Florence names new football coach Posted On: Tuesday, Jul. 7 2009 05:41 AM By Nick Talbot
Killeen Daily Herald

FLORENCE – One of Paul Smith's first jobs as the new football head coach and athletic director at Florence High was to find the art teacher.

He desperately needs his hallways painted in order to carry out the first part of his plan.

"Those walls are blank in there," Smith said during his introduction at a meeting of the Florence Booster Club on Monday. "I need someone who can paint the words 'expect to win' on them. I want it everywhere. I want the players to see it whether they go down the hall or to the bathroom."

Smith, who takes over the job from Monte Pierce, wants to change the attitude of the program.

And he said he plans to do that through three basic steps – expect to work, work to play and play to win.

Winning is something that has eluded the Buffaloes the last few years. Florence went 1-9 overall and 0-7 in District 25-2A in 2009. In 2008 the Buffaloes were 4-6 overall and 2-5 in district play.

Running back Mochael Ramirez and wide receiver Emilio Ramirez, who are brothers, are expected to shoulder much of the load in the rebuilding process along with quarterbacks Ben Futrell and Doak Hensley.

One way Smith, 46, said he plans to make the team better is by encouraging the team to participate in its off-season lifting program.

"It is the middle of the summer and that field house in empty," Smith said. "Next summer I expect to see a big difference."

Smith spent the last year as the first assistant coach and co-offensive coordinator at Round Rock High. Prior to that position, he spent a year coaching at Manor and five years at Round Rock Westwood.

Before coming to Texas, Smith was the head coach at Ignacio High in Colorado and also coached a team in England. His overall head coaching record is 57-22-1.

While, in Colorado, Smith also spent time as a coach at Fort Lewis College, a NCAA Division-II program.

Florence superintendent Karla Moyer said the school district had 85 applicants for the position and interviewed six for the job.

She said all six were extremely qualified but Smith stood out because he had a plan to improve the Buffaloes' fortunes.

"He had done his research," Moyer said. "He knew what kind of budget we would have for him, he knew our program and he knew about our community.

"Obviously he had been looking at this opportunity for a while."

Pierce, meanwhile, had been looking to move away from Florence. With both his and his wife's parents living in Lubbock, they felt they needed to move closer to their families.

"She had been offered an administrator position there and with us being so small that is not something we could offer," Moyer said.

The football coach was not the only one to leave after the school year, though. Smith's first few weeks at Florence will be extremely busy. As of right now there are four coaching opportunities open at the high school, including a head girls and boys basketball coaches.

"Right now we are just looking for the right pieces of the puzzle," Smith said.

The new athletic director stipulated the school would have both head coaching positions hired in the next couple of weeks. Both Smith and Superintendent Moyer both said an offer had been made to a boys basketball coach, but would not comment on the selection.

"We have not put the name before the board yet," Moyer said.

Whoever is named to the position will get used to Smith's slogan, "expect to win." He plans on staying for a while.

"Florence is a community that fits me," said Smith. "It is a place that isn't so big that I can't learn all of the kids by name."

"I am at a place in my career where I want to stay somewhere for a long time."