Marble Falls offensive coordinator sees opportunities for growth for Mustangs, himself

CAPTION: Marble Falls skill players Jaime Castillo (left), Jacob Galvan, Brayden Jones, Ace Naumann and Gunnar Scales throw medicine balls to partners under the eye of assistant coach Michael McDowell. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The new Marble Falls High School football team’s offensive coordinator called his appointment an opportunity to grow.

“And not just as an individual, but as a leader, as a coach in my career to learn,” Richard Scales said. “I’ve always been a Slot-T guy, and I’ve always really been a good defensive coach. I played linebacker. It’s a great opportunity to learn and grow.”

Scales takes the position after the departure of Robert Draper, who accepted the job of athletic director and football head coach at Florence High School.

But Scales isn’t new to the program. He was one of athletic director and football head coach Brian Herman’s first hires. Herman is entering his fifth year leading the program. Scales serves as the boys powerlifting coach and throwing coach on the track and field team. As the department’s strength-and-conditioning coordinator, Scales has worked closely with the head coaches of each sport to create a program that helps their athletes be more explosive, go longer and faster for their pre-season, in-season and offseason programs.

While all of those roles have paid big dividends for the athletic department, in Texas the saying goes there are only two sports: football and spring football. And Scales has been preparing for this role on Herman’s staff for quite some time.

He worked closely with Draper, who is considered the Slot-T offensive line coach to call for tips, insight and advice. And while that relationship has been instrumental for Scales, he also will lean heavily on his own experiences as a high school and college football player where he lived in the weight room. He played running back and linebacker at Florence High School before playing linebacker at Abilene Christian University.

Scales believes playing for Florence High School, whose enrollment is smaller than Marble Falls, helps as he transitions to his new role. He understands how to use personnel in multiple ways and what it’s like to be a running back following lead blockers. And he’s been “a defensive guy” for almost a decade. Last season, he was a defensive coach under defensive coordinator Ryan Craven.

“It gives me an advantage because I know what they’re going to do,” he said.

Aside from his knowledge and experiences, Scales noted the most important aspect of the team is the players themselves. He pointed out the participation of the summer strength-and-conditioning program, in which he and track and field head coach Austin Silva have developed and supervised, has been phenomenal. The Mustangs’ attitude and approach is why Scales is looking forward to the start of fall training camp, which is July 31.

“Our team as a whole,” he said. “There’s buy-in there. What I see is heart. They want to prove they can be like that other team that went three rounds in the playoffs (in 2021).”

That starts up front with the offensive line, of which Scales and David Griffin are the co-offensive line coaches. Seniors Jeremiah Bales and Gavin Hernandez are expected to line up side by side. Scales noted having Hernandez back, after a season-ending injury midway through the 2022 season, is a boost for the offensive line room.

“Having him back is going to be great,” Scales said. “We have experience. Now that they’ve been hit in the mouth, they’re ready to hit others in the mouth. We want confidence now that they’ve experienced it.”

The coordinator also feels good about the new linemen who will be playing on the varsity this season, adding some were “held down on the junior varsity” to allow them to log valuable minutes.

“In my mind, they’re already returners,” Scales said.

Finding a center is a priority after the graduation of Kaden Roberts in 2023 and Hunter McBride in 2022. Scales noted Manny Ortiz and Noah Luckie have played center and quarterback as a duo since middle school.

“They know each other,” the coach said.

The Mustangs also are looking for a new starting tailback and Scales said the team has “a handful of guys who are equal.” They include Joaquin Aguilar and seniors Cameron Graham and Dax Murphy.

“We can rotate them and not miss a beat,” Scales said. “In the tailback position, they do a lot of sprinting. We’ll rotate them out and not miss a step. It’ll help us tremendously.”

The fullbacks will have “that old school mentality,” he said.

“(Senior) Dominic Fierro is more of the pound back,” he said. “(Junior) Kole Becker is the more classic fullback, He’s smaller, and we can hide him better. It allows us to mix up our style.”

The best part about the personnel?

“We have depth,” Scales said. “Depth breeds competition and competition breeds success.”

Senior Jaime Castillo returns at halfback.

Aside from the preparation and the desire for greatness, Scales pointed out a couple of other invaluable traits for the program.

“I see a lot of dedication,” he said. “There’s great chemistry — the mentality that this group of guys, as sappy as it sounds, they all have unconditional love for each other. They hold each other up. They say ‘I got this.’ They feed off each other. They all do because they love each other.”

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CAPTION: Marble Falls linemen Knox Elder (left) and Brody Herman sprint to cones about 20 yards away from the starting line. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro