WESTLAKE — Thursday afternoon the Westlake football team held its first practice with pads. Players were beaming from under their helmets as shoulder pads crashed.
It was an optimistic day for a program that is trying to right itself after multiple challenges during last season as well as the offseason.
“I feel like we kind of flipped the page from last year,” Westlake defensive end/tight end Mason Charles said. “With all the new coaches and new players, we kind of just hit a reset button and I’m very excited to see where it leads us.”
Mark Servé was dismissed as the team’s head coach during season after the Warriors started 1-4. Most of the team’s offensive coaching staff left with him. Ellis Green filled in as the interim head coach and the Warriors finished the season 3-8 overall and 2-4 in Marmonte League play.
Jesse Craven, former head coach at Burroughs, was hired as Westlake’s head coach in December but left the program over the summer due to differences with the school’s administration.
Westlake announced on June 26 that assistant principal of athletics Carnell Henderson will serve as head coach.
“At the end of the day the people that I care most about are the kids and the players,” Craven said.
“They’ve been through a lot and I feel terrible that they had to deal with another situation, but at the end of the day I had to make the best decision for me and my family. I think there are still a lot of good people and good players and I think Carnell is going to do a great job. I think they’ll be set up for the long run.”
Spent my morning in Westwood and my afternoon in Westlake.
New league, new coach and new talent for the Warriors this season. pic.twitter.com/VY9Gri0bKC
— Haley Sawyer (@haleymsawyer) August 2, 2024
Henderson hasn’t been in an official coaching position since 2014 but has plenty of football experience. He’s in Boston University’s athletic Hall of Fame as a football player after he ranked second in program history for receiving yards (2,759) and touchdown receptions (24) at the time he graduated.
He went on to coach and eventually had a six-year tenure at Fairfield University in Connecticut that earned him a spot in the school’s Hall of Fame.
“From a leadership standpoint,” Henderson said, “it was, ‘What do we do? How do you fill a position and at this time of the year?’ And this was just what our leadership and the district thought was the best decision for our program.”
“I love (coaching). It’s what I have a passion for. Life makes you do different things, right?”
Henderson is fully immersed in the role now that he has returned from a trip to Europe — which was planned long ago — and fall training camp is underway. He’s starting with a clean slate and viewing all players equally.
The team has reciprocated the respect.
“He’s very organized,” linebacker Lawson Grace said. “And not only is he organized, he’s very involved on the field. So you know when some of the players are down, he could be a leader that we can look up to.”
All of the changes at Westlake haven’t diluted the talent pool. Grace will be playing both ways this season as well as Mason Charles, who had six sacks last season.
Running back Demanie Bell will get into games for the first time after transferring from Crespi in March. Ronnell Hewitt, who previously played at Birmingham Charter, will complement him in the backfield. Both were full participants in Thursday’s practice.
“The season is around the corner,” Bell said. “Today felt like a different practice. A lot more people hitting and a lot more people coming out and showing who you really are.”
The Warriors can shake off their challenges and show the prep football world who they are as a complete unit when they travel to Golden Valley for their season opener on Aug. 23.
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