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Pasadena Independent Aug 15, 2014
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Pasadena Getting ready for Football
By SHEL SEGAL
While winning is still important, for the Pasadena High football team it’s all about changing the culture.
And with second year coach Doug Bledsoe trying to improve on last year’s 1-9 record, he said the team seems to be on the right path.
“Our first year was dedicated to setting the foundation for the program,” Bledsoe said. “The program was on hard times. It was a matter of coming in and understanding we had to change the culture.”
So, what things have changed for the team?
“Discipline and character – those are the number one things we’ve been working on,” he said. “And going into this year from our lower level programs, we’ve been very strong. Those kids will be coming up this year. And for the returning kids those kids will be anxious to be proving themselves.”
Another key, Bledsoe said, to building a winning program is to stop the exodus of good players to outlying and private schools.
“It was a hard fought 1-9 and our expectations had nothing to do with the score board,” he said. “As far as the record is concerned, we’re not a powerhouse. We’re not trying to get a thousand transfers to come in. We just want the home grown talent, as far as the community is concerned.”
He added he just wants good players at Pasadena High to come out for the team.
“The big thing is when you do talk about recruiting it’s recruiting what you do have here on campus,” Bledsoe said. “There are a lot of great athletes on this campus. We want to follow suit with our baseball program and our basketball program. We got a few guys from those particular teams to come out.”
With that said, Bledsoe admitted he does have a lofty goal for the team.
“We want to compete for the (Pacific League) title,” he said. “We feel we have enough talent at each position to compete with anybody in the league. I know we have to take it one game at a time, but we have to compete to win.”
And hoping to lead the team to that accomplishment is wide receiver Tyrek Adams. Bledsoe said Adams should be outstanding on the gridiron this season.
“He’s one of the best receivers in Southern California,” Bledsoe said of Adams. “We expect good things out of him.”
(Shel Segal can be reached at ssegal@beaconmedianews.com. Follow him via Twitter @segallanded.)
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