Hahnville will have a new look on offense this season, and second year Tigers’ coach Nick Saltaformaggio says the process of getting used to it might take a while.
But the former National Prep Coach of the Year isn’t speaking of his players in that statement — a long-time enthusiast of the option offense, the more pro-style scheme his team is moving to under new offensive coordinator Lester Ricard is as foreign a concept to Saltaformaggio as any of his players.
“It’s a completely new deal for me,” Saltaformaggio said. “I’ve always been an option guy. But I also strongly feel that you gear your offense around the players you have. And at Hahnville, I’m very fortunate that I’ll always be dealt a good hand of players. Some years, more than others, but the talent here is always good.”
After longtime Saltaformaggio assistant Frank Allelo parted ways with the Tigers over the summer, Ricard earned the position of offensive coordinator. A former Tulane standout, Ricard was head coach of St. Martin’s in 2014 after spending a year coaching quarterbacks at De La Salle.
Saltaformaggio said the shift to a new offense was made for a few reasons, one of those a commitment to reducing turnovers.
“What we’re doing now, it isn’t as risky,” he said. “With the ball being read and pitched, if we didn’t lead the state in turnovers, we were darned close. Even so, we were still good enough to get to the quarterfinals.”
The shift is still ongoing. Saltaformaggio said he’ll have a greater grasp on how far the offense has to go after Friday’s home scrimmage against Northshore (6:30 p.m.), but said to date the team is progressing, but still a work in progress.
“We have to be more consistent,” Saltaformaggio said. “That’s in terms of blocking at the point of attack, on our throws and at catching the ball. Those are the negatives. The big positive is we have the ability to establish that consistency.”
Early in the season, Hahnville will face a tough schedule, beginning with defending Division I finalist Jesuit in the jamboree and culminating with Week 4 and 5 matchups with Destrehan and St. Thomas More, respectively.
That might mean the Tigers have to rely a bit more on their defense, which is now in its second year of running its base 3-3-5 alignment. And that’s just fine with Saltaformaggio, who believes a strong defense must be the foundation of any team with championship aspirations.
“I’ll always be that way,” Saltaformaggio said. “When we won state at East Jefferson, everyone wanted to talk about offense because we had some great players. But we won the state championship because we had a great defense. We played 15 games and shut out eight opponents. We were great on defense.
“Early in the year, we’ll have to play great defense, be great in the kicking game and be just good enough offensively to keep the other team off the field. And if we don’t turn ball over, we’ll be fine.”
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