Coach’s new approach has Valley near a title

Nick Christensen

Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004 | 9:50 a.m.

When Valley's football team upset undefeated Foothill in Friday's Sunrise Region semifinal, Vikings players were quick to credit teamwork and each other for the team's turnaround season.

That's not surprising, considering how quick first-year Valley coach Jim Massey is to credit others in his success, too.

Massey, who spent two years as Valley's defensive coordinator before being promoted to head coach this season, has guided the Vikings to the team's first Sunrise Region final since 1996 after the Vikings went 3-15 in 2002 and 2003. Valley is 9-2 so far this year.

He came to Valley in 2002, after teaching and coaching for 27 years at Clark High School. He had three stints as the Chargers' head coach, including a 2001 season when he took Clark to the Southwest Region title. Clark has gone 4-24 since, winless in the past two seasons.

At Clark, Massey had a reputation for being a hard-nosed coach. But things changed for Massey, and not just the place he taught.

His wife, Sandy, was diagnosed with breast cancer, a disease she has warded off for now while doctors still watch for the symptoms. One of his sons, 19-year-old Korey, is in boot camp with the Marines. Massey has drawn and given support to his family, and it has affected his approach to coaching.

"There comes a time when you've got to enjoy life," Massey said.

As a four-year letter winner at defensive back for UNLV, Massey learned coaching from Ron Meyer and the late Roger Barnson. The two had a conflicting style, a difference that enabled him to see different approaches that work for different people.

"Ron Meyer, he was no picnic in the park. He really turned the UNLV program around when I was out there, and a couple things I remembered from him I still use," Massey said. "I think I got my relaxed side from Roger Barnson, who was my defensive back coach. I was always a Class-A personality and wanted everything right. He taught me to be a little more tolerable of people."

After graduating from UNLV, Massey coached football and wrestling at Indian Springs, then moved into Clark, where he coached "just about everything there is."

"I took it over when I was 26, but my first time, I was just too young," he said. "That was four years as a head coach, then I went to, basically an acting head coach quite a bit for Mike Gutowski, where he did defense and I did offense type of thing. I was raising a family at that time, so I came back in 1997, and was head coach for another four years."

When Massey came to Valley in 2002, then-coach Greg Sellers had just brought up a core of sophomores to compete at the varsity level. It allowed for players to start developing early, but also gave a few of them inflated egos.

That caused problems with a team that had grown set in their ways, and when Sellers moved into administration Massey had the challenge of a group of talented individuals who just didn't know how to play the game right.

"I thought we had a lot of raw talent sitting there. I think they wanted to succeed, and I'm not sure they knew how," Massey said. "I was dealing with a bunch of seniors this year, they pretty much had their opinions made. Even if their stance wasn't perfect, they weren't going to change their stance."

Knowing the talent he had, Massey assembled a coaching staff of no-nonsense assistants, quite a few of whom had experiences coaching at the 4A level.

Defensive coordinator Marcus Sherman was Cheyenne's head coach for the first three games of the 2001 season, before his surprising resignation. Offensive coordinator Gary Findley coached Desert Pines for three seasons. And long before Las Vegas became a state power under now-UNLV assistant Kris Cinkovich, Mark Peterson was the head coach of the Wildcats.

"I needed a disciplinarian, and I knew when I hired them they were going to be a jackpot or a bust," Massey said. "(Sherman and Findley) were both very knowledgable; they do a good job of scouting. Coach Peterson... I think he kind of holds the glue in place for us. They team up on me quite a bit, with two-against-one with Coach Sherman and Coach Findley."

Before the season started, when asked if the Vikings were the sleeper team of the Northeast Division, as many coaches said they were, Massey quipped "We're sleeping, all right." Many players had jobs to support themselves, or their families. Summer weight sessions weren't an option.

But sometime between preseason camp and the Vikings' opener at Sierra Vista, something clicked.

"Before coach Massey, I never knew how to read a defense," quarterback Matthew Christman said. "He said he wants 11 people to come out, and only do what they've got to do, just make sure you go 100 percent."

Christman readily admitted that after his sophomore promotion to quarterback, he was fairly full of himself. But now, it's the team that is the focus for everyone.

"We don't try to build an all-star, we try to build a team concept," Massey said. "I really think I could have put Major Gray back there by himself, and I'm sure he could have gotten 2,000 yards. He's that type of player, but when people are trying to scout you, it's easier to stop one guy than to stop five. Adrian Shields is a forgotten guy, I think he would start at any school in town as a running back. And he threw some good blocks in the Foothill game."

Massey's task now is taking this senior squad past defending Sunrise champion Las Vegas on Friday, 22 days after the Vikings lost 21-3 on the same field. If the Vikings do survive that, they'll face the Northern Region champion, likely McQueen, which is ranked 25th in the country by one poll.

Having survived the good times and the bad, Massey's no doubt prepared for whatever happens on Friday night. He's dealt with worse. And he and his family have come back from it, too.

"I've been in the locker rooms for some awful big games, some awfully emotional games," he said. "We got beaten in '92, with three seconds on the clock on a Hail Mary-type where they ran two choo-choo trains, one guy tipped it and another guy caught it, at Wooster."

The Chargers could have given in, but instead, brought home the title in 1993.

"It's tough to be on the sidelines and watch that with all the kids," Massey said. "The nice thing is we came back the next year and won it."

Playoff leaders

Passing: Matthew Christman (19-for-48, 257 yards)

Receiving: David Sosa (7 receptions, 144 yards)

Rushing: Major Gray (37 carries, 192 yards)

Game log

Rank reflects opponent's standing in state poll week of game. Record reflects team's final regular season record.

QF -- Region quarterfinal. SF -- Region semifinal.