Faith Academy football coach Silvers’ past makes him the present choice
When assistant football coach Jay Silvers met with Faith Academy of Marble Falls athletic director Zakk Revelle about the football head coaching vacancy a few weeks ago, his pitch was direct.
“I’m here, I’ve been here for four or five years working with (former head coach Stephen) Shipley,” he said. “I’d like the opportunity. My son is coming through here. I’ve coached him at Faith Academy.”
His son, Landon, is a rising freshman running back and receiver who “kind of plays everything,” Silvers said.
During the last few years, Silvers has coached several Flames who have been top contributors including Drew Huoy and Beau Steele. He started coaching them when they played flag football.
“I’ve coached the seniors all four years of high school,” he said. “I’ve known all the guys for a long time. I feel like I have a good relationship with all of them. I feel like that’ll help out as we move into next season.”
One staffing change is Silvers will be the offensive coordinator and will call the plays.
“I’m going back to calling the offense,” he said. “When coach Shipley was there, I was trying to get foundational stuff done. He had a system for calling routes for the running backs and wide receivers I learned through him. I’m going back to what I know from the previous years before that. I loved coaching defense. I’m a big believer that defense wins championships.”
He noted he plans to implement some of Shipley’s scheme with his. The result, he said, will be an offense that’s fun for the players to execute and exciting for fans to watch.
“We’re going to put people in one-on-one situations,” he said. “I got to know what Drew is capable of, I know what (rising senior) Carter Fromberg is capable of. We’re going to try to create a lot of one-on-one spots. We have a lot of speed on our team. What I’m doing is getting the conditioning down and the endurance … to play four quarters. We’ll wear out these other teams. My guys will get the job done.”
Garrett Cole, who taught at Godley High School, joins the staff as the defensive coordinator specializing in coaching the secondary. Cole was a quarterback at Stephenville High School among the program greats that include Brandon Stewart, Jevan Snead and Jarrett Stidham.
His background in coaching defensive backs was a huge positive for Silvers.
“In six man, that’s what we do,” the new head coach said. “He has a pretty good layout, a really similar system of what I ran. We want a better prepared defense to anticipate better to offenses.”
Silvers said the Flames are eager to be among the best in district play again. The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools released realignment for the next two years. Faith is in District 4, Division II with Bulverde Bracken, San Antonio Lutheran, San Marcos Academy and Temple Holy Trinity. Holy Trinity isn’t fielding a varsity team in 2024, and San Antonio Academy has a new head coach.
“I think we’ll be in a good district,” Silvers said. “It’ll be interesting to see how (Bracken) has grown as a team. I feel confident with our guys. I feel like we’ll be successful. I have the boys to get it done. I think we’ll take care of business.”
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