Assistant to take over Dupo football program

http://www.bnd.com/220/story/332682.html
Team hasn't posted a win since 2005

BY NORM SANDERS
News-Democrat

Dupo High School is turning to a familiar face to help turn around its once-powerful football program.

Longtime assistant coach Vernon Ferry has been hired as the new head football coach. Ferry replaces John Daab, who resigned earlier this year after compiling a 20-36 record in the last six seasons.

The Tigers were 0-9 in each of the last two seasons and haven't reached the state playoffs since 2004.

"They're hungry to win again," said former Dupo football coach and current athletic director Gary Mauser. "That did not go over very well at all."

Dupo's last victory was a 28-0 win over Chester in the final week of the 2005 season. The once-proud Tigers program has five semifinal trips and 18 overall state playoff appearances.

Dupo's sophomore team was 8-1 last season under Ferry, a 44-year-old Dupo High graduate.

"I've watched Vernon the last couple years, and of the people that applied, I felt like he was the best one," Mauser said. "He's been around for a long time, and he's had some success on the sophomore level with those kids. We needs to get kids back out with some enthusiasm."

Ferry seems eager to follow that blueprint.

"We've just got to get them back to believing in the program again and in what we're trying to accomplish," he said. "We're going to have to sell it to the kids --and it's going to start right from the top with next year's seniors.

"This is waiting to be primed and ready to go. That's one reason why I wanted the job, I knew the talent we had, and I wanted to see them successful at the varsity level."

Mauser said there's no easy answers for the Tigers' decline.

"The other schools in the Cahokia Conference have just grown, and everybody's to the point now where they have the enrollment to draw from," Mauser said. "We're the smallest school in the conference playing football, and that's starting to catch up with us."

Mauser believes that with hard work, discipline and some improved talent, Dupo can win again.

"Talent has been short the last couple years, and in a small school, if you have back-to-back classes that aren't that talented, it really hurts," he said. "I think the kids are very excited about it again, and that's what we need. But it still comes down to whether they're going to work hard and listen, do those things they did in the past."

Ferry has successfully coached a variety of sports at Dupo over the past 23 years. He's been the sophomore football coach for the past six seasons.

"They've been successful at the freshman and sophomore level, and hopefully we can get that to snowball into his coming year," said Ferry, who wants Dupo athletes to take pride in the football program once again. "That's one thing I'm going to do my darndest to change. I'm going to use every power of motivation to get us back to that level.

"We're coming off two years of being 0-9, and we're going to have to take it one day at a time."