After enduring a 7-4 season a year ago, veteran Hoboken High School head football coach Lou Taglieri decided it was time for a change.
And that change comes in new uniforms, a new offense and a new defense.
The Hoboken program was traditionally a Delaware Wing-T offense, going back to the days when the legendary Ed Stinson came back to roam the sidelines at JFK Stadium in 1987 and started the Red Wings on their incredible run of greatness.
When he was in charge, Stinson used to quote the Wing-T philosophy like he was reading from a textbook.
“When the Wing-T is operating at its maximum capability, there is an equal distribution of the football.”
Those words used to sound like a symphony in the Mile Square City. The Red Wings were Wing-T, pure and simple. There was once an inexperienced sportswriter, still wet behind the ears, who once asked if the Wing-T offense was named after the Red Wings. One might think that was the case, but it wasn’t true.
But making a Wing-T offense work, there is constant repetition, over and over, to the point where it could get nauseating and tiring. The offensive linemen have to learn the proper blocking technique and schemes. So in practice, the plays are run over and over until they are done the right way.
Taglieri, who also operated with the Wing-T philosophy since he took over for Stinson 11 years ago, noticed that his players were getting tired of the same old routine.
“We didn’t have the players who want to block like they used to,” said Taglieri, who has guided Hoboken to three NJSIAA state championships during his tenure as head coach. “Everyone wants to carry the ball.”
So Taglieri decided to scrap the old reliable Wing-T and implement a new spread offense, one that features more of the forward pass. Those gasps of desperation one might have heard outside your window are coming from Stinson himself, complete with a “Say what?”
“The spread offense is more fun for the kids,” Taglieri said. “It keeps people in practice and takes the offensive line practically out of the game. I want to be able to get our skilled people in space. I want to spread the field and get my skilled people into the open space.”
The idea went over well with the Hoboken football community. It was such a great idea that veteran assistant coach John Peluso, who has been an assistant with the Red Wings since the world was flat, went from being a defensive guru to the offensive coordinator.
“John bought into it,” Taglieri said. “Everyone bought into it.”
It also enabled Taglieri to move former Red Wing All-State running back Keeon Walker, the former Syracuse defensive back, to the role of defensive coordinator, obviously his forte.
“It has provided an upbeat atmosphere in practice,” Taglieri said. “The kids like it. Practices have become fun.”
There’s a phrase that has never been uttered during football season in Hoboken. Practices are fun. It’s hard to swallow those words. Are any football practices fun?
The Red Wings have also scrapped their old defensive ways as well, now going to a 3-3 stack formation, capitalizing on their team speed by putting as many defensive backs on the field as possible.
“It’s also fun for the kids,” Taglieri said.
There’s that word again. Fun. Who has fun nowadays?
And there’s another change. The Red Wings have new uniforms, complete with a sleek, state-of-the-art silver helmet that features the wings on the sides.
Needless to say, it’s a different year in Hoboken.
Now if Taglieri could just get his team to perform at a Hoboken-esque level.
“Someone needs to step up and be a leader on this team,” said Taglieri, who led the Red Wings to a 7-4 record a year ago. “We lost our leaders like [Josh] Mercado and [Danny] Clifford both of whom went on to play at Wagner College] and there’s been no replacement for that experience. They were four-year players in this program. We need our older players to step up and lead the younger ones and make them ready to face Shabazz [in Newark on Friday, Sept. 11].”
The Red Wings’ new quarterback has a fine passing arm _ and a memorable name to go along with it. Junior Wilden Germain (5-10, 180) takes over leading the Red Wings’ attack. Germain is a personable young man who was a wide receiver in the offense a year ago.
“He gets better every day,” Taglieri said. “He’s up to the challenge of leading this team. He wants to be there and wants to learn everything there is about being a quarterback. John has worked tirelessly with him throwing the ball. He makes plays.”
The running back is senior Marquise Roberts (5-7, 165), who had some moments of brilliance last year when he could remain on the field. Junior Tariq Felton (5-9, 175) will spell Roberts periodically.
The Red Wings have a ton of talent in the receiver position, going with four wide receivers at a time.
Senior Kyiese Lopez (5-10, 170) is a returning starter. He has to have the look of the Chicken Hawk on the old Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, drooling at the mouth, knowing that the Red Wings will throw the ball this year.
Senior Isaiah James (6-2, 225) moves from tight end to wide receiver, where he’s joined by senior Hafiz Gordonel (5-11, 170) and senior Diquill Neal (5-11, 170). Neal is a three-year varsity football player at Hoboken.
The offensive line features Eddie Wilson (6-3, 270) and Keith Boyd (6-1, 315) at guard. Both are juniors and started last year. The tackles are senior Louis Negron (6-1, 230) and sophomore Ricky Colon (6-2, 220), a transfer from St. Peter’s Prep. Junior Robert Booker (6-0, 260) is the center and junior Micah Smith (6-2, 230) will see plenty of time at either center or guard.
Defensively, the Red Wings will have Negron, Wilson and Colon sharing time at defensive end, with the massive Boyd as the nose tackle. Felton and junior Derrence Moore (5-10, 185) are the outside linebackers, with James at the inside linebacker and drawing some attention from colleges there.
The secondary features Neal, Gordonell, Lopez, Roberts and Germain, along with senior Jimmy Rosa (5-11, 180).
The Red Wings open with the trip to Newark to see old nemesis Shabazz Friday at 7 p.m. to unfurl the new look offense, defense, uniforms and what have you.
“They like the schemes,” Taglieri said. “They are out practicing every day and understand what we want to do. We have a team that’s going to get ready to play a state playoff game again and we expect nothing else. We’re having fun.”
Can you imagine? Fun? At a Hoboken football practice? Yes, the times, Bob Dylan, they are a’changing.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.
You can also read Jim’s blog at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com.