The Westside Wolves are gearing up for the season, as former offensive coordinator Mark Byrd has stepped up in the ranks and will be serving as head coach. After only one year at Westside, Byrd will be taking the place of Coach Lance Carter, who has moved out West to Katy ISD as the head coach of Mayde Creek.

“The transition to head coach has been really good since I have been here for a year already,” said Byrd. “The kids won’t see too much difference from last year’s scheming.”

During the off-season, Byrd elected not to participate in the 7-on-7 events but rather concentrated on weight training and fundamentals. The Wolves did start preparing for this season during spring workouts, which Byrd feels was a tremendous move forward in achieving a step up for the 2007 season.

“Spring ball really got us ahead in several aspects of the game.” 

Although the Wolves lost 30 letterman to graduation, they have 11 starters returning who should prove great leadership for this playoff-experienced team. Losing in the second round last year to the Cinco Ranch Cougars, the Wolves are exciting about the upcoming season, in which they feel they have a good chance at making a run deep into the playoffs.

“We feel we can make it to games 13 and 14,” said Byrd. “That second round has just been mystical to us, and we just can’t seem to get over that hump, but the kids are excited about the upcoming season and have set the standard of a winning tradition at Westside.”

Westside will return three of the four starting receivers from last year, as well as all-star quarterback Michael Goodnight, who threw for over 2000 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. Goodnight poses as a dual threat that can tote the rock on the ground as well. Byrd mentioned the fact they might spread out the offense a little more this year, as they have a lot of speed in the receiving corps, including returning standout wide receiver Mike Smith (34-500-6).

Although the offensive lineup is pretty much set, minus a few spots here and there, Byrd still has some configuring to do on defense. Two-a-days will provide the information Byrd needs to determine the linebacking crew, as well as the defensive line.

“We still have some figuring to do with the linebackers to try and see what combinations are going to work best for us,” said Byrd. “We are quite a bit smaller this year, but we have more team speed as well as more coachable athletes.”

He also went on to explain how they will rotate 7-8 guys on the defensive line to keep a fresh crew down in the trenches. 

Westside will face a stiff challenge at the start of the season, as they face Texas City, Conroe, and Alief in non-district play.

“These are all quality teams so we are going to have our work cut out for us,” said Byrd.

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