day, it's another guy. That's a very good thing."
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This season, with the SCOL being eight teams, the non-league schedule will consist of the first three games where MT will open the year vs. Circleville, followed by away games at Wilmington and Logan Elm. Their league slate will go with away games at London, Madison-Plains and Washington while home league games will be vs. Hillsboro, East Clinton, McClain and Clinton-Massie.
"Your expectations are always to win as many games as you can and continue to get a little better each day," Bartlett said. "I think if we do that ... I've been around a long time, and some of my best teams have been the ones that have just gotten a little bit better each day and continued to improve, and that's what I'm hoping happens with this team.
"It's too early to tell now. I've seen a lot of good things here with camp in July and two-a-days here in August. We've seen a lot of good things, but we've got a long way to go before we're ready for Circleville."
Bartlett said he prefers to run the football more with his offenses, but he eventually goes with what personnel he has and what he thinks works for them the best.
"Well, in the past I've run the ball more, but I'll let personnel dictate that," Bartlett said. "I have run the ball, I've had years where I've had 1,000-yard passers and years where I've had 2,000-yard rushers. It kind of depends on what we feel like we've got and what we feel the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents are."
What about the Panthers' defense in '12?
"Same way with defense, we're going to be a fairly young defense," he said, "Right now, we're still trying to learn the fundamentals and the basics of the defense. We haven't really hit it yet, we're trying to get people into the right places right now. If we can get them in the right places, we're going to be okay. If we don't, it might not be good.
"Defensively, we'll run a 5-2. We're not a real complicated football team. What we hope to do, we hope to do really well. It's just constant repetition, repetition, repetition until we just know what we're doing."
As the year begins, Bartlett said he really likes his player's work ethic and their willingness to learn.
"I think the work ethic's there. We try to instill a little more discipline and try to get back to our roots, for lack of a better term," Bartlett said. "There's a great tradition here and for whatever reason, the last couple years they've struggled a little bit, and we're just trying to get back to that tradition.
"I'm learning things about them every day. Obviously, there's some athleticism, but there's more to football than just athleticism. That's kind of where we're at right now. We're learning a little bit more about them each day."