By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Northern Kentucky high school football teams can begin preseason practice in helmets only on Friday and eight of them will get started with a new head coach in charge.
One of the teams that made a coaching change was Newport Central Catholic, where Terry Brown has six weeks to prepare the Thoroughbreds for their first-ever home game at the new $10 million Ciafardini Family Athletic Complex built on campus.
“I don’t know if I’d call it so much pressure,” Brown said of launching his head coaching career in the historic game on Aug. 21 against Lloyd. “I look at it as a great opportunity to come back home and be part of the program, and to be the head coach to open up the stadium.”
Brown is a former NewCath football player and assistant coach. He spent the last 11 years as defensive coordinator on the Covington Catholic coaching staff before returning to “The Hill,” the term he uses for his alma mater that’s located on a summit overlooking the city of Newport.
Anthony Ciafardini, a 1966 NewCath graduate, provided a major gift to the school in support of the long-awaited athletic facility on campus that includes a synthetic turf field with seating for 1,500.
Brown took the head coaching job knowing the NewCath football team would be in a transition phase after graduating a long list of starters on last season’s 8-5 team that made it to region finals of the Class 1A playoffs. The graduates included the starting quarterback, top three rushers and top five pass receivers. There’s only one returning player who scored a touchdown in 13 games last year.
“July is going to be really big for us,” Brown said of the three weeks of workouts before practice in full equipment begins. “Right now, we’re trying to see who can do what and move guys into different positions. But everybody’s in the same boat. We’ve just got to make sure the kids are prepared and acclimated to their roles before week one.”
Brown said most of his assistants are former NewCath players or coaches, like him. One of them is Ryan Studer, the offensive coordinator working to fill the vacant skill positions.
The head coach will be the team’s defensive coordinator and use a 3-4 scheme, like he did at CovCath. That formation features four linebackers capable of stopping the run, dropping into pass coverage or blitzing.
“It’s a whole new offense and whole new defense,” Brown said. “That’s why we’ve been stressing to the kids the top 11 are going to play, it doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or a senior.”
Brown expects the home games on campus to create a “pretty powerful and amazing atmosphere” on Friday nights.
The football field is named in memory of Bob Schneider, who won 343 games and three state championships as head coach of the Thoroughbreds. He was a mentor for Brown and several of the assistants on his coaching staff.
“I tell myself at the beginning of every day, ‘As long as you do what’s right by the kids and and what’s best for the kids that’s the most important thing,'” Brown said. “At the end of the day, it’s just trying to make sure the program is headed in the right direction.”