Today’s interviewee is Marist offensive line coach Dan Perez, who has been on coach Alan Chadwick’s staff since 1989. Their relationship goes back to when Perez was Marist’s starting quarterback in 1982 and 1983 and Chadwick was his position coach. Perez also served as Marist’s head baseball coach for 10 years, leading the War Eagles to state titles in 2002 and 2003. Since 2010, he’s also been Marist’s middle school girls basketball coach.
1. What inspires you to coach? And why Marist for so long? “Sports have always been a big part of my life, and I always wanted to go back and pay it back forward to help 17-year-olds who had the same aspirations and dreams that I had as a teenager. I want to pass that along to a younger generation. That’s what got me in it, and here I am 36 years later. I had a couple of chances to go other places, but this school itself – with the mind, spirit and body mentality that develops the whole student – is something that I really value and enjoy. And obviously the history of success in the athletic program has been a staple too. You put in a lot of hours, but it’s gratifying to know that we have a chance to be successful at the end of the season.”
2. You coached running backs the first several years of your career. How did you become an offensive line coach, and what has made Marist’s offensive lines successful over the years? “In my first year [as the o-line coach in 2007], I was completely lost. I had always been a quarterback as a player. I learned more about football in that year than I had in all those years before. Doc Spurgeon was my mentor. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention him. He’d been around the program for many years, and his specialty was offensive line and special teams. I spent countless hours with Doc and tried to soak up every bit of the ins and outs of option football. Marist is not blessed with a lot of 300-pound-plus guys. We can’t stand up and lock up with and push people around. We really enjoy taking middle to middle-plus size guys and fitting them into the system where you buy into how it works. You double team and combo block rather than man-on-man blocking. It allows the average-size kids to be successful. The lower man wins! Their pad level has to be below the kid we’re blocking, and we have to be spot on with our fundamentals and techniques. We spend an exorbitant amount of time each week doing the same fundamental drills Monday through Thursday.”
3. What’s the real secret to Alan Chadwick’s success? “His absolute consistency and passion for the game. His day-to-day operation of the program is unmatched. You know what you’re going to get each and every year as a player, coach or manager. When you have something that’s not broken, don’t try to fix it. If it’s one sentence, I’d say it’s his unwavering commitment to a system that gives our student-athletes the best chance to be successful. That said, we’ve evolved some. We get into the gun. We’ve changed with the times, but in the end ... the formula is what it is and has been since I arrived on campus in 1979. He’s very trusting. He’s very confident in the guys he hires to work for him. Late in his career he’s done an excellent job of delegating.” [Asked if there was an anecdote that demonstrates Chadwick’s style, Perez said, “He still uses the same form for our practice schedule that he used in the ‘80s. It’s the same sheet of paper that he’s Xeroxed over and over, with him handwriting in the times for every drill. He’s a creature of habit. We’ll tell him, ‘Coach, you can probably type in those times to get done faster,’ but he says, ‘No, that’s not how I do it.’ He keeps the form in his drawer, and writes it every day – 3:50 to 4, pre-practice. 4 to 4:15, stretching ... .”
4. Counting your days as a Marist player through 36 seasons of coaching, who is the best football player you’ve seen? “Eric Berry, hands down. On both sides of the ball. He was absolutely the best athlete we’ve competed against. He suffered a hip pointer early in their game against us. We had a kid put a helmet on his hip. I’m not sure we would’ve come out victorious if he didn’t get hurt. For us, Kyle Hamilton, Brandon Russell and Sean McVay in terms of athleticism. I remember seeing Kyle in the seventh grade in a P.E. class. They were playing flag football. I remember walking inside and going straight to Alan’s office. ‘Who is this Hamilton kid? I’ve just seen the best athlete in the history of our school in my P.E. class.’ Brandon Russell played football and baseball at North Carolina, and then obviously Sean McVay, not just his brain, but the way he could orchestrate this offense was outstanding.” [McVay, now the Los Angeles Rams’ head coach, was the quarterback on Marist’s 2003 state championship team. Hamilton is a safety with the Baltimore Ravens. Marist faced Berry’s Creekside team in the 2006 Class 4A quarterfinals and won.]
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