Phil Magdic doesn’t hesitate when talking about the biggest adjustment from coaching high school football to college football.
“You put in way more hours,” said Magdic, the former Darlington High coach who now serves as defensive coordinator at Presbyterian. “In high school, you allotted a little time slot Saturday to watch film and didn’t meet with the team until Sunday evening. Those 24 hours seem like three weeks today.
“Now if you have an away game on a Saturday night, you might not get back until the wee hours of the morning. But you are back at school by 8 a.m. to watch film and it doesn’t stop the rest of the week.”
Magdic was well aware of these things when he decided to leave Darlington last January after four seasons to join Bobby Bentley’s staff.
Still, Magdic couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be reunited with Bentley, whom he first met as an assistant at Rock Hill when Bentley was coaching Byrnes High School.
Magdic joined Bentley’s staff at Byrnes in 2000 and was part of the school’s first state championship in 2002.
“(Joining Bentley at Presbyterian) was a no-brainer because of our close relationship,” said Magdic, who went 24-22 in four seasons at Darlington. “Don’t have any regrets. Darlington was good to me ... it was just the next move in the career.”
Like Magdic, Presbyterian also made a big move last season by going from Division II to I-AA and joining the Big South Conference. The Blue Hose can’t compete for a conference title until next year and won’t be at the full 63-scholarship limit for two more years.
Magdic coached linebackers last season but was promoted to defensive coordinator and associate head coach this year.
The Blue Hose defense has struggled this season. Going into today’s game against Coastal, Presbyterian is last in the BSC in total defense and scoring after facing a tough non-conference schedule, which included games against nationally-ranked opponents Appalachian State, Wofford and Elon.
“We bit off a big schedule this year,” Magdic said. “We were able to hang in there with our first guys, but we just don’t have the depth those other teams have.”
Magdic says he meets with his defensive coaches Sunday and they begin watching film to develop a game plan for the next week’s opponent.
The final game plan is usually finished before practice Tuesday. It’s then “tweaked” throughout the week and adjusted throughout the game.
“You better be prepared for every little thing because during the game you might have all kinds of different schemes that might come at you,” Magdic said. “You got to be on your toes.”
Magdic takes an active role during games, opting to stay on the sidelines instead of being in the press box.
“I thought about going to the booth, but I love being on the sidelines,” he said.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement