The Garden City Telegram

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Aslin, Larson provide insight into the fortunes of Broncbuster football.

Published 8/25/2010 in Sports

By BRETT MARSHALL

bmarshall@gctelegram.com

Less than one week before his fourth season opener as the head coach of the Garden City Community College Broncbusters football team, Lucas Aslin sat in his office and painted a big picture of his first three years at the helm of one of the most successful junior college programs of the past 20 years.

"There's been a lot of ups and downs," said Aslin, whose teams have sported a 17-12 record. "The biggest thing that we've done is we've won the ones we're supposed to win, but we haven't won games to get us to the next level."

In a candid, introspective look at his program, Aslin discussed many different components that go into making a program like the one at GCCC so successful through the years, and how he feels he fits into that system.

When he arrived in Garden City for the 2005 season as defensive coordinator under J.J. Eckert, Aslin was not only on the fast track of moving up the coaching ladder, he was also on the fast track for a number of jobs. He was just 27 when he pulled into town, and just 29 when hired to replace Eckert, who left for Kilgore, Texas. He was one of the youngest coaches in the junior college ranks.

"I came here on a whim, to be honest," Aslin said when talking about leaving a successful Derby

High School football program, where he had been an assistant for two years and head coach for one. "He (Eckert) knew guys (coaches) that I knew and that I trusted."

Making moves

Aslin had brief stints at Butler College (2002-2003, safeties coach) and Southwestern Oklahoma State University (2000-2001, graduate assistant) prior to his short stay in Derby.

"When you're young, you sometimes make decisions quickly and then let things run their course," Aslin said of his early moves. "I've been here longer than any place I've been. I love it here. My family loves it here. We hope this works out because it's a great place to coach."

In his two years as head of the defense, Aslin helped Eckert post a 13-8 mark that came on the heels of Bob Larson's highly successful stint that covered six seasons and included a 48-18 mark. To put the GCCC standard in perspective, the last Buster coach with a losing record was Hank Hettwer, and that came 25 years ago when he finished his tenure 10-25-1 from 1982 to 1985).

Program cycles

"An important thing to remember is that all football programs — NFL, major college, junior college, high schools — are going to have cycles," said Larson, now the athletic director at GCCC and an assistant to former AD Vic Trilli when Aslin was hired. "The big question I always considered is, 'Is it harder to get to the top or harder to stay at the top.' I have always thought it was harder to stay at the top."

From Brian McNeeley (43-22-1) to Jeff Leiker (33-11) to Jim Gush (29-7) and Larson, the bar has been set high for Broncbuster football since 1985.

"My first year, we were 7-1 going into the last game of the regular season and we lose a tough one at home to Fort Scott and then go to their place and lose big in the playoffs," Aslin recalled of the 55-28 loss to the Greyhounds. "That propelled Fort Scott up (the Greyhounds were the 2009 Jayhawk Conference champions), and in looking back, we perhaps over-achieved for the talent level we had. We won some games that could have gone either way. The second year, we played some really good teams tough, but couldn't break through and win one of those."

Close losses

Perhaps the biggest heartbreaker of all came in the 2008 playoffs in the first round at Butler, where the Busters had the defending national champions on the ropes only to give up a last-minute touchdown right before halftime and then suffer a controversial two-point conversion call in the fourth quarter that resulted in a 24-19 setback. After starting 6-2, the Busters had been listless in a 17-0 loss at Hutchinson to close the '08 regular season before that stinging loss at Butler.

A year ago, the Busters struggled, finishing 4-5 and missing the playoffs for the first time in two decades.

Nobody knows better than Aslin what the 2010 season means, not only to the GCCC program but to him and his staff.

"I've spent a lot of time since the end of last season looking at how we've been doing things," Aslin said in discussing the program and his coaching style. "Last year, we took a step back. In my mind, this year is put up or shut up for me. Stuff's gotta change."

Larson didn't necessarily disagree with Aslin's assessment of the program's direction, but he did say in talks with his head coach in recent months, he (Larson) reminded Aslin that coaching has to be fun, as well.

"If you're not out there enjoying what you're doing, it's such a tough, tough place to be," Larson said. "Nobody puts more pressure on the coach than the coach himself. I don't know of a better man for the job, and he's put together a great staff. And yet, you can't be mediocre at Garden City. I know that as well as anybody. I challenged coach Aslin and his coaches, and they've worked their tails off this past year. He understands the situation. The main thing is I want him to enjoy the season."

Three R's

There is a saying for educating youth with the three Rs — reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic. With football at the junior college level, Larson said it is all about another set of three Rs — recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.

"If you've got better people on both sides of the ball, you're going to win in the Jayhawk Conference," Larson said. "That's bottom line. It's recruiting your in-state players to build the program and to get the skilled out-of-state players that can make the big plays."

Larson pointed to this year's commitment to having players on campus during the summer. Eighty players were in Garden City, attending classes, doing workouts and preparing for the 2010 season. Not a single player had any issues that resulted in problems for the program.

"Coach Aslin and his staff have done an amazing job with these kids," Larson said. "I think one of the keys is to be sure to know your kids, know what they can do when you're recruiting them. You don't need any surprises when they get here."

Aslin agrees that he sees room for numerous changes in his approach to coaching, both on and off the field.

"I think I've learned that you can't always force things," Aslin said. "I've always been a go-for guy. I always wanted the ball, wanted to score, wanted to go for it on fourth and short. I think I've learned that you've got to be a little simpler with things, let your players play."

Delegating

Delegating certain coaching duties also has been a difficult area for Aslin, and most of that comes from his years as an assistant.

"I was so used to doing things as an assistant that when I became a head coach, it was very hard," Aslin said. "Now, I know I need to focus more on managing the game, making sure everyone is on the same page, slow things down. There are times when I know I didn't manage games as well as I could have."

Time and player management during a 60-minute contest is also critical to a team's sucesss, according to Aslin, and he has spent the past several months working on those details.

"It's hard to put your finger on everything, but it's communicating to your coordinators, don't interfere when they're calling things," Aslin said. "As the head coach, you've got to take care of this and that so you've got to have your plan for the game in place days and days before the game. You know in certain situations what you want to do. And you make sure you do it."

And Aslin is first to say that he is appreciating the wisdom of having a boss such as Larson to provide some insight.

"He's been in the trenches. He knows what it's all about," Aslin said. "I've started to listen to him more, to ask more and his advice has been good. He's a great resource. He's helped me a lot, and he does a great job."

With two young sons, Aslin and his wife, Cristina, have settled in comfortably to the Garden City area. Yet he's the first to say that how you do changes everything.

The big game

"We like it here, but we've never gotten over the hump," Aslin said. "We haven't won that big game yet. If I can't, then I need to get out, go back to high school and teach and coach there. As a coach, you set a certain time frame to see how things are going."

While there is no magical number of wins and losses in Aslin's mind, one gets the feeling that being able to be competitive for the conference championship is more the determiner than anything else.

"We'll find out if last year is bottom out for us," Aslin said. "We've been middle of the pack, and we need to teeter up for me to think that it's good for me to stay. That's why coaching positions change. You know the situation. Either I am, or not, the guy to coach here."

And Larson is the one guy that understands it better than anybody. He found himself in the same situation in his final seasons. He stepped down after the 2004 season, and since then the Busters have a combined 30-20 record (.600).

"There's always pivotal games, and you've got to win some of those," Larson said. "Success breeds confidence, and failure breeds a lot of bad things. These guys have worked their tails off, and my hope and prayer is that it is reflected in this coming season."

Saturday's opener will be the first opportunity to see where the Busters are.

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