College Park's Head Coach Kyle Coats: Building a Culture of Success

The Woodlands, TX – It has been an incredible season for the College Park Cavaliers so far. Their 7-0 start is a historic milestone for this football team, something that has never been done in this football program’s history. They are playing better than ever, with over 50 points scored in 5 of their 7 games this season and an impressive point differential of 277. Leading this success is Head Coach Kyle Coats. Coach Coats joined us after last Thursday's homecoming game to share how his team reached this point and how the culture he and his players have built has contributed to their achievements.

So what do you think has been the biggest key to your team’s success so far this season?

I think it goes back to, you know, January. Been working really hard throughout the off season with these guys, hold them accountable, getting after them when they needed to, and then ultimately we had a really good spring and a really good summer, a lot of guys that are playing for us are guys that show up every single day in the summer working really hard. You know, Monday through Thursday with Friday, Saturday, Sunday being either 7 on seven or extra work with trainers and stuff like that. And so a lot of these guys have just put in the work over and over again. And, you know, they've come out and they've accepted their roles, whether it be on special teams, offense or defense, and guys that really bought into the team culture we're trying to build.

So you speak on that culture, has that really been, something you've really focused on building over these last, three years that you've been here?

Yeah, so, like, you know, we preach these guys toughness, discipline and effort all the time, right? The toughness comes in every day, right? The daily grind, what we do in the weight room, what we do out on the field, what we do when we run sprints, everything is at a high clip, right? And it's not supposed to be easy, right? It's supposed to be very difficult all the way through, so by the time you get to a game. All right, the game is just fun. We're just letting it go and having fun. You know, the discipline part is something we're still working on, right? To an extent, right? There's a lot that goes into that, especially when you're coaching 15, 16, 17, 18 year olds. They're all trying to learn how to become young men. And then effort, that's a big one for me, because that's the only reason I was ever even decent at football, right? And so preaching to those guys that it matters on every single snap that you run off the ball. It matters on every single, you know, snap that you do your job, to your dead level best, and that you block through your, you know, your teammates, that you sell your fake for your teammates, that you finish your play for the teammates. And so, I think really just honing in on that the last two or three years, some of these guys, you know, were freshmen for us last year, because they're playing as a sophomore, they were freshman for us two years ago. Or like Marco, Jordan, these guys that were seniors. Like they were, we got here and they really didn't even get a full off season with us, but they got the first summer program with us and they've been with us all the way through, so that's been really cool to see.

Who are the leaders of this team that have impacted the culture and who are the guys that really stand out to you? How are those guys leaders in the locker room and how do they lead the guys on the field?

Yeah, so we have six captains that we elected. Number 1, Jordan Styles, Number 4, Marco Beltran, Number 8, Lane Leger, Number 12, Camden Hughes, Number 70, Cole Cook, and number 74, Brock Menzey, right? All played different positions. A lot of them play on different sides of the ball, but ultimately, what they do for us is they kind of bring everybody back to the center. When we have some guys that, you know, hey, I'm not getting my touches, I'm not getting my plays. X,YZ, right? They do a really good job of getting guys to focus back in and really think what the main goal was this year. We have a big pyramid that we put up in our locker that basically is bricks on top of bricks, and we talked about how ultimately last year a goal was to get to November 15th, which is the first round of the playoff. School hadn't done it in four years. After we won that goal, we talked about, well, now what? Right? And so we talked going into this year, you know, our goal was, we're going to be together on Thanksgiving, and then we take it from there, right, one game at a time. Yeah. And so really building up to that this year and really getting into what the meat potatoes was, I brought those guys in and talked to them about, we're only going to get there if you guys want us to get there, right? So ultimately, your leaders are what pushes that. So they did a really good job, not only police in the locker room, they stay after, they make sure everything's clean, they go through, and they get on guys when they're not taking care of their business, whether it's in the classroom or outside. I think that's really paid dividends to kind of how our team have a success.

It was clear why this team is having such a great season after speaking with Coach Coats. He has played a key role in helping the team stay focused and has built a culture of discipline, accountability, and toughness. These qualities typically lead to success in high school football, and the traits he teaches these young men are evident on the field. In every game we've attended for College Park, those players display a level of focus and discipline that many teams at this level do not show. Watching this team this season has been incredible, and with a big test upcoming against their rivals, The Woodlands Highlanders, we will see if they can sustain their success. A special thank you to Coach Coats for chatting with us, and we wish him and his team the best in the coming weeks.