New coach Lloyd Smith sees promise at Northwest Classen

Back when he was in high school at Moore in the mid-1980s, Lloyd Smith remembers playing a football game against Northwest Classen.

“They had players who could have been playing on Saturdays,” Smith said.

Now that he’s the Knights’ head coach, he’s trying to pull out that talent and build a program.

Though he graduated from Moore High School and played a few years as a walk-on at Oklahoma, Smith’s coaching career has mostly kept him in Texas.

But he decided to get back closer to home, leaving El Paso to take over at Northwest.

“I watched the kids on film before I interviewed for the job, and I saw some talent. Saw some kids I thought had potential,” Smith said. “I think the one thing we’ve got to do is instill confidence in our kids and work a lot on fundamentals, getting them developed to where they can compete on a nightly basis.

“They can play. We’ve got athletes. It’s just a matter of bringing it all together.”

Among that talent is a strong quarterback in Christian Gorham, along with a dangerous receiver in Terry Arnold. That duo will be important in keeping the Knights’ offense moving up and down the field.

Defensively, Smith wants to play to his team’s strength, which is speed, particularly at the linebacker spot.

NWC had 30 players out for Tuesday’s first practice, with as many as 15 more still needing to get physicals before joining the team.