REFORM, Ala. — Pickens County High School football coach Patrick Plott hopes he is home for good.
In his first season in his second stint as coach of the PCHS football team, Plott led the Tornadoes to an 11-2 record and a second-place finish in Class 1A, Region 4. The season ended with a 38-36 loss at defending state champion Sweet Water in the third round of the playoffs.
For his program’s success, Plott is The Dispatch’s West Alabama Prep Football Coach of the Year.
“This is home. This is where I want to be,” said Plott, a native of Carrollton, Ala. “I will be here for as long as they will have me. I think we can build a championship-caliber program right here. The work ethic of the kids we have can make us a perennial contender.”
Plott was coach at Pickens County in 2008 season. Due to certification issues, he was unable to return. After a year as coach at Bullock County and another year as an assistant at Demopolis, Plott was more than ready when he had an opportunity to return to Pickens County.
“I didn’t think twice about coming back,” Plott said. “What I found out about here is support of the community is overwhelming. Then I found, though working with the kids, that we had some of the best kids around. I thought the elements were in place for this school to have a highly successful football program.
“The opportunity to come back to be a part of that was very exciting.”
The seeds for this season’s successful campaign were sewn in the winter after Plott’s return was made official.
“Coach Plott is all about discipline,” Pickens County junior outside linebacker Raheem Curry. “He is all about showing up on time, working hard, and everybody doing their job. He holds you accountable. As a team, we always were disciplined, focused, committed, and ready to play our best ball. There were few things that caught us by surprise. When we lost, it was because the other team made more plays.”
Discipline comes up when you talk to just about any Pickens County player.
“We are going to be disciplined,” Plott said. “We are going to do the right thing. That is something that had slipped in this program. We have fought hard to get it back. From day one, we have taught discipline. There is no margin for error. We give players a great deal of responsibility and hold them accountable for their actions.”
Plott has seen the ups and downs in 13 years as a coach. He has taken notes at each school he has coached, and credits former Pell City coach Jay Brown and Demopolis coach Tom Causey as the biggest influences on his day-to-day coaching detail.
“As a coach, you always have room for improvement,” Plott said. “You can never be satisfied. You can not be complacent.
“Good coaches steal from one another. They observe. They study. You always have to keep growing. You should work harder the next day than you did the day before. That is how you build a successful program.”
After completing his career as a receiver at Jacksonville State University, Plott spent three years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Carrollton, which has closed due to consolidation. He then spent three years as an assistant coach at Pell City and three years as coach at Aliceville, where he went 26-9. He has followed that up with two 11-2 seasons at Pickens County.
“Coach Plott is all about winning,” Pickens County senior linebacker Nick Stewart said. “He has a confidence about himself. As players you can feel that and you want to play for him. You know you are going to be in the best position possible to win a game. This community loves football. Coach Plott has really embraced that. He wants to be out there leading this team to state championships.”
The Tornadoes unveiled an up-tempo, attacking offense Plott expects to be a cornerstone of the program. They won their first six games and averaged 44.8 points per game.
Sophomore quarterback Devonte Simon threw for more than 2,700 yards and 36 touchdowns. Pickens County averaged slightly better than 20 pass attempts per game.
“We want to attack on offense,” Plott said. “Our goal is to catch the other team off-balanced. If you can get more players into the action offensively, you have more ways to attack the other team. Defensively, we improved a lot throughout the season. If you play fundamentally sound and everyone executes their assignments properly, you can win a lot of games on this level.”
Pickens County closed the regular season with a 27-21 win against Gordo, which came 12 months after a 54-0 defeat to Gordo. In the postseason, Pickens County beat Johnson and Brantley before dropping the shootout to Sweet Water.
“We had a successful season, but we didn’t win the big one,” Plott said. “We finished second in our area and only lost two games. However, we have unfinished business. We lost some great players from this team; however, we have some great players coming back. If it works hard enough, the team coming back has the capabilities of winning a championship.”
The journey to a championship has already started. As a Class 1A school, Plott has most of the players on his football team on the boys basketball team, which he also coaches.
“It is all about discipline, hard work, taking care of the little things during the offseason,” Plott said. “Every day you are one day closer to the next season. We want our players to be disciplined in the classroom. When they walk the halls, we want them doing the right thing. Every day you are setting the tone to be a championship team.”
Senior running back De’Marko Hall set a school record with 43 all-purpose touchdowns. Hall believes Plott has the program on the cusp of a championship.
“Coach Plott has been a big influence on me,” Hall said. “Our coaches work real hard. You know coach Plott is going to be fair and honest with you. He is going to have your back. The fact he was always behind me and always motivating me meant to a lot me.”
For Plott, the opportunity to bring a championship to his home community would be rich. However, if it doesn’t happen in 2012 he feels there will be many more chances.
“I am here for the long haul,” Plott said, “and I am very happy about that.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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