That is an unfamiliar playbook for Carson Palmer.
Positive, he has the NFL pedigree and the Heisman Trophy, and a workers of assistant coaches loaded with professional expertise. However he’s the first-year coach at Santa Margarita Catholic Excessive College, his alma mater, and entering into an elite league of colleges whereas learning not simply recreation tape however reels of purple tape.
“This is harder than I thought,” stated Palmer, 45, sitting in his workplace above the apply discipline. “Year One is tough. The NFL is fast and responsive. Here, changing the playbook software takes an act of Congress. But I’m learning every day.”
Not that he’s complaining. He knew when he took the job eight months in the past that his path could be affected by challenges and obstacles. Together with some satisfying successes.
The Heisman Trophy winner and former No. 1 total decide has spent his grownup life in that wafer-thin line on the prime, the lofty latitude occupied by the very best gamers within the recreation. Now, he’s getting again to fundamentals.
“I enjoy seeing a kid make a mistake, then understand the why and fix it,” he stated. “You don’t get that in the NFL. There, it’s just a job. Here, there’s joy in learning.”
The Eagles, ranked No. 7 within the Southland by The Occasions, open their season Friday in opposition to No. 6 Mission Viejo.
Stated Palmer, engrossed in making ready this system for the final eight months: “It’s time.”
Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer watches over apply on Wednesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Occasions)
He can have his fingers full within the Trinity League, simply among the many best leagues within the nation and that includes soccer powerhouses resembling Mater Dei and St. John Bosco.
Are these opposing coaches searching for their Carson Palmer pelt on the wall?
“It’s not about the coach,” Palmer stated. “Programs where the coach is the focal point don’t work. It’s about the players 100% of the time. I can help them because I was taught by great minds, but I’m just passing it on.”
Santa Margarita has standouts in brothers Trent and Grant Mosely, each wideouts and Trent dedicated to play at USC. At quarterback is Hint Johnson, who performed highschool soccer in Florida earlier than transferring to spend his senior season with Palmer. His father, Doug Johnson, is Santa Margarita’s quarterbacks coach and performed the place within the NFL.
Cornerback Jayden Crowder is heading to California, security Logan Hirou to UCLA. Sprint Fifita, a first-team All-Trinity League linebacker final season and nephew of Santa Margarita’s defensive coordinator, is dedicated to Arizona, and fellow linebacker Leki Holani goes to Sacramento State.
Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer instructs his gamers throughout apply.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Occasions)
“I’ve heard high school coaches say the hardest part isn’t the kids or the parents, it’s the adults and their egos. That’s why I was intentional about picking guys who get along. No one’s doing this for the money.”
— Carson Palmer, on the alternatives he made for his assistant coaches
Palmer has a number of assistant coaches with NFL and/or main faculty soccer expertise, amongst them operating backs coach Mike Karney, a bruising fixture at fullback for the New Orleans Saints; receivers coach T.J. Houshmandzadeh, one in all Palmer’s standout targets with the Cincinnati Bengals; offensive line coach Lenny Vandermade, amongst Palmer’s blockers at USC; defensive coordinator Steve Fifita, a standout on the College of Utah who later performed within the NFL; and linebackers coach Rob Thomas, who was Pac-10 defensive participant of the yr as a UCLA linebacker and performed eight NFL seasons with 4 groups.
“It’s been awesome,” Karney stated. “Carson’s been running the program the way it should be run but putting his own twist on it, making it his own. From how we run practice to what we’re doing schematically, there’s a lot of carryover from the NFL.”
Palmer stated it isn’t essential to have a workers with a lot enjoying expertise, nevertheless it’s useful.
“These guys know the importance of staff chemistry,” he stated. “I’ve heard high school coaches say the hardest part isn’t the kids or the parents, it’s the adults and their egos. That’s why I was intentional about picking guys who get along. No one’s doing this for the money.”
Earlier than accepting the job, Carson regularly consulted with Pete Carroll, his legendary coach at USC who’s now main the Las Vegas Raiders.
Carroll believes Palmer will likely be profitable on this endeavor, however that it’ll take time.
Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer instructs a participant throughout apply.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Occasions)
“He’s going to take his knocks, I’m sure,” Carroll stated. “He’ll have first- and second-year issues like all the coaches do — just getting your act together and trying to figure yourself out.
“We went extensively into that when we got together — helping him understand some of the questions that will be raised: What am I standing for? How hard am I? How tough am I? How open am I? All of those kinds of things that come into coaching.
“He’s tough, he’s demanding, and he has high expectations for anybody that plays — just like he held himself to all those years. I think he’ll do a wonderful job. He has a great love for the school and the setting, and he was really excited about the opportunity to go back. He’ll put his best foot forward, but it’s a challenge now. He’s got good guys working with him, too, so that’ll all help out. He’s going to do just fine.”
Palmer stated he regularly will get cellphone calls from Norm Chow, his offensive coordinator at USC, who delivers a easy and highly effective message.
“He keeps calling me and saying, ‘Culture before Xs and O’s,’ then hanging up,” Palmer stated. “That sticks with me. It doesn’t matter what you run. It’s, do they believe in it? Do they trust each other? Is there an environment for growth? We don’t haze. We respect each other.”
That meant displaying some gamers the door.
“Some kids didn’t fit culturally with what I envisioned,” he stated. “This is the Trinity League. It’s big-boy ball.”
Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer speaks to his gamers throughout apply on Wednesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Occasions)
And that additionally means teaching some refined ideas, which he stated his gamers are greedy to a stunning diploma.
“I’m just giving them what I was given,” he stated. “I use Bruce Arians’ short passing game, Norm Chow’s trick plays, the play-action stuff of [Steve] Sarkisian and [Lane] Kiffin.”
He borrowed, too, from Greg Knapp, the longtime NFL offensive coordinator who died in 2021 after a bicycle accident.
“Greg was a master installer,” stated Palmer, who performed for him in Oakland in 2012. “He’d give surprise quizzes in the meeting room to keep you awake. ‘What’s the capital of Nevada?’ I do that now. Meetings aren’t sit and stare. We’re on the move.”
How will that translate by way of wins and losses? We’ll see. Considered one of his outdated and beloved coaches is optimistic.
“The respect for him is automatic, right?” Chow stated. “Just because of who he is. … When you’re coaching, you need to be able to run the room. With Carson, young people say, ‘OK, I’m going to listen.’”
Then, maybe the very best reward.
“I’d absolutely want my kid to be coached by him,” Chow stated. “Because of the human being that he is.”
