ROGERS -- Mike Loyd and Tony Travis were hired in early February to lead the football programs at Rogers High and Rogers Heritage, respectively, and have been on the job for a little more than a month.
They finally got to see what some of their players can do on the field this week as both teams completed the first full week of spring workouts.
Both coaches are missing some key players, who are still competing in other spring sports such as baseball or track.
Loyd advocates multiple-sport athletes even though he's holding spring workouts without any of his three returning quarterbacks, who are with the Mounties' baseball team in the state tournament. That's a bigger issue since he's decided to scrap the triple-option offense that the Mounties have run the past several seasons for the spread offense. But he's still not changing his stance.
"I told some of those guys I like them playing as many sports as they can," said Loyd, who played in the NFL and coached at the high school and collegiate level. "I told them I've never had a Division I player that just played one sport."
Both coaches have enjoyed plenty of success in the past. Loyd has 30 years of head coaching experience at the high school and collegiate level combined. Travis guided Pea Ridge to 10 or more wins in three of the last four seasons.
But they now take over teams that have struggled recently. Loyd is leading a team that finished 1-9 in the fall with the Mounties' lone win coming over Heritage. The War Eagles went 0-10, having to forfeit their lone win against Olathe (Kan.) North because of using an ineligible player.
The coaches agreed getting to know players and coaches has been a top priority in their five weeks on the job and during spring practice.
Travis capped his first week on the job by taking his Heritage staff plus a few other coaches in the district to a coaching clinic for three days in Auburn, Ala. It was a great way to mix business with pleasure and get to know his coaches, Travis said.
"We took 13 coaches including me -- that's 11 hours in a car down and back," Travis said. "We got some quality stuff from the clinic, and we talked a lot of football. But we also talked about 'How many kids do you have?' It was a great way to start off with the coaching staff."
He has decided not to make any changes in staff duties at Heritage, while Loyd changed both the offensive and defensive coordinators. Jared Schoonover, who coached receivers last season, takes the reins as offensive coordinator, while Andrew O'Neill goes from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator.
There's a 15-year age gap between Travis and Loyd, but they found a connection at an early meeting. That's Pat Baker. Baker was Travis' roommate at Arkansas. He played on Loyd's National Championship team at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M before moving on to play for the Razorbacks.
That's not all they share either. Both enjoy a similar philosophy of stressing fun along with hard work.
"I'm a laid back person; if I'm not careful practice will be too laid back," Travis said. "I want to have a good time. I enjoy doing this. I want to have fun, and I want to work hard, and I want the kids to do both."
Heritage rising senior Roberto Palacios has been updating his brother, Josh, who's still competing in track. The Palacios brothers both started last fall -- Roberto at receiver and Josh at defensive back. Initial returns are positive, Roberto said.
"We're a lot more organized in our workouts and practices," Palacios said. "So far in practice you can tell he's (Travis) definitely engaged with the players."
Loyd echoed Travis' words of making football fun, and he said he likes what he's seen thus far from his players.
"It ought to be enjoyable," Loyd said. "You can have fun and work hard. They're gonna work hard if they're having fun. Kids can figure you out pretty quick, and if you know you like 'em, they are gonna try to please you. They're going to go play hard.
"You can win a bunch of games if you got kids behind you. I can see it in these kids' eyes now when I call 'em up at the end. You can just see it. That's important to me."
Rogers High rising senior Phillip Necessary said the vibe in practice thus far has been positive.
"We're always being reminded how we are a team," said Necessary, who started on the defensive line last season. "How we might not be the biggest, but we can have the most heart, work ethic and team spirit."
Both teams will continue workouts during the next two weeks. Heritage will hold a scrimmage at 5 p.m. May 19, while Loyd has elected not to play a scrimmage.
Sports on 05/09/2016