LJ FB: Special care

By Ed Piper, Jr.

La Jolla's football program is blessed with coaches and coordinators from varied backgrounds, but who from all signs share a dedication to working with young men.

The defensive line is the locus of assistant coaches Bilal Watkins and David Green, both among the few carryovers from last year's staff. Watkins played defensive line at Sacramento State, while Green, a local product, played baseball with former major league star David "Boomer" Wells as a Pointer at Point Loma and coaches with the semipro Nighthawks football program.

Green works a difficult but fulfilling gig at Riley School, a site for special needs students in the San Diego Unified School District. At Riley, students have been known to act out by striking staff and classmates in what understatedly can be described as a "challenging" environment.

But Green, who has worked with youth in group homes as well, apparently wouldn't have it any other way. In the end zone an hour before La Jolla's season-opening gane, Watkins and Green talked about the ways they attempt to meet student athletes where they are individually and how to bring out the best in them.

"There's nothing I can do that's worse than what they've had done to them before," said Green in a unique way of describing his compassionate, non-yelling way of motivating students and players. "They've already been yelled at and manipulated by other people in their life, so maybe I need to try something different in dealing with them."

Green talked about the different forms problems and acting-out behavior are played out in different neighborhoods. "With some kids, they steal to get the money to buy drugs," he said, turning his gaze to the field around him and indicating the nearby neighborhood. "In other places, they have the money, so they go and buy the drugs."

He said sometimes students get pressure from their parents to succeed in school and sports that can lead to medicating by drugs.

"I'm not one of the old school of coaches," he said, as the scoreboard clock ticked down the hour before kickoff. "Some coaches scream and yell. You look at them and go, 'You teach kids and you have a Master's degree, and that's how you treat them?"

"I think, maybe there's another way I can deal with a kid and try to reach him."

"Some teachers and coaches use sarcasm and criticism." It is clear he doesn't believe that works with young people.

The kinder-and-gentler approach seems to fit with La Jolla head coach Matt Morrison's philosophy. He doesn't seem to get too high or too low, though his team came out on the field whooping from their pregame meeting. Like Green, he seems to favor a thoughtful, nuanced approach--though not namby-pamby.