Sports editor Pat Dailey sat down with Ozark coach Chad Depee for a Q’s and A’s session covering the Tigers’ 3-7 season this year and their future:
Q: How do you handle the finality of it all once a season is completed?
Depee: It’s depressing. For a lot of different reasons, it’s depressing. It’s what you do. All of sudden, that last game gets here.
You’re in a mode and it’s your habit. You have this routine you go through working all the way up to a Friday night. You get up, go to work and get ready for practice. Once that Friday night is done, you get prepped up for the next one.
Also, you have a relationship with the kids. You enjoy seeing them, you enjoy going to practice with them and you enjoy that camaraderie in the locker room. Your seniors, you have seen them grow up from youth football to being young men. You see the tears in their eyes. It’s emotional. It’s tough when the end of the year comes. This is what we love to do. You’re used to it for about six months and then all of a sudden, it’s done. It’s a shock when the final game hits you. It takes you a couple weeks to get over it.
When you see that it also means something to the the kids, it gives you a satisfaction — the time we invest and commitment we make is worth it. Hopefully, it all creates lasting memories and lasting relationships.
Q: One of the pivotal points in your season came with a change at quarterback in Week Three, when Brady Dodd took over as the starting signal-caller and Jace Easley was moved to running back. What all was involved in that decision and how do you think things turned out?
Depee: Coming into the season, we were thinking it wouldn’t be a bad thing for Jace to start every play with the ball in his hands and we let him go be an athlete. Jace had been our number two quarterback last year and the way we like to set it up, we have guys in line at each position. We felt really good about both Jace at QB.
Unfortunately, we lost fullback Jacob Kronebusch to a broken ankle (in the pre-season). How we started and how we were envisioning the season to go, with injuries, it all changed. It caused our dynamics on the offensive side to be different and we were trying to figure things out. We sat down with Jace and I told him, ‘I’m going to be transparent with you. We’ve got to look at some things and number one, we’ve got to look at how you can help us in different ways and how we can put all the pieces together.’
When the change came, we wanted to make sure we were still trying to get the ball in Jace’s hands. We knew we would really like to have him on the defensive side, as well. In Week Three, we said ‘Jace you’re still going to be (on offense), but we’re also going to put you in situations on defense.’ So, we started moving Jace around. It ended up working really good for us. Jace is obviously a great defensive back. He proved that in big games.
Jace was great about all of it. He’s a competitor. He wants to play as much as possible. He doesn’t like standing on the sideline. Thats what you love about him.
It was nice to see Brady come in and develop. He got better each week. He was able to distribute the ball well. He gained valuable experience.
Q: Your offense put up 229 points over a six-week stretch in which you went 3-3. How did you feel things came along offensively?
Depee: Once we got things lined out and got going, our production got better. Our explosive plays started to get bigger and our base offense started to click. We had new guys up front who continued to get better along the offensive line. Putting all that together, I was pleased to see the growth.
Q: Kronebusch, of course, would have been a major player in your offense at fullback. After he broke an ankle on jamboree night, Jake Beets took over at fullback and finished with a team-high 603 yards rushing on 109 carries. How do you feel about the job Beets did?
Depee: Kronebusch is a tremendous athlete. The kids know the kind of worker he is and they have a lot of faith in him. Sitting there on jamboree night and seeing him laying on the ground, that was rough. You hear coaches talk about (injuries) on jamboree night. We had never had to face that before. It was a big blow.
We did not have him one snap. We were hoping at the end of the year he would get an opportunity to get back somehow in a limited fashion. But he was still healing up. We hated it for him. We’ll be excited to have him back out on the field next season on both sides of the ball.
We had to move Beets to fullback. He was a returning starter at the slot and does a tremendous job at that position. But as we went along, we needed a more experienced kid to touch the ball more. We needed to get No. 3 (Beets) the ball. Putting him at fullback helped us go. He’s got a gear in him and a one-step vertical cut that makes him hard to tackle. He’s a tough kid and always has been.
Our B-back (fullback) position is a tough spot. It’s a physical spot. But our slots have to do it all. They have to block, run routes, catch the ball, identify defenses but most important they have to block. Jake did a good job of that as a junior. So, I wasn’t concerned about how tough he was. I knew he has a low center of gravity and is hard to tackle. To see him run our dive, it was evident he could go. He proved how tough he was.
Q: Dodd put up impressive numbers that included 47-of-82 passing for 895 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. On the ground, he rushed for 412 yards and seven more touchdowns. What’s your assessment of the work he put in?
Depee: Brady got more comfortable and took care of the ball better. There’s growth we still have to make there. But he’s very quick, he can make that vertical step in our option game. When he gets downhill, he’ll surprise you how fast he is.
We like his arm strength. He has a really good arm. We were over 55 percent on our completion rate. You can throw the ball all you want. but if you don’t complete it, you’re in long situations. He put the ball where it could be caught.
I’ve got to give credit to our guys up front. When we did run our play-action, they gave him enough time sit in the pocket and throw a strike to Easley, Jace Whatley and Will Scheer had big some big catches, too. Beets had big catches.
We’re excited about Brady being a junior and getting him back. We’ve got some good, solid guys coming back we can build upon.
