Thornton placing Hico defense in care of co-coordinators Yanowski, Cook

Tigers sticking with 4-3 defense while head coach takes charge of triple-option offense

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Third-year Hico assistant coach Matt Yanowski hopes the celebrations continue now that he is co-defensive coordinator along with new Tiger Marcus Cook. || Photo from Yanowski's Facebook account

By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com

STEPHENVILLE (June 22, 2017) — New head coach Randy Thornton is not planning any wholesale changes at Hico.

Why would he after the Tigers won three district titles and made runs to the 2A Division I state semifinals and quarterfinals over the past five years?

“One great advantage we have here in Hico is we aren’t taking something that’s broke and trying to fix it,” said Thornton, hired in the spring after 10 years leading 2A Division II Santo about 50 miles north of Hico. “This is a solid program here that for years under Coach (Keith) Wood (and before that under Wade Williams when Wood was defensive coordinator) was built on sound, fundamental football. This is not a rebuilding job by any means.”

But everyone can get better, and Thornton has designs on seeing Hico make the most of the triple option offense and 4-3 defense that carried Santo to the Region I-2A Division II championship – the state quarterfinals – in 2014, one of five Wildcat playoff trips in a decade under his leadership.

The triple option attack will be called by Thornton himself, as he takes on offensive coordinator duties. But the 4-3 defense and its numerous schematics will be led by the collaboration of Matt Yanowski, who enters his third year coaching the secondary at Hico, and Marcus Cook, a defensive line coach who has been with Thornton in Santo the past two seasons.

Thornton and Cook were acquaintances for years before joining forces.

“I’ve known Coach Cook for about 10 years now, and had him on staff for a couple years, so he understands philosophically where I expect us to be on the defensive side. Coach Yanowski, I believe, already has a great grasp of that, as well,” said Thornton. “There will be no issues, I am confident, in having them work as co-coordinators. Some of the things Hico has been doing for years on defense are similar to what we were doing in Santo.”


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Coach Yanowski has taken the lead as far as the transition and keeping the same terminology as much as possible to ease the transition on the athletes, though there will be new wrinkles, even in his secondary.

“When I first got here we were strictly Cover 3 and Cover 4, and I’m looking forward to implementing some different Cover 2 looks and when we have the athletic match-ups to do so, even get into man coverage and free up some guys to help pressure the quarterback,” said Yanowski. “You can never be complacent in what you’re teaching. We have to be really good at coaching the kids up to what we want them to do, and the kids have to come in with the attitude that they are going to be receptive to it and willing to mix it up a little bit from what they are used to in the past.”

Cook is focusing on linebackers at Hico with longtime Tiger assistant John Underwood coaching the defensive line. Underwood, says Thornton, has been a big part of easing the transition for the Hico newcomers on staff.

“Coach Underwood and his family are longtime staples in the Hico community and we appreciate his love for these kids,” said Thornton. “I know he will do a great job for us leading the defensive line, because he is the type of man and coach who does a great job with any task he’s given and with any challenge that presents itself.”

Cook says the vast growth in popularity of the spread offense may have changed some things, but in the big picture, the defense won’t undergo much change.

“What we’re going to continue to work on whether we are facing the spread or a team that just lines up and runs it right at you is doing your job,” Cook said. “Play your gap, or contain if you’re an end guy, and get after the quarterback. If the front guys just do their job and do it well, it will help out the guys in the back, and when everyone gets that and understands how their jobs work together is when you get really good at playing as a unit.”

Thornton says good, sound defense is good, sound defense, and the principles of playing such don’t change whether faced with a throw back triple option attack like the one he will be calling offensively, or an all-out air-raid.

“Sometimes people put way too much emphasis on the wrong things. It’s a game that is played on a 100-yard filed, or the ‘sacred acre’ as I call it,” said the head coach. “All the offense and defense are trying to do is acquire as much of that acre as they can. The offense, whether it’s an option play to the wide side of the field or throwing the ball sideline-to-sideline wants to get its athletes in space to make plays. The defense wants to get the offense behind the sticks, if you will, to set up those second down, third down and long situations. Those things haven’t changed.”


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Neither has the preeminent focal point of defense.

“Tackling,” said Thornton simply. “Defense, in my opinion, is all about tackling. If you can tackle, you can play defense. If you can’t tackle, you can’t play defense. It’s that simple.”

Yanowski was at Magnolia West in the Houston area before coming to Hico, where he is also head baseball coach. A Sam Houston State alumnus, he coached at Bremond before his stint in Magnolia.

Cook is a Tarleton State graduate and began his coaching career at Fort Worth Southwest before his two short years in Santo. He says the people of Hico had made the transition an easy one, so far.

“We’ve received a good community welcoming to Hico and the kids have been welcoming, as well,” he said. “Overall, I think it’s been a real smooth transition.”

Thornton believes the transition to working as co-coordinators will be just as smooth for Yanowski and Cook.

“There will be some subtle changes, a few wrinkles here and there because we’ve kind of evolved from the days when I was defensive coordinator at Hamilton and Coach Wood was defensive coordinator at Hico and we would talk defense,” said Thornton. “But I’m not going to micro-manage the defense at all. We will work within a general framework that will be established this summer and in two-a-days, and then Coach Yanowski and Coach Cook will take that and put their own fingerprints on it.

“I’m emphasizing defense heavily. I believe that’s something a head coach must do in order to be successful. But from there, I’m trusting these guys to make it happen.”

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