Raising the bar for Crestview football

A strong case could be made that February 1 was the second biggest day in the history of Crestview football.

Never before had six Bulldog football players signed scholarships in the same year, much less on the same day. And word is that three more could sign before the signing period ends later this spring.

Perhaps the only day bigger for Crestview football was Dec. 14, 2002 when the Bulldogs lost to Rockledge in the Class 3A championship game.

This fall will mark 10 years since that state championship game. The seniors on the 2012 Crestview football team were only in the second grade then and many of them were not even in Crestview.

It isn’t that Bulldogs have been all that bad in recent years so much as they haven’t lived up to that greatness anticipated in 2002.

Last year, when Kevin Pettis was hired to replace Matt Brunson as the Crestview coach, Pettis came in promising playoff runs and lots of players signing scholarships.

Nobody can deny that he has delivered on the scholarships. And, in fairness to Pettis, the 2011 season was a perfect storm that seemed to align against the Bulldogs.

Pettis made it clear in the way he scheduled that the days of playing 1A and 2A schools for easy wins were gone. He stepped up the schedule and then the injury and turnover bugs decided it was the year to wear Bulldog red.

Crestview was close in a lot of games, and even some of the so-called bad losses the Bulldogs suffered weren’t as bad as the final score might have indicated.

That said, fans won’t be happy with another 4-6 season and neither will Pettis.

If one believes the talk on the Internet and message boards, the Bulldogs that step on the field this fall could be the most talented team in school history.

Word has it that two players have been offered scholarships by Florida and a third is being heavily evaluated by the Gators and could receive an offer at any time.

Quarterback Dakota Dean has committed to play college baseball at Louisiana State, but many observers believe he has college football talent if not at quarterback, perhaps in the secondary or at a receiver position.

Football season is still more than six months away and spring football doesn’t start until the first of May, but there is a buzz of anticipation about the 2012 season that hasn’t been felt in a long time.

It could be argued that helping student athletes land college scholarships is the most important aspect of a coach’s job. But sadly, even if every kid in a senior class signs a scholarship, the coach will still ultimately be measured by the games and championships he wins.

Nobody understands this better than Pettis, who knows he’ll ultimately be judged by wins on the field.

Year two for Pettis should be better than year one in the win column. But in a community hungry for a championship, being better needs to include the playoffs and possibly a district championship.

Pettis has raised the bar of expectations for Crestview football. It will be interesting to see how quickly the Bulldogs reach the mark.