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Monday, October 6, 2008
Where There's A Will...
Collin County, TX
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There's also a proud father and coach at Frisco Wakeland
Frisco Wakeland football has truly been a family affair since 2006. Marty Secord signed on to coach the Wolverines after leading Abilene Cooper and brought his only son, Will, with him. As Wakeland opponents know, the younger Secord has developed into a rock-solid signal caller who has verbally committed to Arkansas.
The senior 6-foot-2, 204-pound blue chipper was a big reason why the Wolverines made the playoffs for the first time last season. Now just getting to the postseason isn’t enough. The Secords are focused on making the most of their last year together and look to extend the season as long as possible.
“It’s been a good time,” Will Secord said. “We have a good time together and don’t really take football home too much. He treats me the same as everyone else. It (my senior year) is going to be a good experience and I want to have as much fun as we can with it.”
Realizing that this is the last year with Will on his roster is a reality check for his father. “It’s pretty sobering because every time I see him, I see him as a little boy,” Marty Secord admitted. “I just want him and our team to have a great year. He’s one of the guys that helped start this thing. To bring this to a conclusion is pretty sobering.”
While coaching in Abilene, the Wakeland opportunity arose and Marty immediately knew it would be a great move for his family, including his son. “I went to three high schools my freshman year (Abilene Cooper, Abilene Wylie and Frisco) and that was tough,” Will Secord said. “We moved around a lot. There were some reservations like leaving friends behind or trying to make new ones but staying in Abilene wouldn’t have been the best situation for us. God opened a door for us here and things just started falling into place.”
Last fall, Secord threw for 2,053 yards, 24 scores and just five picks as Wakeland went
9-2 and 6-1 in district play. The Wolverines fell to a tough Royse City team in the first round of the playoffs and both father and son agree all that experience has done is make the entire team hungrier to advance further this season.
“We always talk about setting our bars higher than the first year and always trying to move our standard,” Will Secord said. “It’s definitely a new challenge. We lose a lot of guys and step up to 4A, but I think we can handle it. It’s just another challenge and we’re looking forward to it.”
“I think it’s a driving force,” Marty Secord said. “I think in that playoff game, for the first time, our kids felt the hurt of a true loss that really meant a whole lot to you. He wants to help us get back there and I certainly do. He’s worked hard to prepare himself and his efforts will help in that cause to get back.”
The younger Secord admits that on a few occasions, he felt dad was being too hard on him, but those instances have been very rare. “Every now and then, I did [feel like that[,” he said. “But he’s done a really good job of treating me like everyone else. That [being razzed by teammates about being the coach’s kid] comes with being related to the coach. I’ve heard it everywhere we lived, so it’s not a big deal. You learn to get over it.”
For Marty, that means making a conscious effort to ensure he treats his son just like everyone else. “The biggest thing for me is that I expect so much out of him and know he expects a lot of himself,” he stated. “Like any coach who is a father and a father first, I have to really temper that. I try not to beat the details to death at home or after a play. If it’s an obvious correction that has to be made, then I will make it.”
“I’ve got a tremendous quarterback coach in Chad Cole and he can do most of my talking for me,” he said. “He knows exactly what I want out of Will and coaches him that way. It’s been a lot of fun. I never have experienced coaching my own child before but I have now. It’s been a blast when I reflect back on it. The toughest thing is to not be too tough on him or anyone else because he doesn’t deserve that.”
Away from the gridiron, father and son spend a great deal of time outdoors. One thing they don’t discuss is football. “We have a great relationship and do all kinds of things together,” Will said. “We hunt and fish together a lot. That gives us a chance to get away from football.”
“We do a lot of hunting and fishing when we can,” Marty Secord said. “That’s our time away from football. We went on several duck hunts last winter and had a blast. When we’re out there, we try to spend a lot of quality time together and do a lot of laughing. After school was out, we went on a float trip up in Missouri on the Current River. We didn’t talk a whole lot of football. We know that when we step on the field, it’s a different deal because he has to be more focused and more serious about what you’re doing. He’s been able to balance all that.”
Another buffer off the field is the matriarch of the Secord family, Kelli, who grew up around the game and also teaches at Wakeland. “Mom is a great buffer,” Will said. “If we start talking football too much or bring it home, she’ll kind of shut it down. She grew up in a coaching family and likes football. But there’s a point where you’ve got to chill.”
“She is as far from non-football as she can be,” Marty said. “Her daddy has been a coach for 40 years and she’s grown up around it. If I start talking about it too much, she’ll give me a nudge to tell me that’s enough and that he (Will) gets it but that doesn’t happen too often. When we’re at home, we try to make it all about home.”
The Secords also have a daughter, Jordan, who completed her undergraduate degree at Baylor in the spring. This fall, she plans to begin working on her masters and will assist student-athletes with their studies.
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