THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

As the Odessa High football team moves through drills on Coleman Field each morning, with spring practices rolling on, the Bronchos can often find themselves in a familiar groove. Veteran wide receiver Zay Brown will find himself sliding through his usual routes. Defensive tackle Keevan Majors will pound his way through the opposing line, just as he has for years. Joseph Chavez will find a familiar feeling in his fingertips when he touches his hand to the turf in a three-point stance at defensive end. But then, at the sound of a whistle, those worlds will flip upside down. Suddenly, Brown will be tasked with making tackles. Suddenly, Majors will be charged to snap the ball. And suddenly, Chavez will be running out to catch passes. Cross-training has been key for the Bronchos football team all throughout spring workouts, as, for the first time, second-year head coach Danny Servance and his coaching staff have tasked every Bronchos player with taking on positions on both sides of the football. During practices this spring, the Bronchos have segmented out to different parts of the practice field for position drills as per a usual football practice — but halfway through each drill, the players will flip sides, as players on offense move to their other assigned position on defense, and vice versa. Brown will flip from wide receiver to linebacker, while Majors flips from defensive tackle to center and Chavez switches from defensive end to inside receiver — along with all their teammates making similar switches. This spring, nearly every player on the team is playing both ways. “It’s all about putting our top 11 on the field,” Brown said, standing on that turf on Coleman Field after practice Saturday morning. Saturday, the Bronchos completed their second week of spring ball with a live scrimmage — which pitted the offense against the defense for half of the workout, until the offense became the defense and the defense became the offense for the second half. Every player on the team switches sides and works at two positions each, except for the quarterbacks. “I think us playing guys on both sides of the ball, it has helped us tremendously,” Servance said. “I think those changes are really benefitting us.” Servance said he and the rest of the Bronchos coaches decided in the offseason that they’d make that adjustment going into this spring, after the team struggled through a building effort last fall in the coaches’ first season together at Odessa High. “We looked at depth charts and went over personnel and all that kind of stuff, and decided that we just need to try and keep our best guys on the field, no matter if it’s offense or defense, so that’s what we’re trying to do,” Servance said. So far, Chavez said the Bronchos players themselves have liked the change of pace on the practice field. “It’s something new; something to keep on working to fight for new spots,” Chavez said. “That way we’re always pushing each other.” Admittedly for the Bronchos, playing everyone both ways — and cross-training every player on the roster at two different positions — is an unusual practice for a Class 6A team. But there are several benefits. Most obviously, the move allows the Bronchos’ most athletic players to work their way into seeing more time on the field during games this fall, giving playmakers more chances to make more big plays in each game. But at the same time, the cross-training could benefit the Bronchos’ play in their ‘primary’ positions down the line. “It makes us more well-rounded,” Majors said. Even if a Bronchos defensive player spending half his spring on offense doesn’t see the field on offense at all this fall, he may well be able to implement what he learned from the perspective of playing offense and apply that to his play on the defensive side. “Everybody’s working hard on both sides of the ball, and it kind of gives us a better view, because if we play offense, and you switch to playing defense, now you know what the offense is going to do,” Chavez said. “You kind of get a view of both sides of the ball.” Plus, the plan is that more players will have the ability to step into various positions on the field going forward, meaning the coaches would have more options this fall in trying to fill a spot if the Bronchos go through another injury-plagued season like they did last season. “On offense, we would have injuries, and you didn’t look at the defensive side of the ball much,” Servance said. “You just looked at who you had behind the kid. “Now, you’re looking at the whole roster instead of half.” Players said the coaches told them about the change not long before spring practice began — but that, as a group, the team has taken well to the move.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

ODESSA HIGH EMBRACES CROSS-TRAINING

JUSTIN LEE

OA Online | 5/8/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Justin lee