Todd Casebier, left. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Todd Casebier had a decision to make when he decided to take over the reins as head football coach at Fruita Monument last winter.
During his previous 17 years as a head coach, Casebier had a philosophy that he stuck to: Run first.
It served him well.
In his seven years at Palisade, his first stint as a head coach, he played in two Class 3A state title games, losing in 2002 to Florence but returning the favor against the Huskies in the next season’s state title game.
Ten years later, during his ninth of 10 seasons at Montrose, the Indians played for the 4A state title before losing to Pine Creek.
Casebier’s belief has always centered offensively on a strong ground game.
“It all starts with the run game,” Casebier said. “For me it sets everything up.”
It’s working yet again. Fruita Monument, under Casebier’s new direction, is 2-0 for the first time since 2000. The program went 1-9 last season in Class 5A.
Casebier had spent nine seasons competing against Fruita Monument in the 5A/4A Southwestern Conference. Despite a stretch of faltering records for the Wildcats during the previous few seasons, there was one thing in particular he relished about taking the head coaching job when it became open last spring.
“The biggest thing for me is, I’ve always admired Fruita’s talent,” he said.
But the Wildcats, even dating back to the late 1990s, have always been a finesse team, not a power team. That was certainly true of last year’s team, which threw the ball better than 80 percent of the time. But when Casebier made the decision to apply for the job, he was committed to alter that.
“We need to change the pass-run ratio,” he said.
Todd Casebier.
That was his mission from the get-go.
“The first words out of his mouth (were), ‘I have a plan and I work my plan,'” Fruita Monument athletic director Denny Squibb said of his first interview with Casebier last spring.
It may have worked in Casebier’s favor that he was interviewing with Squibb, who was his athletic director at Palisade. Squibb was well aware of his body of work, and of his success.
To do that, Casebier has to change the culture of the program — from the coaching staff on down.
“We’re going as far different as you can,” he said of emphasizing the run game.
He interviewed a number of potential assistant coaches, some of whom had worked through a stretch of three coaches in a very short span.
“He said, ‘Here is the bus; either get on or get off,'” Squibb said of Casebier’s interview process for hiring assistants.
Most were more than willing to hop on the bus. He retained five previous Wildcat coaches. He even dug in the past to hire a couple who had worked with him in Palisade.
It helped that he was coaching players who had seen his success in Montrose, including numerous conference titles against larger schools.
“We knew how he did it at Montrose,” Wildcats running back Braedon Graham said following the Wildcats’ 40-26 win over Denver East two weeks ago. Graham has been a big recipient of Casebier’s change on offensive game plan, carrying 59 times for 339 yards in two games.
“The kids have been great because they knew they plan worked,” Casebier said.
Many of those kids were on the losing end of the plan during Casebier’s years at Montrose. Caebier’s run-centered approach sets up not only the passing game and special plays, but the defense.
“If you control the tempo of the game, you wear out the other team, hopefully,” he said. “You also put the pressure on the other team because they don’t have the ball.”
Casebier saw big gains from his off-season and preseason workouts.
“(Before), they didn’t get off the ball, and that’s what we do now,” he said. “They didn’t double block, and that’s what they do now.”
It’s still a process.
“Every week, we’ve got to get better,” Casebier said.
That was proven last week when the Wildcats beat longtime cross-valley rival Grand Junction 23-0. The Tigers had dominated Fruita for years until last Friday. It was Fruita’s first win over Grand Junction since 2012.
And while he’s trying to build a legacy, Casebier wants to see success now, even if they Wildcats are in their last season as a 5A team (they move down to 4A next season).
“I’m not a patient guy,” he said.
And he doesn’t think it’s fair to the seniors, who have committed four years to the program, to think about next year.
“I want them to play to their ability,” Casebier said of his expectations from his players.
Considering the talent he has, those are high expectations.
Now comes the acid test for Casebier and his current charges. Next up is their annual game Friday with Montrose.
“It’s going to be a fun game,” said Casebier’s replacement at Montrose, Jim Scarry. The two remain close friends and Friday’s game won’t change that.
But it could be a statement game for Casebier and his team.