by TAYLOR ELDRIDGE

• BISHOP CARROLL GOLDEN EAGLES

Class: 5A
League: City League
Head Coach: Alan Schuckman, 14th year
2008 Recap: Blake Bell proved in the season opening loss to Heights he had arrived as an elite quarterback. From there, Carroll won the final eight regular season games and its first round playoff game against Salina Central. The Eagles’ explosive passing attack finally fizzled in the second round against McPherson, bowing out 20-14. Carroll finished the season 9-2 overall, 6-1 in league and 3-0 in district.
2009 Schedule: 9/4 Heights; 9/11 at Northwest; 9/18 South; 9/25 North; 10/2 at East; 10/9 Kapaun Mount Carmel; 10/16 at West; 10/23 Valley Center; 10/30 at Liberal.
Returning Starters: 3
4 Impact Players: QB Blake Bell (6-6, 215, Sr.); RB/WR Blake Rollins (6-1, 180, Sr.); TE John Mies (6-3, 230, Sr.); LB Timmy Chadd (5-10, 200, Sr.).

• 2009 Outlook

Blake Bell will be keeping defensive coordinators up late at nights this season. He will get his yards throwing, but the question will be how his supporting cast matures through the season. Carroll must replace virtually its entire offense besides Bell. Only one starter is back beside Bell and the team must replace its top seven offensive lineman. A tall task for any team, but Bell is a great building block to have. Blake Rollins is expected to have a breakout season as Bell’s favorite target and John Mies replaces the role Joe Brown played last season. The defense returns even less, only one starter in Timmy Chadd. If the defense can return to its old havoc-wreaking ways, Carroll might make a push again in the 5A playoffs.

10 BURNING QUESTIONS WITH HEAD COACH ALAN SCHUCKMAN

• You’ve been at Bishop Carroll for 14 years now. What’s made BC the right fit for you?

“I think it’s a combination of things It’s a great school academically and spiritually. That’s what has kept me there And part of our success has been not just my stability, but having all the same coaches in our program have been with me for those 14 years. It’s just a good working environment and we have great kids and great players.”

• But it seems a lot of assistant coaches go on and become head coaches. What do you think the reason for that is?

“I hope I give them an opportunity to learn and learn a system they can put in place somewhere else and be successful. Fortunately, I have hired good guys that work hard and are motivated and want to be head coaches.”

• How has it been watching the transformation of Blake Bell into a relatively unknown to the second-rated quarterback in the nation?

“Well it happened so quick. I knew he was going to be obviously good. Did I know he’d be a top five quarterback in the country his senior year? I’d probably be lying if I say I knew definitely. A lot of things worked in his favor. I think our offensive system definitely helped his game. I think he came in his junior season and we had a lot of quality receivers returning and I think he benefited from that. And again, he progressed fast. But I still think he has a lot of room to grow too. To answer your question, definitely I was probably as surprised as everybody. But I knew he had the ability.”

• Was there a play or a moment in a practice or a game where you said to yourself, ‘Man, this guy is going to be good?’

“I think it was after his first football game last year. He threw for over 300 yards and marched us down in the last minute of the game and gave us an opportunity to win the game, that’s when I said, ‘This kid is going to be special.’”

• How has Blake’s down-to-earth nature and personality helped him throughout this media storm focused on him?

“He’s stayed very humble. He’s the first one in the weight room, last one to leave. He’s no bigger than the program and the program is no bigger than him. He’s definitely a fun kid to be around and coach and he’s been a great teammate. I think that’s probably the best thing about him and a lot of it comes from his parents. And I think one thing that has really helped him was his sophomore year when he was a receiver. He knew he was going to be the quarterback of the future, but he just wanted to help the team and fulfill a role. He was the starting wide out and never complained and never thought he should be the quarterback. He was just, ‘Hey, what can I do to make this football team better at the receiver position?’ I think with that he really became a better quarterback that year because now he understands the receiver position, which a lot of quarterbacks don’t.”

• With Blake and the Brown brothers coming from the Wichita area in recent years, has the talent in the Wichita area improved from 14 years ago? Or will it take a state championship from a City League school to prove that?

“I think we’ve always had good talent, good players. I think it’s kind of ironic the last couple of years we’ve had some of the top players in the country. Then again, one player, two players don’t make a team. Football is a team game. Just because you have one great player doesn’t mean you’re going to win a state championship. There’s a lot of factors involved. And I know a lot of people make a big deal about there hasn’t been a state championship, but there’s been a lot in the finals. All that stuff takes care of itself. I mean sure, I’d like to win one. But also, we’re in developing kids and having a solid program and believe me, I don’t feel any worse of a coach or any better of a coach if I win one.”

• With the two close playoff games last season, how much did the team take away from that learning what it takes to win in November?

“If people know football and they really analyze it, they look at 5A and Kansas and especially on the west side of the state. You have eight teams there that are pretty good. You have one team that’s great. And then you’re going to have seven other teams in the playoffs that are really good. It’s going to be a dogfight. It’s just very competitive and it’s going to be a challenge. We’re returning two starters on offense and one on defense. We’re very inexperienced and a lot of our kids haven’t played on Friday night, where a lot of other schools are returning a lot of people. We’ve got Blake, but it’s going to take a lot of other people to kind of step up this year. I think they did learn once you get to the playoffs, you can’t have a bad night, you have turnovers or you’re going to check it in the next day. You can’t look ahead, you better look in the present.”

• The schedule has Heights and at Northwest opening up the season. Those two are going to be the favorites to win the City League this year. Is that a good thing to get them out of the way early or would you rather play them later?

“It’s the same thing we had last year. We’ve opened with Heights for years. Is it a good thing, bad thing…it’s a good measuring stick. We know where we’re at Northwest should win league and do well in the 6A playoffs. There’s some advantages of playing those teams early, there’s some advantages of playing them later. The schedule…you just play them when they schedule them. Is it better to play a good team early? Or is it better to play a good team later after they’ve gelled for the season? I don’t know what’s better or worse. My perspective is I just enjoy playing those type of good football teams and games and good atmosphere for the kids. You’re looking at two games there that are going to have four, five thousand people there and it’s going to be rocking and rolling. That’s what I’m excited about.”

• Blake is going to make some plays this season, but others are going to have to step up at some point. What’s it going to take from the others?

“Blake makes people around him better. He’s going to have to carry the load. He’s going to have to make plays. But then again, there’s other guys that have the ability to make plays Hopefully, they just feed off his play. We’re excited. A lot of young kids have never played. I think again, if you have that type of kid at quarterback you can build around him and that’s a good thing. He’s an awful big piece to have in place. It’s just getting all those other ones around him to all work together.”

• This season will be a success if…”

“Our offensive players step up to the challenge and make plays. And defensively, we got to get back to where we are more of an aggressive, flying-to-the-football type of team. At times last year we didn’t play like we were capable of playing. We just have to play with more passion defensively this year and I think we will because with all the kids we have in place.”