Escalante The Ultimate Player’s Coach

By Ryan Malashock

Posted: November 13, 2009 at 6:34 a.m.

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ROGERS — He constantly repeats the ritual, partly to induce unity from his Rogers Heritage football team and partly to remind his players how much he cares.

Perry Escalante’s drill goes like this: His entire group of War Eagles assembled, Heritage’s second-year coach first says, “We’ll always put you into a position to be ... .” And the players yell in unison “successful!”

“Who loves you?” Escalante quickly responds. In harmony, the War Eagles bark back: “Coach E!”

Heritage offensive coordinator Chad Harbison has seen Escalante perform the enthusiastic, passionate give-and-take too many times to remember — back to their days together at Rogers High.

And he said the novelty hasn’t come close to wearing off, evidenced by the boisterous War Eagles who vigorously scream their responses.

“He does that with them all the time,” Harbison said. “And they respond to him every single time. It’s a really cool thing. It just proves how deep the relationship and bond is that he has with them. It’s easy to see, the kids love him.”

Heritage’s turnaround from 3-7 in its inaugural season to 8-2 this year can be attributed to many causes. The War Eagles earned a home playoff game tonight against Little Rock Catholic because of improvements ranging from an increase in strength to an upgraded running game.

But assistant coaches and players alike cited Escalante’s ability to motivate and relate to the War Eagles as the most important reason. Through his warm, genuine personality, Escalante has created a sense of family within the Heritage football program, spawning collective confidence on the field and comfort away from it.

“He’s so uplifting, and you can tell he’s here for more than one purpose,” said junior Reed Brown, Heritage’s starting quarterback. “He obviously has all of our respect as our coach, but he’s more like a friend to us because of how much he worries about everything in our lives. He reaches us in ways that are hard I bet for a lot of head coaches.

“It’s like a home away from home up here for us.”

Moving To Rogers

Rogers coach Ronnie Peacock knows Escalante from their battles in the 1990s. Peacock, then the coach at Greenwood, called plays against Escalante’s defenses at Searcy, and even then, he noticed the Lions’ defensive coordinator could relate to players.

Peacock said he “tried hard” to get Escalante onto his staff and finally did so in 2001. Escalante spent seven years as a defensive line assistant at Rogers — the first three without a coaching stipend — before accepting the Heritage job.

“I know he was really glad to get up here, and he had faith in me and trusted that I’d give him a paid job when it came open,” Peacock said. “Coach E fit right in, and he identified with the kids so well right away. He’s an outstanding teacher, he’s likable, he’s loyal. He did so much for us.”

Escalante echoed that final sentiment, saying he couldn’t even describe how much he learned from Peacock.

In fact, adhering to Peacock’s influence has let him concentrate on dealing with his players on a more personal level, Escalante said. Peacock’s main advice: Keep your eyes on the big picture.

“I learned so much from that man,” said Escalante, who also volunteered for former Rogers baseball coach Tom Woodruff. “I learned so much about organization and how to run a program from top to bottom. I learned a lot about how to demand the best from my coaches and players. The biggest thing I learned is, you can’t micro-manage.”

Harbison and defensive coordinator Jerrod Blockburger — also assistants at Rogers who crossed town to coach at Heritage — appreciate that Escalante embraced Peacock’s message.

Escalante simply believes that his duty as a coach is to stay out of his coordinators’ way.

He wants to give input, of course. He wants to be somewhat involved in preliminary scheming decisions. But as far developing game plans and calling plays on Friday nights, Escalante relies heavily on Harbison and Blockburger.

That leaves him free to be the kind of coach his players love — always there to encourage, always available for counsel.

“Coach E relates with the kids way more than most coaches do, I think,” Blockburger said. “That’s such a big part of what he does, and that lets me and (Harbison) coach. That way, he can work himself in and out of situations with the kids.”

Ways Of Relating

Escalante’s impact at Heritage stretches beyond the football team, a fact Blockburger remembers every time he walks past his boss’ classroom. Escalante teaches Native American Anthropology and World History at Heritage and has taught many different social studies classes throughout his career.

His academic passions include military history — his father and brother are veterans — and Escalante said he has spent “way too much money (reading) books” since becoming a teacher.

“You can go ask any principal that he’s ever worked under, and I know they’d tell you the same thing. He’s one of the best teachers we’ve got in our school district,” said Blockburger, also an administrative assistant at Heritage. “Every time I go by his class, he’s teaching or showing something on PowerPoint or doing something else interactive.”

Escalante said he values his class time these days because it allows him to tune out football for a few hours each day. But he never truly escapes, because as Blockburger alluded, his magnetic traits translate just as well in the classroom as they do inside Gates Stadium.

His players even admit they can’t handle Escalante sometimes. Junior safety Jimmy Britton laughed when asked about Escalante and referred to him as the funny “uncle” of the Heritage football family.

“We just like him so much,” senior lineman Allen Whitlow said. “He loves to joke around with us. He knows how to keep things serious, and to get us working hard, while joking around at the same time. Like if someone gets in trouble, he’ll say, ‘I’m not going to name names, but his initials are Allen Whitlow.’ And everyone will crack up. It’s funny.”

Escalante also has shown a penchant for giving different players and groups nicknames. Harbison said he’s still trying to figure out why Escalante refers to Heritage’s leading receivers — Grant Driver, Jordan Snoderley and Travis Entwisle — as “killer ferrets.”

Don’t think Escalante is all chuckles, jokes and grins, though. He still demands excellence from his players. He repeatedly harps about time management and raised his voice last week to ask his players how he could “get the 10 seconds back you all just wasted.”

But even during those tense moments, Escalante’s genuine nature has evoked a feeling of trust amongst the War Eagles. Escalante’s gestures have proven he has Heritage’s best interests in mind, Harbison said, and that has translated into victories.

“He has such a huge heart for these kids,” Harbison said. “He’s sincere about everything he’s doing, and the kids can see and understand that. He really cares and really believes in them, and that’s a huge part of our success.”

Profile

Perry Escalante

Position: Rogers Heritage coach, second season (11-9 overall record).

Recent Positions: Rogers High (defensive line coach), Searcy (defensive coordinator), Panama, Okla. (assistant coach), Mansfield (assistant coach).

Notable: Escalante and his wife, Laura, have two kids. His son, Ryan, is a volunteer assistant coach for the Heritage football team, and his daughter, Katie, is a senior at Heritage. ... Coached football, basketball and baseball at Searcy High and led the junior high football teams to conference championships in 1996 and 1997. ... Worked 13 years doing “heavy construction” after attending his first two years of college before securing his degree. ... Earned all-conference football honors and All-State baseball honors in 1974 and 1975 at Mansfield High.

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