GILMER, Texas — The Gilmer Buckeyes are headed to the state semifinals for a second straight season and they are just one win away from back-to-back state championship appearances. What these milestones have in common is leadership behind its coaching staff...
In just his second season in charge, coach Alan Metzel is delivering on what legendary head coaches have done before him, getting his team to this big stage and trusting them to deliver. It is for that reason that he is our cbs19 under the lights head coach of the week.
Ashley – “Coach, let's talk about this season. This is your second full season as head coach. And given the background and the history of Gilmer Buckeye football, the standard is excellence, is it not?”
Metzel – “You're correct. In Gilmer, Texas, you're supposed to go play for state championships. So we know when we started the season, that those are goals, that those are things that are attainable. But we also understand how much work goes into it. And so it's so important. As we start the season and as we go into the different phases to start the district play then the playoffs, we look at it in segments that we break it down, because you can't do anything about tomorrow. It's all only about today.”
A – “Let's talk about Celina, they have a stud of a running back, Gabe Gayton. He ran for 182 yards against Aubrey just last week, what's been your preparation on the defensive ban? We'll talk about the offense in a minute because we all know how great that offense is. What's been your preparation on the defensive end?”
M – “One of the reasons our running backs having so much success is because he's got some dudes up there blocking, and then you add a very talented back to it and you have games like you saw against Aubrey. We understand we can't just think we're going to go muscle up on guys like that. We've got to be able to move, we've got to tackle, we've got to work our technique. We've got to gang tackle, our secondaries got to come and rally to the ball. You can't be caught on one side of the field when he's on the other. You got it. We've got to have multiple guys get to that pile to make sure we get him down and not let him get on track.”
A – “Okay, so let's talk about the offensive end. We had Brandon Tennison here just last week as our player of the week, you have Rohan Fluellan and Parker Gilow at receiver, I mean your background is off as an offensive coordinator. How is it knowing that you have someone so poised, and quarterback who has these outstanding receivers?”
M – “Parker's had an outstanding run here. Well, a lot of his success can be attributed to the way Rohan Fluellan’s compliant. And so now defenses have to try and stop him, which opens up things for Parker, which opens up the run game for Ashton Haynes, which opens up the other side for J. Rockwell. So definitely that is intentional. And but then, you know, kudos to the guys for going out making plays.”
A – “Alright, so, the history of the Buckeye organization, you had the pleasure of coaching under Jeff Traylor. Now he's at UTSA. And now your star quarterback is committed to UTSA. What do you say about the Gilmer legacy? And how Brandon Tennison grew up wanting to play for Jeff Traylor. Talk more about the Gilmer legacy when it comes to coaching and just the winning organization y'all have over there?”
M – “Well, it was a special thing back when it first came in, you know, Jeff started back in 2000. I came in 2001 and seeing the work that got put in to, to creating some of the things of the program that are emphasis for us the character development, the grit that had to be instilled the confidence that we're going to be here, continuity, those kinds of things. And so through the years, you got to see the progression, not where you didn't just have a winning year every so often, but every year there was an expectation and a legacy that you were inheriting in you were supposed to go and take that to new heights.”
A – “Well, Coach once again, congratulations on being named our coach of the week. And we wish you all the best of luck against Celina this upcoming weekend.”
M – “Fantastic. I'm so excited about the game and very appreciative of the honor.”
