Less than two weeks ago, Jay Fallin was leading the Owensboro Red Devils to their first Class 5A State Championship appearance since 2014 and despite not reaching what they set out to accomplish, Fallin has OHS primed for a run the next few years to Lexington.
Owensboro finished 12-1 on the year and had its first undefeated regular season since 1993.
It’s Fallin’s attention and his ability to put his players in the right spots to make big plays in key situations that make him the Owensboro Time’s Football Coach of the Year.
“Now that I have had a couple of weeks to reflect on the season, I am very proud of everything we accomplished as a team, despite the fact we came up just short of our ultimate goal on the field,” he said. “We had to be extremely flexible throughout the season due to unavoidable cancellations, quarantines of starters which sometimes came the day before a game, and constantly trying to prepare for the unexpected.
“Our kids maintained a positive attitude and worked very hard, despite less than ideal circumstances. Our team made its mark on The Tradition of Excellence and this community should be very proud of these kids.”
The Red Devils had high hopes coming into this season, especially coming off of a state semifinal appearance last year where they lost to Frederick Douglass in Lexington.
Like most fall sports teams, the season could have been over before it even started with Covid-19, something every team has had to deal with this season.
Fallin said Covid put a wrench into everything.
“COVID changed everything about preparing for our season,” he said. “Through the pre-season, and especially in June and July, the prospects of having any season at all were dubious, at best. Despite that, our players and coaches worked very hard to prepare in less than ideal circumstances. When activities first resumed in mid-June, we were in groups of 10, with masks on, mandatory social-distancing throughout, and unable to use a football. Obviously, that does not lend itself to the most productive football practice model. Our kids kept showing up, often at very early or late times, bringing their own water and gear, unable to use the locker room, and just kept working. For the coaches, as the days crept by in the summer we still didn’t know when our first game would be and who our opponent would be.”
When the KHSAA Board of Control finally made the ruling official during the summer, the Red Devils then set their sights on rival Apollo and their new coach in John Edge as that would be the first game of 2020 for OHS.
“We eventually found out that we would have a three week preseason and no scrimmages to prepare for a senior-laden Apollo team with a new coaching staff,” Fallin said. “This also meant we had no film on Apollo that could be relied upon from a scheme standpoint because, while we had a decent idea what John and his staff might try to do, there was no real way to know. Our staff takes pride in scouting and preparation, so there was a pervasive uneasy feeling heading into that game because we couldn’t be as prepared as we wanted to be.
“Of course, our kids and coaches rose to the challenge. I think that sort of set the tone for the season; prepare for everything, expect the unexpected, and be ready to react when something surprises you. Whether that surprise comes on the field during the game or in the form of the quarantine of a player or coach during game week. Our kids and coaches embraced that challenge.”
Fallin said he wouldn’t have be able to adhere to the new safety guidelines without those around him. He said they helped make the season possible.
“I am proud of how seriously our players, coaches, administrators, and parents took the COVID-prevention protocol we put in place,” he said. “It involved a lot of sacrifice, things like players bringing their own water and arriving for practice dressed and not using the locker room, as well as practicing very early and late to avoid heat and inclement weather, they stepped up and rose to the challenge. I believe that is a big part of why we were able to go six months without a COVID pause and relatively few individual quarantines.”
Fallin took over the Red Devil program in 2015 and has wasted no time in climbing the all-time wins list.
He currently sits at No. 4 with 59 wins, nine behind Ralph Genito. Gerald Poynter is OHS’s all-time leader with 152 wins.
Fallin said being a team is a special thing and for his guys, it came naturally because of the bond they had this season.
“Every team is unique, because it is composed of a group of individuals. Every player and coach brings his own unique personality and the unique lens through which he looks at events to the table,” he said. “Great teams find a way to take the individuals and create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The number one thing that will derail the mission to build a great team is selfishness. A great team must possess a spirit of selflessness. I believe that is what will always stand out about this group for me; they truly like and love each other and get as excited about their teammates’ success as their own. When you have that, you have a chance to reach your full potential as a team.
“They also possessed a tremendous work ethic as a team and they came to practice ready to work and be coached every day. That is why, while we are disappointed with the loss in The State Final, we can live with it and we have no regrets, because our kids and coaches did everything they could to prepare and they laid it on the line in that game just like they had all year.”
The conversation of who’s a contender in 2021 has already started and with what the Red Devils have returning, Owensboro will continue to be a contender in Class 5A.
Fallin said there are several factors when looking ahead to next season.
“One of the big initial keys for us is figuring out what we can do this offseason. As The COVID situation hopefully improves with the rollout of two vaccines, when can we get back to group lifting and skill development,” he said. “Those decisions will be in the hands of The KHSAA and our school board, but we will have to be prepared for anything. Our focus as a team must be this- we have gone 95% of the way to our ultimate goal, and it took a lot of work to get here, but it will take just as much to get the last 5% and accomplish our ultimate goal.
“What it will take to put us over the top is an incredible focus on detail and on the fact that every play matters and in championship games and late-round playoff games, the team that wins is often the team that makes the fewest mistakes. If we want to limit our mistakes, we have to have great focus starting with our off-season winter program all the way up through the last game of the season.”
As Fallin now looks ahead to his seventh year at the helm of Owensboro football, he said he’s learned a lot in the past several years since he joined the program as an assistant.
“There is no better place to coach anywhere, in my opinion. We have a long and storied tradition of success, commitment to athletics from administration, and committed, tough, kids who care deeply about being Red Devils,” he said. “I have a great staff of coaches who work extremely hard. These guys are committed to providing our kids with a top-notch high school football experience, and they are as much my friends as they are my staff. Our program has the support of a great community of alumni and fans who will go to great lengths to support us and help us be successful. Personally, I also have the support of a wonderful wife who sacrifices a lot to allow me to be the best coach I can be.”
