by Mark Clements
August 5, 2010 - After 22 years of being an assistant coach at Slidell High School, Artie Liuzza was promoted to head coach in 2007.
Last year, for the first time in his head coaching tenure, Liuzza missed the playoffs. The team’s biggest issue heading into next season, the head coach said, is lack of experience on both sides of the ball.
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| Offensive Lineman George Ray (above) is one of Slidell's top players. |
When asked what the biggest issue with his team was, Liuzza said the problem doesn’t involve physical skills and talents, but rather the mental game.
“I think more than anything it’s our mental toughness. There were a couple of opportunities last year where we weren’t mentally tough and it cost us. There were some games where we got on top and let it slip away and I think that was a mental lapse on our part.”
Despite the down year last season, Liuzza spoke highly of his coaching staff and said they are always looking to learn.
“I really think our coaches do a great job,” he said. “They work really hard and are constantly trying to learn and improve. They’re staying up to date with the trends and I think they do a good job at finding out what our kids do good, and working towards that.”
Liuzza also said his coaches do a great job in preparing the players, not only for the next Friday, but also for the next level.
“We try to utilize our talents to the fullest and I think our guys do a real good job of that,” Liuzza said. “I’ve talked to a few guys after they leave and I ask them if they felt they were prepared for the next level. Alex Hill [Offensive Lineman – Illinois] said he was real prepared and the coaches did a great job with him. He said he felt really comfortable.”
While Liuzza loves seeing his guys go on and becoming successful at the next level, the 33-year veteran coach said the most rewarding part of coaching is the daily practices.
“I like the day-to-day practice,” he said. “I like to see the kids work to improve and get better every day.”
And when it comes to the biggest downfall of coaching, Liuzza had a simple answer.
“Paperwork,” he said. “I’m not a secretary, I’m a football coach. But I feel like I’m a secretary sometimes.”
Throughout his long career Liuzza has coached numerous different positions. But his favorite, he said, is probably the least glamorous position on the field.
“I’ve coached on the offensive side my whole career, but probably my favorite position to coach, which I coached for 20 years, is the offensive line,” Liuzza said. “I like coaching the technique. To be a good offensive lineman you have to be a technician and I really think that’s where it all starts on offense.”
Although Liuzza has surely coached several great players in his 30-plus year coaching tenure, he said some of his favorite coaching moments came with the opportunity to coach his sons.
“I really enjoy working with all of [my players] … I can’t really pick out any one,” Liuzza said. “I got to coach all three of my sons and I think that was a highlight for me, but I’ve enjoyed coaching all the kids.”
Along with getting blessed to coach his own sons, Liuzza also got the chance to coach in a state championship game. He said that game, which came earlier in his career, was one of the most thrilling experiences in his coaching career.
“I was real fortunate to coach in a state championship in 1986,” Liuzza said. “And there are a lot of high school coaches that can go through their whole career without that opportunity, so I think that would be the most exciting moment in my career.”
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