Rietveld reflects on spring practice, more
By CAROL STUART
For Brentwood Home Page
Ravenwood’s football players haven’t have any problem adapting to yet another system and terminology so far since there are so many smart kids at the school, says new Raptors head coach Joe Rietveld.

Rietveld is the program’s third head coach in four years – four if you count the brief tenure of Del Smith in early 2011 before he resigned in the off-season. Former assistant Tom Shuman resigned after two seasons as head coach, and the school’s only other coach Brian Rector led the team to two state finals including a championship.

“They adapted really well,” Rietveld said recently after spring practices when he drove down from his Indiana home for two separate weeks.

“I spent my spring break interviewing 70-plus kids one-on-one, two-on-two, one-on-two, and one of my questions I asked was about grades. And I had a lot of 3.9s, some 4.3s, which is amazing, so just a lot of smart kids. Picking stuff up has not been an issue, which is nice, because they’re smart, and if you two-platoon you can put in a lot in a short amount of time.”

The 2011 Raptors got chased off the field by thunderstorms May 13 before demonstrating drills to parents on what was originally scheduled as a spring scrimmage. (Photo by Jodi Rall)

Ravenwood’s ranking as a high-achieving school was one of the draws that Rietveld had initially about the job.

“The thing that has been the huge surprise is the people -- how receptive they’ve been,” Rietveld added. “They’re open, they listen and they ask questions when they have questions. It’s been a smooth transition, it really has.”

The Raptors started their strength and conditioning program last week since during the month of June players can’t touch a football in organized workouts. After a TSSAA dead-week period, Ravenwood will put in its offense and defense over an eight-day period during July summer camp.

The freshmen will have an hour on the field while the varsity is lifting, and the varsity will go out on the field while the ninth-graders lift.

“If it’s an offensive day, the offensive guys will lift and vice versa on the defensive days,” the RHS coach said.

“So we have 8 days in July where we’re going to install one-fourth of our offense a day and one-fourth of our defense a day, and in two weeks we’ll have it all in for the freshmen and then the varsity can fine-tune it. And if we have a two-way player he’s able to go to both practices.”

Rietveld said the Raptors are trying to two-platoon right now as much as possible, and depth hasn’t been a concern so far. The coach said he also got some questions answered during the spring practices.

“But I’m more excited just about the players and their attitudes and their willingness to learn a new system and a new way to go about doing things,” he said.

Starting QB still up in air

Quarterback is one area the coach hasn’t settled on yet, following the graduation of one-year starter Keegan Leyrer.

Rising senior Harrison Johnson is among players returning as quarterbacks on the depth chart, while lacrosse standout Harry Taylor is in the mix but played defense in one of the last practices. Reitveld said he actually added QBs instead of subtracting them during spring practices.

RHS coach Joe Rietveld

“They’re all about the same. One day – actually not even one day, one play one’s better than the other,” the coach said.

“It’s really hard to tell who’s in the running – those are the guys that have been playing there. Normally I’ve had three quarterbacks – one senior, one junior, one sophomore. And I think I had six the first week and then three new guys, so I’m almost up to eight or nine guys as quarterback. There are definitely a lot of questions to be answered.”

Rietveld, however, said depth is a good thing and allows the staff to move around players to different positions.

Paul Jankowski, whose son Avery is a rising sophomore QB, cited Rietveld’s ability “as an identifier of talent” as one thing he is excited about.

“There’s just a lot of talent here,” Jankowski said.  “… He’ll be able to put the kids in the right spots.”

Rietveld said his defense probably will be more similar to the team’s in the past than the offense, but plans to be fast and physical. His offensive philosophy is to be efficient, but he goes with a game plan that can be adapted to fit the personnel.

Jankowski, an officer in the Red Zone booster club, said the parents are extremely excited about having the new coach on board.

“The coach practices what he preaches,” said Jankowski, a former NFL agent who runs Access Branding Strategies. “He’s very meticulous, very organized off the field and even more so on the field.

“There’s never an idle moment in practice. Everybody’s engaged, everybody’s learning. That’s the main thing. He’s a teacher who deeply cares about these players, and that makes a huge difference in the waythey learn. So it’s been a very exciting time.”

Boosters work on return to elite status

The Red Zone is working hard to raise money, and the program has overhauled everything from the weight room to the sled pads, Jankowski said.

Plans are in the works for possible new helmets and uniforms as well.

“We truly believe we’re going to be an elite program,” Jankowski said. “To get there, we have to have the foundation, and Coach Rietveld is a huge part of that foundation.

“And take that with the administration, Dr. Vaden and Coach (athletic director Patrick) Whitlock, and then you have the parents wrap everybody up, we’re going to be the elite program we should be. It’s the little things that matter, it’s the pads, it’s the way the fields look, it’s our helmets, it’s learning the fundamentals, the basics of football.”

Jankowski, a former marketing guru for Elvis Presley Enterpises and the author of How to Speak American: Building Brands in the New Heartland, said he sees the vision with the new coach.

 “We’re very excited about the future,” Jankowski said. “That sounds very cliché, ,but when you have a man that’s proven his theory and he’s a mature guy and teaches the way he does, we’re all extremely excited.”

Rietveld says he runs fast-paced practices, which had to be adjusted a little bit by early heat in May. But he said he had spent three seasons in high humidity and heat in Broward County, Florida – one in Ft. Lauderdale and two in Orlando.

In the meantime, the family was working to get their home sold and his wife has had some interviews as a school counselor. His son, who will be a Ravenwood freshman, was able to attend practices during the last week of spring workouts and his daughter was able to check out some of the middle schools.

“I think their excitement level jumped up a few notches,” he said.

Reitveld has been busy putting his staff together, and said he would name an offensive and defensive coordinator this month so the coaches could do some clinics while football workouts are off limits.

“Everybody has been fantastic, the parents have been great, the players have been great, the Red Zone is on fire, they’re moving forward and getting a lot of things going on," the Raptors coach said. "The administration has been wonderful in helping put a staff together. Everybody is headed in the same direction, which is what you need.”