The sun may rise on the east coast of Florida and set in the west, however the prospect of turning around a program that may be the single biggest underachiever in the Hillsborough prep scene in recent memory may sound like it’s more difficult than changing the direction in which it approaches. There’s a foundation in place over off Busch Avenue though and it’s the worst kept secret in Hillsborough County that said foundation includes some of the best talent lurking the neighborhood and hallways; not the football field or weight room either. You could make the argument it’s as potentially talented as anywhere in the entire county.
Even though you can’t predict the future or play off talent alone, it does you no good to even discuss wins/losses if you can’t retain the talent for the sake of the program and school in general. It’s something that has plagued Chambo for what seems like eons since Billy Turner left the program. That’s all changing though; or at least that’s the clear and present mission of one Dedrick “DJ” Mayo the newly appointed “Chief” of Chamberlain Football.
Mayo is no longer accepting of the path the Chiefs Program has taken in recent years and it’s also apparent that he’s not really concerned by the fact that he may be an “outsider” so-to-speak. His uncle has owned a law firm for the past 20 years in the bay area and he had applied for the Lennard position this summer. Without a doubt, Hillsborough County was THE destination for him and the fact that it is a school such as Chamberlain makes it all the more motivating and challenging.
“Hillsborough (County) was definitely the destination. My Uncle has his own law firm and has been here for about 20 years now. I’ve always followed football over here and I believe that Hillsborough is second to nobody in the state.” said Mayo. “Dade County may get all of the publicity, but Hillsborough County has proven it is pound-for-pound the best in the state given the recent number of state title holders and teams that can win most districts in the entire state yet can’t even make it to the playoffs because of the caliber of the programs. Even your worst teams in Hillsborough County have Division 1 players.”
Everyone goes through their honeymoon phase where the partner can do no wrong and there’s very little acrimony; but when the flame gets put to the kettle and the steam is about to blow, then what happens? Do you revert back to the way it used to be? Not if Mayo gets his way in terms of putting his stamp on the program. It’s something that he’s been waiting for his entire life and is not about to let one of the most recognizable names in the annals Hillsborough County high school football disappear into obscurity. Not with the talent in this county and in his zone.
“It definitely reminds me of the situation that I was in at Atlantic. We were sandwiched between Mainland and Spruce Creek along with a powerhouse private school in Warner Christian just up the road. That’s one of things I love about Chamberlain though. I can argue that we have the best talent base in Hillsborough County. Once the Chamberlain kids are at Chamberlain, the other schools around the county might not be as successful. It’s just the truth. I’m happy with the kids now though. Don’t get me wrong. We have what we need (on the roster) to get done what we want to get done this year. I think our talent base is second-to-none. I feel like one of the special things about this school is we DON’T really have to rely on transfers. We can make it happen (like I said) with what’s walking the hallways and in the locker rooms.
Three of Chamberlain’s four losses in the district last season all came by one touchdown. Only game that was the exception was versus Tampa Bay Tech who was District Champions. The Chiefs also lost in last seconds of Bloomingdale game, as well as only a FG against Wharton who were a playoff team last season. A few of the teams on Chamberlain’s 2012 Schedule are either rebuilding or looking for answers and it could be an opportunistic season for the Chiefs. Mayo has a rather up close and personal experience near and dear to yours truly and completely relevant to the situation at Chambo.
DeLand was 0-10 in 2007. Then they started the ’08 season 0-3. Then it clicked. They defeated cross county rivals Seabreeze in Week 4 who was the eventual 4A state semifinalists that season by four touchdowns. They lost in the last second to Pine Ridge that was 9-2 that season whose only loss came to Mainland in the regular season. The ‘Dawgs won 5 of their next 6 games and went to the playoffs; with the same roster from the 0-10 team. You can look it up if you’d like. Or you can ask Mayo since he was the WR’s Coach on that Bulldogs squad under Kevin Pettis. One year later? Well you may know the story, but just in case you missed it, DeLand was 13-2 and playing for a state title; with virtually the same roster from the 0-10 team.
Mayo feels the exact same thing can happen at Chamberlain under the same circumstances and with the same talent base and resources that he witnessed at DeLand and other programs like Mainland and Seabreeze. He even draws comparisons to those three with some of those traditional programs here in Hillsborough County. For the time being, he’s got “bigger” things that require his attention.
“Right now we’re just concentrating on getting better in the weight room strength and conditioning-wise. My Strength Coach Shane O’ Connor is doing a great job. They (players) bought-in. I thought to myself I’d get a lot more resistance from the kids, but they’ve done everything I’ve asked them to do and then some…and we ask a lot. You want different results, you have to train differently. It’s not going to be easy.”
If they are to parallel the DeLand analogy (going 5-5 with a 2nd place finish) it’s the back end of the season is where it could get away from them if with a 3-game stretch of Gaither, Steinbrenner and Hillsborough. Clean up some things and those losses by TD’s could turn into wins, but that also doesn’t take into account the expected strength of Gaither and Hillsborough and a Steinbrenner team that is no longer to be considered a startup program. The most important stretch is Freedom, Durant and Wiregrass Ranch. They must go 2-1 during that to set up the momentum going into those aforementioned three weeks at the end of the season.
