By: Jaden Steggell
San Marcos head coach John Walsh, also the athletic director of SMCISD sports programs, just finished his fourth season with the Rattler program. He is looking to improve many things with his team this off-season after a disappointing 0-10 season.
The Rattlers were already off to a rough start this season with the two-year playoff ban they received last season for the illegal transferring of freshman players.
According to Walsh, “The goal every year from the team standpoint and the program is to win and make the playoffs, unfortunately, the team was unable to compete for a playoff seed so we wanted to shoot for a winning record.”
Although even a single win was ultimately unattainable, the Rattlers did play through adversity well, built good character on and off the field, and established a strong work ethic. The team hopes to compete better next year and get more experience, so when the playoff ban is lifted in 2025 they can be a real competitor in the playoffs.
“Our goal this offseason is to get faster, stronger, and overall just become a more physical football team however I think this year we battled through adversity very well even if the scoreboard didn’t show it” said Walsh.
The team battled through adversity in games like the Homecoming game against Alexander as well as the district opponent Clemens game where the team battled and only narrowly lost. The program is heading in the right direction and hopes to clean up its rough edges eventually.
Next year the program will be losing a handful of key players like LSU commit Ory Williams who provided the blocking for the O-line and was a real leader for the team, Tony Diaz who was the Rattler’s number one receiver and had helped the offense and defense tremendously, and Kutter-Gage who was also another crucial piece to the rattlers offense.
One of Walsh’s goals this past year was “to make it to the playoffs but with that off the table we want to focus on having a winning season and see growth and development from players so we can be ready to fight our way to the playoffs the following year.”
After a difficult season, fans and players are excited to see Coach Walsh’s plan for the team in the future. Maybe next year the Rattlers can taste victory once more.
