Load up the pistol because the Heritage Academy football team is about to learn a new system.
Barrett Donahoe, the architect of that system at Copiah Academy and Marshall Academy, was in Columbus on Friday to take the first step in building the Heritage Academy football program into a state title contender.
Donahoe met with all of the players who will be seventh- through 12th-graders next season, and with members of what could make up his first coaching staff Friday afternoon before being introduced to the school community later that night in between the school’s girls and boys basketball games.
“It was a great meeting,” Donahoe said. “I just outlined expectations of them and of our program and introduced myself. I told them it is going to take some time for everyone to get to know each other, but it is January and we have a long time.”
Donahoe said the excitement he feels in coming to Heritage Academy is similar to the emotions he had prior to last season in taking over Marshall Academy. He said his primary goal is to develop his athletes to see which system best suits their abilities.
If it is the system, which players might have seen from watching the University of Nevada, players will have to adjust, even if it isn’t exactly like what the college formation. He said he has run a lot of speed, counters, and sweeps as well as a power game out of the Pistol. He said he also incorporated a little option attack at Marshall Academy last season, so he anticipates trying to have a lot of fun and to score a lot of points.
“The teaching aspect of it will 100 percent dictate your success,” Donahoe said. “I spend hours upon hours after practice, before practice, during school, after school, at night, all the time we have, trying to make sure I know it so well so we can teach it in an hour and 40 minutes in practice three times a week. We put a lot of stock in our knowledge.
“The best thing that has happened to me is in the opportunities I have had is I have been able to learn so many things that other people are doing and incorporate it into what we’re doing.”
Michael Fair hired Donahoe to work as a defensive ends and a receivers coach in 2010 at Pillow Academy.
This past season, Marshall Academy beat Pillow Academy en route to an 11-2 finish and a loss to River Oaks (La.) in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA North State title game. Donahoe also worked with the special teams and handled the strength program at Pillow Academy.
“He did a great job for us,” Fair said. “He was an integral part of our success that year.”
Fair laughed when asked about Donahoe’s reputation for being a “pacer” on the sidelines. He agreed Donahoe is “an active guy on the sidelines” who “gets pretty intense” during games. He said that mentality and drive will serve him well in Columbus, as it did in Holly Springs in his one season as head coach at Marshall Academy.
“They were a well-coached team that was fundamentally sound,” Fair said of Donahoe’s Marshall Academy team. “He has players in the right spots at the right times.”
Donahoe’s ability to put players in the right spots is part of why he is successful in an offense — the Pistol — that isn’t used by many teams, especially at the high school level. The offense puts the quarterback in a short shotgun formation with a fullback beside him. The offense is designed to spread the field and create mismatches with a lot of movement, shifts, and misdirection.
Donahoe said Friday his goal is to use the Pistol as a “base” offense at Heritage Academy, and that he will see if his personnel in 2012 will be best suited for the offense.
Fair, who called Donahoe a “dear friend,” said the offense presents matchup problems for opponents who often don’t see it and aren’t prepared for the different options that offense can run.
“He really does a good job with the players he has,” Fair said. “His offense puts stress on the defense because they do different things out of different formations.”
Fair also called Donahoe a “disciplinarian” and “student of the game.” He said he is unlike a lot of high school football coaches in that he won’t try to fit what he knows into a mold and stick with it.
Donahoe, who is from Crystal Springs, graduated from Copiah Academy in Gallman and the University of Mississippi. His coaching resume includes stops at Lee Academy in Arkansas, Jackson Academy, Tri-County in Flora, Copiah Academy and Pillow Academy. He spent three years at Tri-County, including one as football coach. He was an assistant coach at Copiah Academy and Pillow Academy in Greenwood.
Donahoe will replace Brad Butler, who led Heritage Academy to a 5-5 season in 2011. Butler and offensive coordinator Steve Morgan, who worked as offensive coordinator, weren’t retained as football coaches.
“He is always learning about football and learning more and more about the game every year,” Fair said. “His work ethic is what separates him from other coaches. What separates him is his willingness to learn and to get his players into the best position for success.”
Copiah Academy football coach Scotty Cline agrees with Fair assessment. Donahoe worked as offensive coordinator for two years and also was the head junior high football coach at Copiah Academy.
“He is very educated in (the Pistol) and can dissect the defense on the field on every play,” said Cline, whose team ran the Pistol in the two years Donahoe was offensive coordinator. “He does so much studying and puts in so much prep time into the game and works numerous hours at night and on the weekends. He studies it hard. He can almost tell you where you’re going to be before you line up. He will be a great asset for Heritage Academy. He has been very well respected everywhere he had been. I would have loved to have kept him here.”
Cline said Donahoe is so effective as a coach because his players see his work ethic, which earns him their respect. He also said he takes the extra time to make sure every player knows their role and how it fits into the system. Like Fair, Cline feels Donahoe has a bright future at Heritage Academy.
“He just doesn’t get them out there and say, ‘This works,’ ” Cline said referring to the Pistol. “When you see how much extra time he pits into your school and your athletic program when he stays late in the afternoon and stays on the field, that is how the kids develop their trust in him. When they believe in him, they believe in that scheme.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.