ELIDA – It was an opportunity longtime Wayne Trace football coach Bill Speller could not ignore.
For 14 seasons, Speller guided the Raiders to two Green Meadows Conference Championships, along with a Division VI state runner-up finish in 2013. His overall record at Wayne Trace was 82-64.
After Jason Carpenter, who coached Elida for nine years, resigned following the 2015 season, Speller pursued the vacant position at Elida.
Now, Speller will try to take the Elida program to the next level. Elida is coming off a 6-4, 5-4 Western Buckeye League campaign.
“I had a mentor of mine pass away, and he always told me that if you feel you could do more with your career, you can do more with your life, then do it. He always told me not to settle,” Speller said. “I had to see if I could go further. I had to see if I could go to a bigger school, a bigger league and push myself to do that. So, that’s why I pursued it in the first place. Me, coming to Elida, had nothing to do with not having talent over there (Wayne Trace).”
Speller, a 1990 graduate of Delphos St. John’s, feels the opportunities at Elida are unlimited.
“We definitely have the athletes here (at Elida),” Speller said. “I had a good thing going at Wayne Trace. I was there a long time. The kids knew what the expectations were. So, if this was a rebuilding program here at Elida, then I probably would have stayed put.
“You take a look at the absolutely outstanding facilities that Elida has to offer and the number of athletes they have. It was a very enticing offer.”
Speller brings an offensive scheme to Elida which emphasizes up-tempo, all the time.
“We will run a spread offense. And what we are trying to get from them is that we want to do everything fast,” Speller said. “When we practice, we want to practice fast. We want guys all over the place. We want to be in shape to run this offense. So, we’re even trying to press that with the defense. When the play is over, you get back to your spot as fast as you can.
“This isn’t a ground-and-pound offense. This isn’t a four or five yards, and chew up the clock (type of offense). We want big yards, and we want to score quickly. That mentality is what we have to change at practice. We want to move fast, constantly.”
With all-WBL quarterback Logan Alexander graduated, junior Isaac McAdams (6-2, 175) will take over the signal-calling duties. Last season, Alexander rushed for 1,331 yards (16 touchdowns) and passed for 1,183 (11 TDs). Alexander will be playing collegiately at Mount Union this fall.
“Isaac McAdams is going to replace him (Alexander) at quarterback,” Speller said. “It’s Reggie’s brother (former Elida standout quarterback, Reggie McAdams). Isaac’s really excited about this offense. He has some potential to put up some big numbers with this offense. He’s looking for that chance to get out of his big brother’s shadow a little bit and make his own mark on things.
“Offensively, we got a plethora of wide receivers. We’re probably going to play seven or eight receivers right now. Baylen Stinson (Sr., 185), Noah Mosely (Sr., 180), De Angelo Woods (Sr., 160), Brady Gibson (Sr. 165) and Calan Henderson (Jr., 165). And also Cole Harmon (Jr., 165) will be coming out of the backfield. This kid (Harmon) is such a great athlete. We’re not going to shy away from the running game, because he (Harmon) is going to put up some spectacular numbers.”
In 2015, Harmon rushed for 1,090 yards and 13 TDs, averaging 7.1 yards per carry (third in WBL).
According to some of the returning players, the transition to the new system has gone well.
“It’s going pretty smooth,” Woods (running back, cornerback) said. “It’s a hard transition from last year, because everything is a lot different. We’re moving a lot faster. We’re running a lot faster this year. We’re going to have to rotate a lot. If we’re running (plays) fast, then we’re going to get tired.”
Defensively, Elida returns 10 starters. The Bulldogs will employ a four-man front, the majority of the time.
In 2015, Elida lost several close games. This season, the emphasis is on closing out games.
“We want to finish the close games this season,” Woods said. “We can’t give up in the last quarter of close games.”
Added Stinson, “We just have to finish strong, make the big plays and do the little things right. That’s what killed us last year; we shot ourselves in the foot. We need to make less mistakes on offense.”
Probably the main concern of Speller’s this season, is replacing four offensive linemen.
“We lost four of five linemen. So, that’s a key thing for us. We have some seniors that are ready to step up,” Speller said.
Speller feels the WBL should be very balanced this season.
“Week in and week out, you really don’t get a down week. I don’t think there is a clear-cut winner this season. Wapak, they’re the (2015) champs. And they’re going to be the champs until someone knocks them off,” he said.
