panther power
02-06-2005, 06:05 PM
Allman gets a head start on his new job
By Sam Waller
Odessa American
Darren Allman wasted little time getting started as the new head football coach of the Permian Panthers.
Less than four hours after officially being named to the job Thursday, Allman met with the Permian players.
Now comes putting the names and faces of players together, assembling a coaching staff and getting his system installed.
“I’ve been around such good coaches who have taught me to work at it every day just as hard as I can,” said Allman, an Odessa native and a 1987 Permian graduate. “You simply do the best you can. You do it on Thursday, Feb. 3, and bust your tail just as hard as you can. Then you turn around and do it the next day. All of a sudden, you look up and you’ve had a great week.
“If guys can understand that, they have peace of mind that ‘I’m doing absolutely everything I can do,’ and that’s all we can do.”
Two Panther players left Thursday’s meetings with good impressions of their new coach.
“He seems pretty laid back,” said Josh Stephens, who saw time at wide receiver and running back in 2004.
Linebacker Chris Nunez said Allman’s Permian roots should make the transition easier.
“We feel good about this new coach,” Nunez said. “We know what he expects already of Permian.”
One thing Allman has in common with many of his new players is going through a coaching change before his senior season. Allman was a junior in 1985 on the last Permian team coached by John Wilkins, then played for Gary Gaines as a senior in 1986.
“It’s probably going to be the same changes he went through back then for us this year,” Nunez said.
Allman, who was defensive coordinator at Highland Park this past fall, won’t be on the job full-time until Monday or Tuesday. But he was to meet today with current assistant coaches before returning to Dallas.
“(I’ll) just break the ice and tell them my philosophy and where we’re headed with the staff,” Allman said. “I need to find out who wants to be here. If we mesh and it looks like they’re going to be a good fit on this staff, then I would certainly welcome that.”
While Allman has talked to coaches at other schools about coming to Permian — there are currently three openings on the staff — he said he wants “to be real careful not to lose somebody I don’t need to lose.”
“I know there’s a lot of people in town who would love to see a bunch of these guys stay because they’ve done a great job out in town,” Allman said. “The principal (Steve Brown) is very proud of these coaches and the job that they’ve done in the classroom. That says a lot about them.
“I’ve had contact with people who go to church with them and things like that tell me about how good they are, and that’s very important.”
On top of the personnel matters, Allman faces a tight timetable to get things ready for spring drills.
“I do have a tentative calendar,” he said. “We will do spring training. As far as offseason goes, I need to get in there with them and see exactly what they’re doing right now, and then get our offseason implemented in as short an amount of time as possible.
“We’re going to have to take some time out of our offseason and learn a little bit, but I still think this is a crucial time to work and get in condition. We’re going to have to really be smart about what we do there.”
By Sam Waller
Odessa American
Darren Allman wasted little time getting started as the new head football coach of the Permian Panthers.
Less than four hours after officially being named to the job Thursday, Allman met with the Permian players.
Now comes putting the names and faces of players together, assembling a coaching staff and getting his system installed.
“I’ve been around such good coaches who have taught me to work at it every day just as hard as I can,” said Allman, an Odessa native and a 1987 Permian graduate. “You simply do the best you can. You do it on Thursday, Feb. 3, and bust your tail just as hard as you can. Then you turn around and do it the next day. All of a sudden, you look up and you’ve had a great week.
“If guys can understand that, they have peace of mind that ‘I’m doing absolutely everything I can do,’ and that’s all we can do.”
Two Panther players left Thursday’s meetings with good impressions of their new coach.
“He seems pretty laid back,” said Josh Stephens, who saw time at wide receiver and running back in 2004.
Linebacker Chris Nunez said Allman’s Permian roots should make the transition easier.
“We feel good about this new coach,” Nunez said. “We know what he expects already of Permian.”
One thing Allman has in common with many of his new players is going through a coaching change before his senior season. Allman was a junior in 1985 on the last Permian team coached by John Wilkins, then played for Gary Gaines as a senior in 1986.
“It’s probably going to be the same changes he went through back then for us this year,” Nunez said.
Allman, who was defensive coordinator at Highland Park this past fall, won’t be on the job full-time until Monday or Tuesday. But he was to meet today with current assistant coaches before returning to Dallas.
“(I’ll) just break the ice and tell them my philosophy and where we’re headed with the staff,” Allman said. “I need to find out who wants to be here. If we mesh and it looks like they’re going to be a good fit on this staff, then I would certainly welcome that.”
While Allman has talked to coaches at other schools about coming to Permian — there are currently three openings on the staff — he said he wants “to be real careful not to lose somebody I don’t need to lose.”
“I know there’s a lot of people in town who would love to see a bunch of these guys stay because they’ve done a great job out in town,” Allman said. “The principal (Steve Brown) is very proud of these coaches and the job that they’ve done in the classroom. That says a lot about them.
“I’ve had contact with people who go to church with them and things like that tell me about how good they are, and that’s very important.”
On top of the personnel matters, Allman faces a tight timetable to get things ready for spring drills.
“I do have a tentative calendar,” he said. “We will do spring training. As far as offseason goes, I need to get in there with them and see exactly what they’re doing right now, and then get our offseason implemented in as short an amount of time as possible.
“We’re going to have to take some time out of our offseason and learn a little bit, but I still think this is a crucial time to work and get in condition. We’re going to have to really be smart about what we do there.”