Is DeLaSalle Really That Good?

[bigred11]

i don't think that everyone understands exactly how dominant DLS is. the last time they lost was 1991. they have completely destroyed their opponents for over 10 years. the most they have been scored on is 32 and DLS put up 71 in that game. they beat st. louis (hi) by 10. their stats are absolutely amazing. the closest tn team was Shelbyville Bedford County Training (78-0-4) in the 40's, but that is just undefeated. DLS is at 138 wins in a row. they have nearly doubled the old national record (73). thinking that any team from tn could stay with them in ludicrous. check out their stats for yourself esp. "the streak" http://www.delasallesports.com/Teams-Archi...l/football.html

[Edited by bigred11 on 2-10-03 3:46P]

[boneal52]

How can you even question it? They are that good. And if they start next season at 138-1, they will still be that good.

[VolunteerGeneral]

Posted by boneal52:

How can you even question it? They are that good. And if they start next season at 138-1, they will still be that good.

 

 

Ummmm..they are 138-1.

 

But they are that good!

[boneal52]

Whoa, VG....that's pretty sly. I never even considered that. Well done. Good mark for sheer wit.

[VolunteerGeneral]

Just looked on their 2001 Roster.

 

They have 153 players listed including Varsity and JV.

Plus they have 19 coaches.

 

That`s commitment!

[volfan911]

I got in touch with Kevin Simon's father (for those of you who don't know who Simon is, he was the national defensive player of the year in 2001 playing for De La Salle and was starting at LB for Tennessee this year until he broke his ankle) and this is what he had to say:

 

"De La Salle's line averages less than 220lbs every year. If the coaches are recruiting players from other areas they all need to be fired for incompetency.

 

People in this area used to make those same accusations. That was until DLS' games started to be televised a couple of times a year. Everyone was expecting to see a team full of mountain-sized behemoths, and out trot these little skinny linemen, half of whom are less than 200 pounds soak and wet. People have actually thought the varsity was the JV team.

 

The biggest lineman on the team in '02 was 255 pounds. The next biggest was 235 and a couple were in the 220's. But after that it nosedived to 210 and below. The starters were evenly divided on both sides of 220 pounds on the O-line, and the D-line averaged exactly 200 pounds.

 

On 2 different occasions I have actually overheard conversations among the De La Salle fans that my own son wanted to play for De La Salle so bad that he was commutting over 40 miles each way and it took him 3 hours round trip each day. What dedication!

 

Both times I matter-of-factly told them that was not true and both times I was pretty much told that I didn't know what I was talking about. And one guy said that he knew for fact that Kevin did live in Fremont (which is on the other side of Oakland from us) and that he could prove it.

 

Even after I finally identified myself that group still refused to believe me, which goes to show how such misinformation and false rumors can take on a life of its own. I just turned...and slowly walked away.....LOL!

 

We actually live about 5 minutes straight down the boulevard from De La Salle and have for 8 years. In fact, it is the closest school to us of any kind, since it is a couple of blocks closer than the public high school that sits directly behind it.

 

De La Salle shares a back fence with Ygnacio (pronounced, "ig-nay-show") Valley High, a public school. Ygnacio routinely has linemen over 300 pounds (a couple of years ago they had FIVE 300 pound linemen) but the big kids refuse to attend DLS which is a Catholic school.

 

There are a number of reasons why they don't attend. For one thing they don't want the discipline and the mandatory homework. Fall behind and you don't play any sport, period. The lazy man's way out is to simply go to the school next door. Other reasons are:

 

*Must pass entrance exam in top 50%;

*Must have a "B" average or reasonably close;

*Need 3 letters of recommendation from middle school staff (parents and students can not see the letters);

*Pass background check;

*Pass a screening of parents and student by screening committe (more kids may be rejected because of parents than anything else);

*The $7,600 annual cost (even with financial aid you will be out of a pretty penny);

 

California has open enrollment in most public school districts (it is up to the school district if they want to accept kids from other districts if they have room) whereby you can transfer to any school that has room so long as both your home district and the receiving district sign the papers.

 

Believe me, people don't move into this area just so "Little Johnny" can attend DLS. The cheapest home in Sunday's paper was over $350,000 (a "fixer-upper") and 2 bedroom apartments start at over $1,400 a month. I couldn't believe that 2 bedrooms out your way go for $495 a month.

 

Oakland is bigger than Knoxville and is only 15 miles away but there have been no kids from Oakland on the team that I know of. The most athletic high school in Northern California is Skyline of Oakland which usually turns out 5 or 6 D-1 players every year.

 

They hadn't lost a game in their region (which is different than De La Salle's) since 1989 until last year. That's over 10 years without losing in their home area. But De La Salle beat them by over 3 TD's each of the 3 times they played in the past 5 years.

 

Let me answer your question about "a high level of talent every year" like this:

 

No area of the nation could naturally produce the kind of athletes that come out of De La Salle year-after-year. In 1998 RB Atari Callen (CAL) was All-Everything and averaged over 15 yards per carry for nearly 1,600 yards that year-- playing only half-games due to blowouts.

 

LB DJ Williams (Miami) was National Defensive Player of the Year in 1999.

