Coaches Corner: King's Coach Jim Shapiro

The King’s football team is 3-1 on the season after a loss last week to Cedarcrest. The Knights have been paced by the strong play of junior quarterback Billy Green (15 touchdowns, zero interceptions) and a young defense that has stepped up big. King’s head coach Jim Shapiro talks with Patch Sports Editor Mike Baldwin about his teams’ early play, how a loss can be a learning tool and the play of his young QB.

Your team lost its first game last week (a 34-27 loss). Do you think the team learns something from a loss like this early in the season?

Oh sure. We’ve had a couple of close ones in the past, Meridian and Nooksack Valley to name a few, in the [state] quarterfinals and the older kids that have been around in those games, their comments were ‘wow, Shap, that really felt like a championship game.’ That’s great, because it’s week four and the kids have that kind of experience versus a bigger-sized school and a bigger team. If you’re going to have that championship type environment and experience, it’s a great time to have it in week four. I really think they took in stride, they really weren’t depressed or sad about it, they were frustrated and upset because they really felt like they could have won the game. All in all, I think it was a great learning experience for them, just what it takes to compete.

Through four games, is there anything about this team that has surprised you?

I’d say our passing attack, it’s almost comical. This really isn’t by design even though I designed the offense. We’ve thrown the ball maybe an average of 20-25 times [a game] and Billy has completed over 200+ yards and three or four touchdowns [each week]. I’d say our passing attack has been the highlight because I just didn’t know what we’d have, either with the [offensive] or with Billy. And then, defensively, we’ve had some young kids stepping up, making some good plays, taking some leadership, a couple of linebackers, in particular. Chris Jenkins, being one, has just done an excellent job filling some older kids shoes.

Let’s talk about Billy a little bit. It seems like he has really stepped into the role of leading the offense easily. What have you seen from him so far?

First of all, I would give kudos to the [offensive] line, because we are replacing a few guys and they’ve definitely done a great job understanding the pass protection and really taking pride in protecting Billy, so obviously kudos to those kids. Billy, I mean, shoot, who would have ever predicted that he would step in like he has and been really as smart as he has with the football, knowing when to tuck and run, knowing when to throw it away, knowing his route combinations. I think what has impressed me the most is his ability to look off maybe one or two receivers, that’s hard to do. And then the last thing is his arm strength. I think he had a 55-yard touchdown in the last game and he’s thrown some long balls that have hit kids in stride and you don’t really see that consistently.

What has his level of play done for the rest of the team, especially considering he was replacing Thomas Vincent at quarterback?

It definitely gives everyone confidence. We really could have run into a scenario where a quarterback couldn’t take snaps, couldn’t make reads, didn’t know what he was doing, didn’t know the offense, that’s the reality of bringing in a junior, first time varsity starter. So just to have a kids that knows his systems, knows what to do, demands confidence in the huddle, sure, his teammates are going to rally around him and support him, so it’s a big deal. It’s been a big part of who we are.

Check out last week's "Coaches Corner" with Lakes head coach Dave Miller