Connally maintaining foundation built by Pacelli in recent years

When Alan Griffin accepted a position as athletics director and assistant principal at White County High, Buster Connally was the immediate choice to fill his vacated roles in the interim at Pacelli.

Not long after, he was approached about removing the interim tag for both the AD and head football coach positions. He agreed to the removal on the AD tag, but told the administration he’d like to keep it for football.

It has nothing to do with his desire to be the team’s football coach. He’s been an assistant in the Pacelli program for years, coaching under Jeff Battles, Bryan Eason, Randy Grace and, most recently, Griffin. Adding his name to that list is an honor, he said.

The reason he asked to hang on to the interim tag for the time begin, though, is to give himself and the program a chance to re-evaluate at the end of the year and make sure the right kind of progress is still being made.

That’s a trait that comes from his time in the business sector, having worked for about 15 years at TSYS. He said that experienced encouraged him to constantly evaluate his performance and make sure that whatever is best for the team is what’s being done.

It just happens that, right now, he is likely the best thing for the team.

He provides continuity and stability as the team is undergoing roster changes due to graduation. They aren’t changing offensive or defensive philosophies, and their approach to the weight room will remain the same, as well.

“I have a great relationship with the kids,” he said. “They respect us, they listen to us. We’ve been able to instill a great bit of pride this summer in who we are, what Pacelli means to us. The people who played before us and those coming after, we want to continue what was established by them.”

What has been established is a winning program that can contend for region championships and playoff berths. Connally was a part of that transformation under Grace that saw Pacelli grow from a winless program to one that won seven games in three straight seasons.

Connally said he took a lot of good things away from those years alongside Grace and Griffin, as well as the other coaches, and he hopes to maintain that winning mentality.

“All of them,” he said of the coaches he learned from. “Coach Battles is that hard-nosed mentality, Coach Eason, Coach Grace. If anyone knows him, they know he’s that hard-nosed mentality. And it’s been the other coaches, too. Coach Griffin’s love for the game. Anytime you’re allowed to be exposed to different coaches, you can pick up on all those little pieces and add to who you are as a coach.”

This year will have challenges for the first-time head coach. There are a lot of new starters or key contributors on the team, which lost its quarterback, to offensive and defensive weapons, and others. But Connally said that if the team can pay attention to the details, it will be fine.

“The little bitty details,” he said. “We may run a play 10-15 times in pracitce, because we want every little thing to be right. If it isn’t, we’re going to keep doing it until it is.”

This story was originally published July 4, 2016 at 2:07 PM with the headline "Connally maintaining foundation built by Pacelli in recent years."