It’s A Small World For Trojan Defensive Coordinator George
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usThere was no direct line to coaching for Mililani defensive coordinator Bobby George. The former Saint Louis standout quarterback had another passion that consumed him.
“It’s a long story, but I got into racing cars,” said George, 26. “The track closed in 2005.
I still have two race cars at home right now, and I wanted to get involved with something and stay busy. I ran into one of my old coaches (Jeff Matsuzaki) and started helping him. I wanted to give back to kids, and coaching is the closest thing to playing again. I’m excited.”
George was quarterbacks coach at Aiea in 2008 under Wendell Say and succeeded Matsuzaki last season as a first-year offensive coordinator there. Now at Mililani, George’s own offensive staff includes a pair of former Crusaders in B.J. Batts and Brendyn Agbayani in addition to Tyler Williams (Kamehameha/University of Utah ) and longtime assistant Jeff Cadiz, who also is the team’s weight-lifting coach.
George took some time away from practice last week to answer some questions for MidWeek‘s Central Islander. The team returns to action Sept. 24, at home against Aiea.
How would you assess your team’s overall offensive play to date? I think we’re right where we need to be as far as running a new offense as compared to running Darnell’s last year. They’re still learning, but they’re getting better every day. With Trent at quarterback, it makes the offense so much easier to work with.
As a first-year coordinator at Mililani, how have you minimized effects of the transition? The good thing about the transition is that Darnell was a quarterback at Saint Louis, so he had the same coaches I did. Fundamental-wise, it’s the same thing.
Play-calling is different. We have a great staff, and that makes it easier to work with the kids.
How would you assess your offensive line play? I’ve been around football a long time, and this is one of the best groups. Tyler works hard with them. They’ve meshed as well as any line I’ve seen. And for big boys, they’re also very smart. They only need to be told things once.
What will you focus in on during your bye week? Right now, the plan is to clean things up. We’ve been doing OK, but we’re still making a lot of mistakes. At the same time, we’ll also game-plan for our games with Aiea, Kapolei and Leilehua.
How would you assess the passing game? Trent does an amazing job of absorbing everything. He has a great arm, he can run, and he’s smart. Some of our receivers have a natural instinct for the game, and you can’t teach that.
How much further are you ahead in installing the offense with a senior quarterback in Trent McKinney? I can’t say enough about him. He’s a class act all the way around. I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to pick and choose where he wants to go (to college) when the season is over.
How would you assess Mililani’s run game? For me, playing in a passing (heavy) offense as a player, I’m a passing coach, but our run game complements what we do. We have a great back in Zach. He’s surprised me since day one. He takes it to another level on game day.
What are your impressions of your next opponent, Aiea? It’s one of the games I’m looking forward to. We’ll be playing against a lot of boys that I coached. Freddie is a kid I really enjoyed coaching. I’ve been keeping an eye on them. I think it will be a good game. At the same time, I am hoping we can go out and take care of business.
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