CCHS’ Grogan looking forward to full schedule

Central Catholic football coach C.L. Grogan plans to continue building a winning culture in the school’s football program while also preparing his student-athletes for life after high school.
Grogan, who was hired last month to replace his high school coach at Patterson and the most recent coach at Central Catholic, Tommy Minton, said things have been going well since he took over in May.
Prior to taking over the head coaching position, Grogan most recently served as an assistant coach at Central Catholic the last two years as defensive coordinator. He worked with wide receivers and defensive backs, too.
Grogan’s first month with the program has been spent, among other things, establishing his expectations and rules for his athletes and preparing them for the season.
This coming season, the Eagles will be looking to return to the playoffs after missing the postseason a year ago for the first time since 2008.
In addition to adjustments from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Eagles had two games canceled in an already-shortened season a year ago. Central Catholic finished the season with a 2-4 mark.
“Last year was a messed up year, worldwide, for sports, so we’re hoping that we can get everything back to normal where these kids have the opportunity to play a full schedule and be able to show what they have been working so hard for throughout the summer time,” Grogan said.
Heading into this season, Grogan said he wants his team to be physical on the offensive and defensive lines.
“We want to be able to move the ball when we need to move it,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to have two good running backs returning, and we’re going to make sure we utilize those guys. We also have a returning quarterback and some really good skill guys to go around it.”
He said the Eagles will run the ball primarily and throw it when necessary.
“We just want to get our kids back to playing physical football again and loving the game again, most importantly, and we think all those other things will kind of fall in place as we go along,” Grogan said.
Defensively, Grogan said the Eagles will be aggressive.
“We want to make sure, defensively, we got all 11 hats flying to the football,” he said. “We want to start playing with that passion again.”