As mentioned, Hillsborough Co. has been the goal from day one, and Mayo is steadfastly aware of the history of the county and its programs. He reminds his players every day of the success of the Chambo Program in years past and their responsibilities to get back to that status. Coach also provided some perspective regarding his new county’s teams to his home county. He mentioned that schools like Plant and Armwood are the catalysts behind the other programs needing to raise the bar yearly, but he also knows that it goes deeper than that.
“Well the obvious is the depth of talent because of the sheer size of the county. Obviously in Volusia you don’t have as many schools. You can count on the schools like DeLand, Mainland and Seabreeze to be there, but it drops off significantly after that. They come and go. In Hillsborough it’s truly an “any given night” situation. There’s teams (the Newsome’s, Hillsborough’s and Jefferson’s) that are perennial playoff caliber teams, but can’t get out of their districts because of the sheer talent-level from top to bottom over here.
As far as similarities, the “great” programs in Volusia like DeLand, Mainland and Seabreeze are similar to the Plant’s, Hillsborough’s, Jefferson’s and Robinson’s with regards to the tradition as well as the emphasis on their importance in the community . Mainland has been doing the 10+ win season thing for 15 years and now DeLand has stepped up and raised the bar. They’re schools with programs and traditions that kids want to be at as well as knowing they’ll have a chance to win year-in and year-out.”
Something that many in the bay area following the search closely thought he might have little experience with, is actually like revisiting an old friend for Mayo. From his time spent playing at Warner Christian until his most recent stint, Mayo isn’t stranger to the controversial tactics that can sometimes rear their ugly heads regarding transfers. Chamberlain is geographically situated where kids can easily get to schools like Jefferson, Hillsborough and Tampa Catholic without many logistical changes that are eerily similar to his previous school’ location at Atlantic High School in Port Orange.
While offensive coordinator for the Sharks, Mayo recalls being directly in the crosshairs of Spruce Creek and Mainland, not to mention having to compete with Warner Christian for talent in South Daytona who can be most accurately compared as a cross-section between Admiral Farragut in size, but with North Florida Christian talent. Mayo isn’t priming the powder keg of controversy by any means; in fact he’s merely stating, well the facts and quite frankly sounds like he needs to make no apologies for mentioning the obvious.
“Definitely; our kids are spread throughout the county (chuckles). Matter of fact we already have a kid that’s back after being at another private school close by, but he hasn’t been out yet to workouts. Hopefully he decides to get back with the team and get to work, but I’m also not going to spend time chasing anybody down either. We’ve got a program to move forward with or without those guys though, but I’ve talked to the kids and the coaches and now realize we’ve got Chambo kids on rosters all over the place.”
Along with the culture of winning on the field, the requisite duties of actually being winners off it have been the most important thing or at least sounds the most proud of at the moment. Mayo gushed over the turnaround he’s seen so far. Unlike some schools where nearly entire staffs are teachers and/or administrators, it’s just Mayo and two other coaches, but as if to say “Who cares? We’ll get it done anyways,” Mayo definitely expressed the need for more presence of his staff, but certainly described a scene thus far amongst his kids that his plans are going accordingly.
“It’s pretty important. It would be nice to have all my guys on campus, I only have three on campus right now and one is dealing with flag football while the other with track at the moment. I should probably do a better job of delegating responsibilities, but I’ll work on that (laughs). It would be nice to get my staff on campus and get all of the available sets of eyes on the kids in the hallways, monitor their grades, etc. as possible.”
While Mayo acknowledges that the honeymoon will only last for so long, he’s going to stop at nothing to get across the mentality he seeks from his players first and foremost beginning with everything BUT football.
“One thing that’s not tolerated is this mentality that just because you got a “D” that doesn’t mean you passed in my book. That’s not the mentality I preach and that’s not how you build a winning culture either. Once that got established along with a pretty clear disciplinary plan, the weekly progress reports have improved vastly and notes from the teachers regarding unacceptable behavior have decreased. Every day we’re asking the kids what they’re playing for, and they’ll say, [‘Jewelry. We want rings, we want trophies!’]….and that starts with character.”
When asked even though his offense at Atlantic was a Double-Wing straight out of the turn of the century is not exactly or the greatest show on turf, yet a virtually unstoppable force when executed is it truly a case of fitting the scheme with the talent even with noticeable size on OL/DL/TE and a stud RB), Mayo was pretty quick to respond.
“We ran what we ran at Atlantic and it worked for us. We just didn’t have the horses to hang with a team like Jesuit. It’s just one of those things. We won’t run exclusively out of the Double-Wing like you saw against Jesuit. We may run those same plays in terms of the design, but you’ll see many 4 and 5-wide sets. I’ve got to get Xavier (Johnson) some running lanes. “
At the end of the day, Mayo isn’t mincing words nor is he shy in stating the honest expectation and belief that this truly is a situation that can be repeated, just on a different side of the peninsula.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt in my mind we can do something similar to what DeLand did when I was WR’s coach there following the 0-10 team that had the SAME players that played for a 6A state title two years later. We had the Pop Saunders’ (starter at UF), the Shontrelle Johnson’s (starting RB at Iowa St.), the Mark Joyce’s (on 2-deep at USF) and so on and you saw what happened. It’s as simple as this though. You want to win, you make up your mind and you sacrifice everything to get it done. You change the culture and you change your expectations of yourself and the program; period.”