Bob Lutz: Mired in mediocrity, South football makes a move

It would be silly to think the South football team is out of the woods yet.

These are, after all, thick woods. They’ve been growing for nearly two decades, fertilized by an unstoppable string of losing seasons.

So while the Titans are 4-0 and one of two unbeaten teams in the City League, it’s not time to say they’re in the clear.

“We know we have a lot of work ahead of us,” South coach Kevin Steiner said ahead of Friday night’s game against visiting Hays.

The brush that losing creates hides all daylight.

South had four consecutive winless seasons from 1997 through 2000. Thirty-six games. Thirty-six losses.

That stays with a football program for a long time.

South has had 15 football coaches since its inception in 1959. Two have winning records – Brian Byers was 15-12 from 1986-88 and Greg Gegen was 32-31 from 1989-95. Hardly Vince Lombardi stuff.

The Titans have had 13 winning seasons in 56 years, played in only two playoff games and lost them both.

South hasn’t been trying to reach a mountaintop. The Titans are just looking for a step up.

Which makes what they’re doing this season such a kick. And Steiner an early candidate for coach of the millennium.

“After we beat Heights in Week 2 (16-6), we wanted to make sure we were just as hungry in Week 3 and Week 4,” Steiner said. “Our game against Heights last year was pretty lopsided and we felt we were a better team that what the score showed.”

That score was 77-6. It was undoubtedly the longest 48 minutes any of those South players had ever experienced.

But there were more long, arduous games ahead. South gave up 363 points in its seven losses in 2014. To call what the Titans were playing “defense” was an insult to the word.

South was playing a lot of underclassmen, though, and at times Steiner saw good things. At least he thought he did. In the midst of a drubbing, it can be difficult to know.

“The frustrating thing the last few years is that we’ve felt we were doing the right things in trying to build a successful program,” said Steiner, 5-22 in his first three seasons. “We just haven’t had the wins and losses fall our way. Now they are and we feel like we’ve gained some momentum from the past couple of years.”

That South defense is actually a defense this season, giving up 57 points in four games. And the Titans have a dynamic offensive playmaker in senior quarterback Allen Bishop, who has passed for 364 yards and rushed for 368 through four weeks.

“It’s feels good,” the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Bishop said of South’s fast start. “We’re a family and everybody does everything together. We’ve stayed together as a football team. I wasn’t surprised when we beat Heights, but we took it as an accomplishment.”

That’s the win, no doubt, that raised eyebrows. It’s one thing for South to knock off East, North or Southeast. Those programs have struggled for years.

But a win over Heights is important, a huge cement block in the building a program.

For now, though, the Titans are tip-toeing through their success, worried about drawing too much attention to themselves.

What if it all falls apart? What if they lose a game or two? Or three or four?

“We’re building some confidence,” Steiner said. “But one of the things we have to do as coaches is make sure we’re still analyzing and finding where we’re making mistakes so that we can get better.”

South graduated only six players from the 2014 team, so experience is a big key to this team’s success. And, Steiner said, the Titans have been able to build an offensive and a defensive line, something that has been hard to do over the years.

“Schematically, we’ve tried to stay the same,” Steiner said. “There have been some adjustments here and there, but the kids don’t have to think as much, the system isn’t new to them. We’re able to get out and play fast and when the offensive and defensive lines can be aggressive it gives you a real advantage.”

The Titans’ improvement has made an impression on none other than Bishop Carroll coach Alan Schuckman, whose program has been in great shape for years.

Carroll doesn’t play South this season, but Schuckman says he has paid attention to the Titans and sent several congratulatory e-mails to Steiner.

“I’m excited for them,” Schuckman said. “I’ve seen (Kevin’s) hard work, his dedication. He had a plan and was able to see it through. A lot of times people just get beaten down by a lack of success. But if you have a good plan, the right situation, the right players and the right administration, good things will happen.”

That’s a lot of “rights” and it takes determination to get them to line up. But South is finding its way to daylight, at last.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Mired in mediocrity, South football makes a move."