Q: Whatley appears to have all the makings of a star. The 6-foot-5 sophomore caught 21 passes and averaged 21 yards a catch. How do you like his future?
Depee: There is a lot of potential. We were glad to have him play on both sides. He presents a problem with his length. You take the skills he has — his ball skills, his footwork while running routes, his ability to go up and just being a competitor — he could be somebody to really look out for down the road, as he continues to grow and mature. Guys with his length, it’s a natural fit for them to play outside linebacker and he’s used to playing in space.
Q: As senior offensive lineman Brian Bullard closed his prep career, what are your thoughts on a college career that could be awaiting him?
Depee: Brian has been a really good one for us. We will miss him a lot. I love his work ethic and attitude. You hate to go against him when you’re doing drills because you know you’re going to get a forearm in the chest.
I’m excited to see what opportunities he has. He’ll have the chance to play on Saturdays. He has a whole lot in the tank left, even development-wise. By the time he’s a 20-year-old young man, watch out, you will not want him to get a hold of you. When he gets in any college weight room, that college will be happy with what they get.
Q: How about the rest of your offensive linemen?
Depee: PJ Virden and Cam Hembree were mainstays on our offensive line, too. Cameron was injured a lot of his career. We were sure glad he got healthy and completed his senior year. PJ waited for his opportunity. Peyton Greer played quite a bit at guard his sophomore year. We move him over to center this year. He did a good job and we’re excited to get him back. He’ll be bigger and better. Greer is a good athlete. You’d be surprised how fast he is. We should be looking for some good things from him as a senior. Hudson Kissee was a first-year starter at right tackle. He has 10 games under his belt now.
Q: You had veterans throughout your defensive line. What are your thoughts on them?
Depee: That was a mainstay crew. Luke Hulse played for us for four years. He got a lot of action even as a freshman. We’re going to miss him in a lot of facets. He was a grinder for us at a tough position. At nose, you’re not going to get a lot of tackles. You’re taking on a double-team from two of the biggest and baddest dudes on the opposing team. He took that on 40-50 snaps a night.
Braegan Patman, Mason Moreland and Nash Rodebush were also good players for us. They helped tremendously. That will be a big area defensively we will have to replace.
Q: Outside of Drew Blomquist, your linebacking corps was young. What did you think of Blomquist’s efforts and what do think of the future for the rest of the linebackers?
Depee: We lose Blomquist and he’s been a tremendous leader. When we would say, ‘Drew, we need this done in the locker room or on the field,’ it was done. He’s going to have a lot of success down the road because of how disciplined he is.
We got some younger guys, Cooper Buvid, Gage Depee, Brock Dodd and Whatley, who gained experience. You can throw (leading tackler) Garrett Ballard in there, as well. I know he’s in the secondary. But our free safety is in the box sometimes, too.
Q: Who will emerge as the leader of the linebackers?
Depee: That’s a great question. We will see who wants to step up. That whole crew, they’re all solid guys We’ll see who wants to take charge of the linebacking corps and also help our young guys up front develop.
Q: In the secondary, Easley will likely be an All-COC selection. Who else saw significant minutes in your defensive backfield?
Depee: Jace is a big hole to fill. We had guys like Ethan Sutherland and Jake Hubbard who gained experience. That can only be a help to them. They know now how offenses are going to attack, where they need to be and how much they have to get done in the weight room.
Q: Your freshman enjoyed a 9-0 season that included eight wins by 17 points or more. Can we expect to see some of them make an impact at the varsity level next year?
Depee: That’s a big jump. We’ll see what the weight room does for them. Are they going to be physically ready? That age is such a unique area. It’s about who is growing and developing.
They had a great year. I enjoyed watching them develop. They matured. I saw their practices get better and better. Our coaches did a great job challenging them. I feel like that class is a very solid class. They have a good mixture of everything. They’re solid on defense and offensively. They’ve got good linemen and skill (kids). There is a good mixture. They will plug in nicely with the classes above them.
Q: This season was different than your first six at Ozark due to the absence of former defensive coordinator Jim Genzler. After he took the Clever job, how do you think your staff responded?
Depee: We miss coach Genzler. He’s a dear friend. We had to replace him, just like when we lose seniors. I was so pleased how our coaches took over whatever work needed to be filled.
I love our staff. It’s varied slightly in my seven years here. But there are a lot of mainstay guys here. We want a diverse group of guys who can meet the needs of our kids. Having different personalities and perspectives helps us reach our guys. We’ve got a great group of men who are educators. I’m so appreciative of them and couldn’t do it without them.
Q: Do you have assistants who could follow Genzler’s lead and be a head coach down the line?
Depee: I’ve said this for years, ‘If I can do it, anybody can do it.’ I say that somewhat laughing. The reality is so much goes into it. Sometimes, if you want other opportunities, you have to uproot your family. That always weighs in prominently. I’ve been so blessed with my wife and kids. They’ve had to endure sacrifices to give me the opportunity to pursue what I love to do. I’m so thankful to my wife. You reflect back and my kids have been the ‘new kids’ several times.
We have very solid coaches. Sitting in my chair, every year I’m thinking, ‘Am I keeping my guys?’ Having the guys you can trust is critical, knowing that they’re all-in. You’re always thinking, ‘I hope everyone stays.’