 

Kevin was National Defensive Player of the Year in 2000.

 

DL Derek Landri (Notre Dame) was State Player of the year in 2001.

 

Maurice Drew (UCLA) averaged over 12 yards per carry in 2002, and there were others right along with them.

 

We have had a Parade All-American for 4 years in a row. And they all live within 20 minutes of the school.

 

That's way too much national level talent for such a small geographic area. There's something else going on here. De La Salle get its share of good athletes but no more so than many of the other schools here. Concord is a town of only 110,000 but there are 6 high schools here (one is all-girls).

 

The difference is what the coaches are able to do once these scrawny little kids shows up on campus. They have year-round weight training and conditioning and strict discipline like being in the weight room "BEFORE" 6:30 AM some mornings or you are locked out. That will shorten the distance parents and kids are willing to commute right there.

 

But the biggest advantage they have going is TRADITION. They are all a part of something magical and they are deeply devoted to all those players who have gone before them and paved the way.

 

There are literally hundreds of players who have given their all to make the program what it is today and not a one of these kids wants to risk letting everybody down. I think their biggest secret is that they are afraid to lose, which motivates them beyond anything I have ever seen.

 

Kevin was the only sophomore on varsity when he came up (he actually started every game) so after the other members of that stellar group graduated he was the only one left off that 1998 #1 team in the nation. He was the first kid to ever play on two #1 teams in the nation (1998 and 2000).

 

When I asked him about the upcoming season the most gripping thing he said was "Dad we can't lose this year, not on my watch! We would be letting down too many guys who have bust their butts all these years to get this program where it is now".

 

I didn't like the tone because I thought he was putting too much of the weight on himself. Face it, at some point they have to lose. I didn't want him to feel like he was the one responsible for it if it happened.

 

Fortunately, the program has reached the point where it has become self-perpetuating. You don't have to sell kids on the notion that they will have to work harder than any team on their schedule, or harder than any of them ever dreamed. They already know that before they get here. They have already bought into the gut-busting regimen sight unseen. That's half the battle.

 

In a nut-shell, De La Salle wins because of a higher level of Discipline and Coaching, and a greater commitment to the fundamental like Footwork, Speed, Strength, Technique, Conditioning and Execution. They literally are taught to explode off the line. These are not just catchy notions or phrases to them, they live this reality everyday.

 

All the guys who I know to be truthful to a fault have come back and said that De La Salle's training and conditioning program is tougher than their college programs. They may start out with 100 kids but by the time the season starts they will have whittled themselves down to no more than 40 or so. The program is just that gruelling, and it shows in the results on the field. It's not for everybody.

 

You can't get 16-17 year olds to work this hard unless you have as unique a situation as De La Salle. Nobody wants to be on the team that finally lets everybody down who went before them. And that's an incredibly powerful motivator.

 

Didn't mean to tie you up all day, but there is just no simple answer to the question of what makes De La Salle so successful. Kevin was so driven to protect the teams national image and so dedicated to his role as team captain that it worried me, and a lot of other guys on the team were just like him.

 

They all seem to have turned out just fine but that's an awful lot of pressure to have to live up to."

 

Maybe this will help dispel some of the rumors circulating here. Mr. Simon is a very bright man with a great reputation by all those who know him or have chatted with him on the internet. What he says can be taken as the gospel when it comes to De La Salle.

 

Volfan911

[WarriorFan]

Thank you, volfan911. I appreciate what you put here. This tells me plenty about that program. They are hard working overachievers who play their guts out. This is what I expected. When you get a program to that level, you don't have to sell it, players and parents find you. This reminds me(though, of course, not on the same level) of the Brentwood Academy teams of the 80's and the MBA teams of today. People think there has to be cheating going on to get your program to that level, but if they really sawthe insides of the program, they would realize how much misinformation about the reasons for the mystique of certain schools are out there. KUDOS TO THIS POST, AND YOU GET A GOOD MARK!!!

[rollredroll]

Great stuff, volfan. Thanks.

[JimmyCash]

Don't always believe the Hype. I saw them and That team from Hawaii play on T.V. That team from Hawaii was no top 25 material. They had big and slow offensiive lineman. The game was close until the 3rd quarter.

[volfan911]

De La Salle's hype is well deserved. They consistently beat teams such as Long Beach Poly that are more talented (if you go by the number of players who project as D1 material) and ranked on the national level. There is no real way to gauge these teams with so many out there there. But you can recognize a few that stand out every year and are deserving of their status as one of the top teams in the nation - De la Salle is one of those teams. Another team was the West Monroe team of 2001 out of Louisiana. During the regular season that team beat the eventual 5A state champion of Texas and the eventual 5A state champion of Mississippi, then beat nationally ranked Evangel Christian School in the 5A state championship. What a season - they were considered the "National Champion" at the end of the year for what it's worth.

 

Volfan911

[Sequatchie]

volfan911, I have read some of Kevin's dad's posts on other boards and he is very informed and it is fun to read his info.

 

By the way do post on Gridscape and is your user name diffrent?

[volfan911]

I don't post often on gridscape but I'm a regular on volquest. I use the same moniker there and on gridscape when I do happen to post.

 

Volfan911