Members of the Canyon Springs High football team pose for a photo at the Las Vegas Sun’s high school football media day July 20, 2016 at the South Point. They include, from left, Lord Oroke, Diamante Burton, Lazarus D. Kyle Jr., and Tyrese Ross.
Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016 | 4:45 p.m.
Prep Sports Now
Football: There is no close second
Las Vegas Sun sports editors Ray Brewer and Case Keefer ring in the start of football season by discussing some of the valley's top storylines and teams, like Bishop Gorman, Liberty, Arbor View and Desert Pines.
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First-year Canyon Springs High football coach Gus McNair isn’t taking his new gig for granted. He knows that some of the great players who have passed through the program recently, including standout San Diego State senior running back Donnel Pumphrey, create expectations for the new staff and players to live up to.
“It’s definitely a blessing just to have the opportunity to come in and be the head coach of a program that has such tradition and history,” McNair said.
McNair is the second new coach at Canyon Springs in two years after long-time coach Hunkie Cooper left to be an assistant at SDSU. Last season the Pioneers still made the playoffs for the seventh straight year but they stepped back to an overall record of 3-6, and McNair was brought in to get things back on track. The players say he’s accomplished that.
“He’s done a great job getting us together and getting everybody involved in practice,” said senior linebacker Tyrese Ross, who added that practice attendance has been up under McNair.
McNair plans to improve the on-field product by getting offensive playmakers out in space in order to take advantage of mismatches and on defense playing with a lot of speed and pursuit to the ball.
“One thing Canyon Springs has always been known for is flying around, their defense was so aggressive,” McNair said. “You knew you were in for a fight when Canyon Springs was coming to play you. We’re looking to re-establish that mentality and that fight.”
Something new that McNair brought in is a Sept. 9 trip to northern California, where the Pioneers will play Clayton Valley High. McNair said it’s based on the scheduling philosophy of Bishop Gorman High and Liberty High, which regularly play tough out-of-state matchups, and the players are completely on board.
“It’s got us real excited, it’s something new. We’ve never been out of state before,” said senior receiver and safety Lazarus Kyle. “They’re not going to intimidate us because they are who they are, football is football. We’re going to come hit them in the mouth and do what we’ve got to do.”
Last season may have been a setback, but McNair knows Canyon Springs already has a lot of pieces in place to be successful. The Pioneers just need to follow through.
“We’re building off the foundation,” McNair said.
Taylor Bern can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.
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