THREE OF A KIND :
BURDETTE, EDWARDS, TOWNSON EMBAK ON NEW PREP FOOTBALL COACHING
Publication: THE
Published: 05/07/1996
Page: P1B
Headline: THREE OF A KIND : BURDETTE, EDWARDS, TOWNSON
EMBAK ON NEW PREP FOOTBALL COACHING
Byline: DANNY WELLS
CHALLENGES
Despite the fact that Steve
Edwards, Jr., spent a lot of his high
school and college football playing days on defense, the new George
Washington coach said he doesn't feel confined to that particular part
of the game.
"I've always been
labeled a defensive coach because that's where I
played the most,' said Edwards, "but I feel comfortable on both sides
of the ball.'
Edwards points out that in addition to
playing the linebacker position
at G.W., he also played tight end for the Patriots and finished second
in the county in touchdown receptions during his senior season (1979).
He went on to play defense at
Edwards and Robert Burdette
at Nitro are the newest head football
coaches of high school teams in the
replacing Jerry Townson, who moved to
Smith, who died last year.
Burdette is moving up from
an assistant position at Nitro to take over
for Greg Cyrus, who resigned to become commissioner of the Mountain
State Athletic Conference.
Edwards said he plans an
open offense at G.W.
"We'll run multiple
formations,' said Edwards, "that's what I'm used
to. We'll try to involve as many people as we can.'
It's apparent that Edwards
has been influenced by his dad and former
coach at G.W., Steve Edwards, Sr., with regard to offensive
philosophy. The elder Edwards was well-known for his
free-wheeling
offenses.
Edwards will be one of his
son's assistant coaches. Also serving as
assistant coaches will be Jim Morris, an ROTC instructor at G.W., and
C.J. Westerman, who teaches and coaches at John Adams
Junior High.
Both Morris and Westerman were on Townson's
staff last season at G.W.
Edwards has a strong
coaching background. He was an assistant coach at
East Bank and at high schools in
college level, he was a graduate assistant at
and also coached at
"I'm tickled to death
to get my first head coaching job at my alma
mater," said Edwards. "Coach Townson did a
good job while he was at
G.W. and I hope to keep things going that he started.'
With Burdette's ascent to
the head coaching position at Nitro, major
changes are not likely to be forthcoming in the way the Wildcats
approach the game of football.
That's because Burdette
will be dealing with many of the key athletes
who performed for the Wildcats last season, including quarterback J.R.
House, who was a standout last season as a freshman.
Another reason Nitro will
have the same look next season is that Scott
Tinsley will continue his role as offensive coordinator for the
Wildcats.
Tinsley's expertise is the
passing game in general and developing
quarterbacks in particular. He was an all-state quarterback at St.
Albans High before playing the same position at Appalachian State.
"Passing will continue
to be a major part of our offense,' said
Burdette, who said he would personally concentrate more on the def
ensive end of coaching. "But
if we can find someone to hand the ball
off to, we'll do it. I know we'll use a lot of one-back, no-huddle
offense. We're capable of getting into an I-formation.
"With the no-huddle,
we won't have a hurry-up offense or a
run-and-shoot. We just want to force the hand of the defense.
Sometimes we'll get fooled and sometimes we'll fool them and score.'
Burdette said Nitro passed
60 percent of the time while compiling a
4-6 record.
House threw for 2,015 yards
and 11 touchdowns last season.
"The amazing thing
about J.R. is that he's so mature,' said Burdette,
who has close to 10 years of coaching experience.
Burdette is a 1979 graduate
of
football at
staff along with Tinsley. He also coached at Van High School and in
While Burdette will not be
facing much change in his coaching move,
the same can't be said for Jerry "Moe' Townson
who is leaving George
Washington to become head coach at
Townson will be facing a new opportunity in
several ways at
Albans
"One of the main
reasons I took the St. Albans job is that I have a
better chance of getting into the building [teaching] down there,'
said Townson.
Townson taught at Capital during his two
years of coaching at George
Washington with little chance to get a teaching position at G.W.
"It's really hard to
promote what you're doing when you don't teach in
the same school with your athletes,' he said. "You
have no way of
monitoring your kids.'
Townson said he has not been guaranteed a
teaching job at
right away, but he feels the prospects appear bright in a year or two.
Townson said he enjoyed his two seasons at
George Washington but he
was disappointed in two aspects.
"We'll get 50 or 60
kids out for football at
"At G.W. we were only getting 25-30. Another thing is that I couldn't
get the players interested in a weight program at GW. It's hard to
line up against kids from other teams that have a serious weight
program going.
"But the people at
G.W. were great to me. And the kids we did have
gave me everything they had. I had a great experience at G.W.'
Facing a major rebuilding
job, Townson's first team went 0-10. Last
season, the Patriots improved to 5-5.
Townson is replacing Smith, the longtime
last November.
Three of Smith's assistants
will remain on Townson's staff including
Jim Crawford, Ed Carter and Bill McCoy.
Townson said he prefers an open offense
with plenty of passing.
"My quarterback at
G.W. [Truman Griffith] threw for 1,500 yards last
season,' said Townson.
"
use.'
Vance McCracken is
returning at the quarterback position at
Albans
and Rodney Johnson.
Townson was an all-conference quarterback
at West Virginia Tech. He
coached 18 years at Stonewall including four as head coach.
When Stonewall merged with Charleston High, he served as an assistant
coach at Capital before joining the staff at
he spent four seasons before taking the G.W. job.