BOILING SPRINGS, SC - As Boiling Springs head football coach Matt Reel heads into his first week leading the Bulldogs program he addressed the media at an introductory press conference on Friday morning, one that has been delayed by some weather, where he said that he wants to start building a culture of success with the program by first building relationships.
Reel believes that building relationships with his players and the community will only lead to success for his Bulldogs program. "I want everyone to be one-hundred percent into the program," said Bulldogs head coach Matt Reel. "I think people underestimate how smart kids are and how quickly they can see through people that aren't real with them or if they’re just rah-rah guys with no follow-up to it. My biggest thing is for my kids to know that I'm there for them and that goes for the community as well. I'm a big relationship guy and it's the main reason that I'm a coach as I want to help the young men to be the best versions of themselves. If the kids buy in and give us everything they got along with the community buying in with their support into what we're trying to do, I don't see any way this won't work out." He also knows that it’s going to take time to build those relationships but that's not going to take away from the high standards he’s setting for his team, standards that will be expected from everyone in the program. "A lot of this is not stuff you can get done in day one but it's something you have to build over time," said Reel. "They'll see me being the first and last guy there and they'll know my expectations every day as I'm very verbal and I'm a very loud guy. While I'm a loud guy I love my kids, and I think a reason we're successful is because we set our culture and expectations high. I'm going to hold my kids to a higher standard than anyone else in that building because that's how I believe in doing things and I'm going to hold our coaches to that same standard, so there won't be any gray area of what we expect and what's going to happen." While Reel has gotten the chance to leave North Myrtle Beach for other programs in the past, he said that the reason that the Boiling Springs job ended up being the one that finally made him leave the coast is because of the commitment he’s heard from the administration to do what it takes to be successful, even from his very first interview with them. "The biggest thing for me is the commitment I heard from leadership at Boiling Springs as they all seemed to have the same goal," said Reel. "After talking with everyone up here, from the people on the original committee to Mr Moxie, Mr McQuigg, and Mr Radford, I realized they all had the same vision as to what my vision is for Boiling Springs and they're willing to do everything they can to make it a reality. As a football coach I think the biggest thing is having support from your administration and I have no doubt I'll have that at Boiling Springs." He said that one thing about his football program at Boiling Springs that will be consistent with his other teams he’s coached in the past is that they'll have a physical presence in every aspect of the game. "There's things that we'll do wherever I'm at and one of those things is we're going to run the football," said Reel. "We're going to be a physical at the point of contact type team and have a physical presence in everything we do. I'm not saying we're going to run the ball eighty percent of the time but I'm a big believer in being the most physical team on the field at any time, as it's just part of who I am and I believe that's how you win football games." Reel said that he's only been able to see his new team through game film he’s watched online but the one thing he is happy to see is that there's talent at the school, which is something coaches worry about when heading into new coaching jobs. "I've seen some really good things on film and I've seen some things we'll need to fix," said Reel. "The one thing I notice is that we don't have a personnel deficiency, which I think is something you worry about when you take on a new job. I think we need some development in the weight room and some other areas as it won't be a six-month fix, but I do believe the right pieces are in place and if our kids buy in one-hundred percent I don't see why we can't be competitive and win a lot of games while we're here." Coach Reel says that he's a firm believer that winning starts before you hit the field and that working hard in the weight room is a key to winning on Friday nights. "The strength and conditioning area is one of the facets of the game that has to be taken care of really well and if not, you're just going to be behind the ballgame," said Reel. "My defensive coordinator and I at North Myrtle Beach ran our weight room and it's been a huge piece of what we've done. I take a ton of pride in our kids being the best conditioned team on the field and at North Myrtle Beach we may have been undersized, but our guys packed a punch. It doesn't make a difference about a kid's size but whether or not you can get one hundred percent of their potential out of them. If you run the weight room the right way, it breeds toughness and makes them work through adversity together while building a strong mental toughness. It's going to be a huge part of our success and after talking with Coach Moxie it sounds like those guys have been working hard in there and he's been impressed with their work ethic." In 2022 the Boiling Springs football program will be returning to Region II-5A where they will compete against some of the toughest teams in the state, a region that contains many familiar faces to the Bulldogs like Dorman, Byrnes, Spartanburg and Gaffney. Reel said that he recognizes the toughness of the region but said that if his team puts in the work, the sky is the limit for what his team can accomplish. "I think the biggest thing is that we just have to worry about ourselves and not to worry about anyone else," said Reel. "The first opponent we have to beat each week is ourselves, in how we prepare and how we get ready for that week. After we take care of ourselves then we'll prepare for whoever the opponent is that week. My belief is you can't coach or compete out of fear and you can't be scared of what's there as I look at each game as a challenge. When I first got to North Myrtle Beach I had people tell me you can't win consistently there but we took that as a challenge and with our coaches, kids, and community we tackled those challenges. I know this is a great region we're going into with a lot of historically great programs but I truly believe if the kids believe and we put in the work, the sky is the limit on what we can accomplish and achieve." With the recent weather causing delays in his original schedule, Coach Reel said that the first thing he wants to do is to get in and meet his coaching staff so they can get on the same page of the plan going forward. "Typically, you'd know some of the guys around the program but being four hours away I don't know a lot of these guys yet," said Reel. "I want to sit down and talk to these guys individually and find out the good things and the bad things along with things that need to be changed in their opinion. I want to spend the next couple of weeks getting to know those guys and letting them get to know me as it's always a new dynamic when a new guy comes into the program. I want to make sure we have the right people not only making these guys good football players but also making them good men. I'm hoping a lot of those pieces are already there and in place." Reel wanted to let people know that he's going to be a fixture at Boiling Springs events the rest of the winter and into the spring as he wants to continue to build relationships with the kids and the community. "I'm going to be at all kinds of events throughout the winter and spring because I want people to know this isn't a Matt Reel thing but it's a Boiling Springs High School thing," said Reel. "I think once people see that and get a feel for that, they'll know I'm genuine about what I'm talking about which will only build that relationship with the athletes and the community and allow us to get this thing rolling.” Comments are closed.
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