[Buckskin86]

High school football: Off and running
Five coaches sound off on the best players, changes for this season and the new Gophers coach.
BY TIM LEIGHTON and RAY RICHARDSON
Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated: 08/12/2007 12:08:25 AM CDT


With high school football training camps opening Monday, coaches statewide this week finalized practice schedules and road maps they hope will lead to the Prep Bowl on Nov. 23-24 at the Metrodome.

Five coaches familiar with that destination - Eden Prairie's Mike Grant, Minnetonka's Dave Nelson, Totino-Grace's Jeff Ferguson, Lakeville South's Larry Thompson and Cretin-Derham Hall's Mike Scanlan - have combined for 13 state championships and nine runner-up finishes.

The Pioneer Press interviewed the five individually and asked them to address story lines entering the season, ranging from the new Prep Bowl format to Cretin-Derham Hall receiver Michael Floyd to new University of Minnesota coach Tim Brewster. Following are excerpts from those interviews:

Question: What do you think of Michael Floyd?

Ferguson: I have heard he is a great young man that is a great athlete. All I've seen are the highlights, and those are impressive. He seems like he has that combination of size to go with speed and talent.

Grant: He's got the total package - great hands and speed. I would love to play against him. I know a lot of college coaches who come through the state make their way over to St. Paul to see him.

Nelson: I've never seen him play in person, but I hear he's an unbelievable player. All the college coaches I talk to say he's the real deal. I feel pretty lucky that I've never had to come up with a game plan for him.

Scanlan:
I live with him, so to speak, so I certainly like the young man and what he does for our program. He has made me look like a good coach.
Thompson: I know when we played our game against Cretin-Derham Hall (in last year's playoffs), our plan was to play him normally and see if we could handle him. By the end of the second and third quarters, we had to switch to Plan B. That's what he makes you do.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_6602780...e=most_emailed