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Two-a-days: Tooele football preview

Prep Sports Overtime by Bill Oram and Kyle Goon

Published August 9, 2012 5:27 pm

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

When Kyle Brady left Tooele, it had just won the 2003 Class 3A championship. His alma mater at the top of the football world, the state's Mr. Football moved on to play linebacker at Utah.

Brady rejoined the Buffaloes last year as head coach, but found a group that had mustered only seven wins over three seasons. But his return did little to the status quo: Tooele went winless through 10 games, losing by an average of 30 points and getting shut out four times.

"It's been a long time since we've won at Tooele," Brady said. "Once something bad happens, we kind of hang our heads and think we can't come back.

"That's something we're trying to change. ... It's been so long that we're content. We're used to losing."

To try and move the Buffaloes out of the cellar, Brady brought back B.J. Hunter as an offensive coordinator to institute a Wing-T offense. Hunter deployed the offense successfully with Olympus in the late 1990s, and returns to Tooele after ending an earlier stint three years ago.

The coaches are set to mold an inexperienced group of mostly sophomores and juniors. Three starters return on each side of the ball, and Brady hopes that the Wing-T's angle blocking schemes will prove to be more effective than pro offense zone blocking. The primary goal for the offense will be to try and reduce turnovers and three-and-outs.

"It's hard to stop people when they only have to go 30, 40 yards to score," Brady said.

LAST YEAR: 0-10, missed playoffsKEY RETURNER: Andrew Spendlove, junior, linebacker/tight end. Had over 60 tackles last season to lead the Buffaloes.PLAYER TO WATCH: Zach Coffman, senior, defensive lineman/running back. The 3A wrestling champion at the 170-pound class, Coffman returns as a defensive starter and will likely receive more carries out of the backfield. Brady hopes the senior's "winning experience" will bleed into the rest of the roster. BIGGEST HOLE: Offense as a whole needs to prove itself with a new system, and special teams needs to help improve field position as well. When a team goes winless, it's not so much about the size of the hole as the multitude of them.NEED TO KNOW: Just one or two wins can start to tip the scales for the Buffaloes - at least attitude-wise. Tooele needs to find out what winning feels like again, and anything in that column is a start.SEASON OPENER: Visits Judge Memorial. Aug. 17 @ 7 p.m.