Diamond in the rough? Not anymore
Roddy Layton is the type of coach I'd like to play for.
The second-year Diamond Ranch head football coach comes off first and foremost as a fiery motivator. It's apparent in his voice how much he cares about football and it's fast becoming obvious how contagious that is within his team. It beat the Daily Bulletin's then No. 1 team, Chino Hills, on Friday.
While Layton walks the line between cocky and confident - for example, he skipped past the scoreboard that read Diamond Ranch 28, Chino Hills 14 with his index finger aloft heading into halftime - he almost always falls on the correct side of it.
After Diamond Ranch made official its 42-28 upset over Chino Hills, Layton was gracious and complementary of his team's crosstown rival. He was humble when it came to his team, too.
"We're not ready to win a CIF championship," he said "We've still got a long ways to go."
While it couldn't have played much better on Friday, Diamond Ranch looks plenty capable of winning a CIF championship. Just two games into his second season - DR gave 2006 CIF-SS runner-up Edison a scare Week 0 - Layton has his kids believing, for good reason.
Beyond his inherent competitiveness the players can't help but absorb, Layton devotes hours each week to researching for stories and quotes applicable to pregame speeches, etc. His tactic at Chino Hills: he had a team viewing of Mike Tyson's greatest knockouts before the game. After his team took a 14-point hafltime lead he put it to practical use. "Mike Tyson, Mike Tyson," he repeated to his players pacing the sideline before the second half began. "We've got 'em on the ropes," he said, "now let's knock 'em out."
About Clay
Clay Fowler has been covering high school sports for six years in California and Texas. He was born in Dallas, attended the University of Texas and worked in Central Texas before joining the Daily Bulletin staff in 2006.
Email Clay here
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