Last week, the new Apopka football team and its new head coach, Marcus Neeson, got to experience game speed for the first time since the spring game and the departure of former head coach Jeff Rolson and 20 players.   

The Blue Darters attended the annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes camp, where some of the top Central Florida programs lined up across from each other. Attendees of the camp included Apopka, East Ridge, Ocoee, Tavares, Osceola, and Lake Nona.   

Although this is Neeson’s first year wearing the head coaching hat at the FCA camp, he said the feeling is the same.   

“I’m just another guy out there,” Neeson said in an interview. “It’s no different now. I’m going to coach the guys and coach them to the best of my ability. Whether I’m the head coach, defense coordinator, or position coach, I’m just trying to get better with those guys and better myself.”  

Neeson quickly said he was very happy with his defensive line, stating they looked like the best group on the field for the Blue Darters. He said he attributes that to what every Apopka coach has attributed it to for the past 25 years – Matt Anderson, Apopka’s defensive line coach. 

On film, the run defense looked great. Neeson said that just having a sound defensive scheme and not overcomplicating things is the key for him and his guys. His only problem is that he has a lot of younger defensive backs who lack experience. He said once the kids understand their key reads and where they’re supposed to fit, it’s going to be a good defense.   

“If we can play sound, standard, basic football and understand our assignments, then we’re in position nine times out of 10,” Neeson said.   

Neeson said his defensive approach this season will include a mix of man and zone defenses. More importantly, he said his focus is to adapt his defense to what the offense is trying to attack.   

“It’s a little bit of both, it depends on what you’re giving us,” Neeson said. “We’ve got guys that we can play zone. We’ve got guys that we can play man. It’s just being able to put 11 guys on the field that understand their assignment and that are all on the same page.”  

Neeson’s approach to offense is very similar. On defense, he wants to take away what his opponent is good at or likes to do. On offense, Neeson likes to attack weaknesses or find out what makes a defense uncomfortable.   

Neeson’s approach means having his players be just as well-versed in the opponent and their tendencies as he is. That way, anyone on the field can make a read or notice a weakness and attack it. Even if that means just trying to draw a penalty.   

“We’re going to line up, see what the defense is going to give us, and then we’re going to make our play call, and go from there,” Neeson said. “Like when we scrimmaged Ocoee, we’d line up, and I just gave them a bunch of formations and gave them a hard count, and they jumped offsides four or five times. On film, you could see us moving the ball against Ocoee, and we’re just walking the ball up the field with probably five formations, and they just jumped offsides every time.”  

Overall, Neeson said the camp was an excellent opportunity for him, the coaching staff, and the players to see what they still need to work on.    

“With FCA camps, you get to scrimmage other teams where it doesn’t count, and you can see, hey, we’re really good at this. Let’s do more of this. And if we’re really bad at it, let’s put that on the back burner.  

He said he saw lots of great things, especially on the offensive end. Many of the offensive players met with him after practice to review film and discuss how to better understand the game at the line.  

“They wanted to come up and watch film with me,” Neeson said. “I got on the board with the quarterbacks and some of the receivers, and they began to understand sometimes we might give a play call as the coaching staff, and you might look out there, and if we have the numbers, take advantage of our numbers. And they were starting to understand that later in the day.”  

Neeson said as the day went on, his offense became more and more comfortable and aware of the defense they were lined up against and where the weak points were. He said his quarterbacks began to pick up on the numbers game of bubble screens and when to throw them.   

On offense, Neeson’s goal is to get the ball into his young playmaker’s hands in open space.   

“We got young guys that have the speed and have the talent that when you get the ball in their hands, they’re capable of taking it for six.”  

Neeson said he has a very young and talented receiving and running back corps. He said the majority of his guys are sophomores and that he has one senior running back. But with the depth in the backfield and out wide, he says he will always have fresh legs.  

“There are still a few things that they’re confused about, but we’ll clean that up this week,” Neeson said. “But being able to have that depth at back and receiver and the number of guys with talent, is great, because you get to keep your guys fresh. And if we can rotate guys through, then we will be more durable in the game. Then we will last longer in the game, and our season hopefully will be extended.”  

Neeson said the scrimmages brought a lot of good to the team and great insight into what they need to work on in the final weeks before fall ball. He said the key to being competitive come August and beyond will be communication and dedication.   

“We’ve got to clean up a few things, clean up a little bit of the terminology, and make sure that everyone’s on the same page. The kids and the coaches being able to communicate with each other at all levels, that’s what’s going to get us where we need to be.”