New Coach says Defense is Looking Good
By John Earp
Tom Harvey, Jal High School’s new head football coach, has jumped right into leading the Panther Football Team in their summer workouts. He says the team has been focusing on strength training and agilities so far, with practices going well so far.
Harvey comes to Jal High School from Andrews High School, where he coached for the last 12 years. He has been coaching for a total of 35 years, mostly in Texas, but also with one year coaching at Artesia High School, from which he also graduated.
About the Panther Football program, Harvey says, “It’s a good time to start fresh. We run heavy offense, not that we won’t pass at all, but it’ll be run-heavy and physical.” Harvey says the Panthers are a young team, with more players being freshmen and sophomores than upper classmen. He says, “I’ve been meeting them with over the summer, but there’s still a lot of kids that haven’t shown up at all. But we’ve had as many as 30 for some days. I’m well aware of how much success we’ve had in the junior high, although the high school’s coming off of a tough year. I know the previous coach, and I know the coaches that were here, and I know that we’re coached. We’ve got a plan, and we’re really looking good on defense. I think the defense is going to come around real fast, and then I think the offense is going to come around. It’s gonna need some maturity, though. We’ve got a plan for that, too. We’re looking for a crash course here pretty quick that we’re going to bring up in the middle of July to get them started and then two-a-days, if you still call it two-a-days, starts in August.”
Coach Harvey brings some coaches with him to assist with the leadership and development of the team. About himself and the other retired Texas coaches he has brought with him, Harvey says, “We didn’t come over here to collect a paycheck. We’re coming over here to get after it and see if we can play some state championships and things like that. I have New Mexico roots. Having grown up in southeastern New Mexico or at least gone to school a little bit in southeastern New Mexico, I could promise you there’s nothing wrong with New Mexico and these towns, Artesia, Jal, Eunice and Hobbs. They’re a lot more like Andrews, Texas, or Odessa, Texas, than they are like Albuquerque. And knowing the people out here, they’re not ashamed of that either. I wouldn’t be looking for a job outside of the southeast corner of New Mexico.
The thing Harvey says he likes most about his team so far is, “I like seeing every day these kids rolling in and being so close to each other, That’s a strength when they grew up together. So they like doing things together and I like that. It’s a good place to start. I think the strength is going to be on the offensive and defensive line. And not that we don’t have skills people, but a lot of the skill kids are young. And a lot of the linemen played last year on varsity and were successful and got a lot of playing time. So there’s a little more experience coming back on, on the offensive and defensive front and the skilled people. I think you will see ninth graders out there playing.”