BOCA RATON – When the Spanish River head coaching job became available, it was not hard to see why Ian Headley decided to make the move from Coral Springs to Boca Raton.
In fact, Headley even called it his “dream job”.
“It was my dream job,” Headley said. “They’ve been really good in the 2000s. I’ve been coming to the games since the seventh grade, so I’ve seen them at their highest point. And I worked here in 2017, so I [saw] them at their lowest point. I just really want to get this place back to a place that they’ve been before and just win here.”
Fast forward a few months and the Sharks are gearing up to play their first game under Headley, with a kickoff classic game against Pompano Beach on the docket.
“I just want to make sure we compete and dominate,” Headley said about the kickoff classic game.
Behind the scenes, everything has led the Sharks towards this moment.
Not only in the sense of preparing for a game – though Spanish River has certainly done that – but also in Headley attempting to change the culture for a team that went 2-7 last season.
“We just work, that’s kind of been our motto all summer,” Headley said. “We went to Keiser Camp, we went to FAU, went to UCF. So, we made an emphasis on working and getting developed … We’re clocking in every day and we’re just going to let the rest take care of itself.”
According to Headley, a big part of that was making the summer program difficult to help players rise to the level that he wants them at.
“We made the summer program hard, camp is hard, practice is hard,” Headley said. “Just make it hard and make these guys rise to our level.”
For some of the leaders on this team, like 2023 ATH Chris Pierre, it’s about bringing some confidence to the team.
“Last season, there wasn’t a lot of confidence,” Pierre said. “We didn’t go into every game thinking we were going to win. But every game we’re about to go into, we feel like we’re going to not just win, but dominate.”
Pierre, much like Headley, has seen this program at its lowest. The senior has played with Spanish River throughout high school and has chosen to stick with it.
“Chris is a great kid, hats off to him for kind of sticking this thing out and trusting us as coaches,” Headley said. “I think just because he did that, good things will happen. We’re going to rely heavily on him offensively, so he has a chance to show everybody what he can do.”
And while it may not be perfect yet – a challenging task for any team – Headley has seen some encouraging growth from the players from earlier in the offseason to now, just a week away from the regular season starting.
“Way different team,” Headley said. “We practice better, we look better. [At] Keiser Camp, we grew up a lot. Played some of the really top teams, the Park Vista’s, the Palm Beach Central’s, the Treasure Coast’s … We put ourselves in a position to be tested pretty tough.”
One thing about this Spanish River team is that, across the field, there are younger players who will likely be tasked with making an impact early on.
“With the young guys, we just put them through the fire,” Headley said. “Put them through the fire and it’s sink or swim.”
To the benefit of those young players, Headley’s staff is filled with coaches that have experience, including some with multiple years of experience within the county – particularly on the defensive side of the football.
“I’m a big believer in teaching,” Headley said. “So I just had to make sure we had got some really good teachers and guys that really knew the game.”
While the season for teams in the county will be long and filled with ups and downs, Headley isn’t focused on anything outside of one goal: the upcoming game on their schedule.
“Right now, Pompano is the only thing on our mind right now,” Headley said. “And, you know, after Friday, we’ll see how that plays out and we’ll break it down and we’ll go from there. But right now, we just take it one game at a time.”
