Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Chad Taylor is always thinking, trying to find a better route to success for his students.

Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Chad Taylor is always...

Every coach is looking for a competitive edge. Chad Taylor is no different.

The athletic director and head football coach at Liberty, following last year's successful year for most of the sports programs, has been brainstorming to find an additional edge. He's not satisfied.

At the Liberty ISD school board meeting, Taylor presented a program that should give Panther teams a step up on their competition and in some cases, at least bring them up to the same level.

The coach presented a pre-athletics program for students in the fifth and sixth grades that he hopes will change the way Panther programs are represented at both the middle and high schools.

"At the end of the day we're just trying to identify those kids who might be interested in athletics at an earlier age and begin teaching them ball skills," Taylor said.

"We're working with them two years in advance," he said, "and I'm hoping that will give us a distinct edge over our competition, and in some cases, bring us up to their same level of play."

The Panthers find themselves on the low end of the stick against rivals like Tarkington volleyball whose students participate in select ball - a great investment, but expensive for families who may not be able to make the financial sacrifice.

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"That's where we get hammered from schools like Tarkington. Those girls in Tarkington, they start participating in select volleyball or the AAU program early. The same way with Hardin-Jefferson basketball," the coach said.

With his new program, Liberty students will get the same kind of attention, but without the expense of the travel involved with select ball.

"We'll find those kids who are extremely talented in those areas (volleyball, football, basketball) who can't really do select ball," Taylor said. "They won't play a single game for the Liberty Panthers for two years," the coach said since the program begins in the fifth grade and UIL competition for most athletics begins in the 7th grade, but, he said, they will be ready for a higher level of competition when they do reach that grade.

Casey Vaughn, one of the best athletes to ever come out of Liberty, wants to be a coach but she's a couple of years out from her degree, but that's not stopping Taylor from hiring her to assist.

"When we get to basketball, we can create an intramural league that will allow us to let the kids play against each other and get some real game experience," he said. Vaughn would help lead the intramural league.

The program doesn't violate UIL rules in that the coaching comes during regular physical education (PE) classes.

"I can coach any kid in Liberty ISD from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. while it's in the classroom or class time," Taylor said.

The way the program will operate is that all students in the fifth grade, for example, will attend agility drills during their physical education program on Mondays. Coaches available during the period of 12:45 p.m. and 2 p.m. will be present to work with the kids - including the regular classroom PE teacher and coaches from across the district.

Wednesdays will be regular PE class as scheduled prior by the elementary teachers.

"We want to keep that class social so that the kids all still get to intermingle with others in their regular classes," he said.

Fridays will be the actual pre-athletic day.

"We will create a block schedule where those who want to be in pre-athletics can come in for extra instruction and ball skills," the coach said. That class will last 80 minutes, instead of the regular 45 minutes.

The board voted unanimously to approve the measure.

The rest is here:

Program aims to make Liberty more competitive - Houston Chronicle