Perry football sees continued growth with higher participation

Despite coaching changes the past two seasons (Tyler Hovey in 2023 and Bryce Pierce in 2021-22), the Bluejays football team has grown exponentially going from a 0-9 record, to 1-8, to 2-7 last season.

Now Perry has another coach leading the team, with Josh Vannornam taking the headset.

With playing experience at St. Olaf College in Minnesota where he played linebacker from 2016-2019, Vannornam came to Perry last season as the strength and conditioning coach through the ETS Performance program in Grimes that Perry collaborated with last school year. And hoping to be involved in football in some capacity post-graduation, Vannornam was an assistant on the team last season, helping keep some level of consistency year-to-year, hoping to build on the number of successes found in Perry in 2023.

That first look at what the team can pull off this season comes on Aug. 29 visiting Des Moines Hoover (Perry won 33-18 last year over the Huskies).

Setting Goals

More than simply wanting to win more or score more touchdowns, Vannornam said between sessions at Tuesday’s practice that he wanted the team to make their own goals for the season to hold themselves more accountable than anything he could tell them he’d like to see, giving them ownership and decision-making skills.

“I got to my first team meeting and I had them write 10 goals as a team and then a week and a half later, I asked them their goal and they remembered them, right?” Vannornam recalled. “But my goal is just to compete every week. One week at a time, be present with where we’re at. I think that’s my big goal.”

One of the biggest overarching goals that goes into being competitive every week, Vannornam said, is overcoming adversity.

“Last year what I noticed and feedback from the coaching staff, was come gametime for the last game of the year, [some players] just didn’t show up for practice,” Vannornam said. “That’s the mindset we’ve got to flip. Just because an obstacle’s in front of you doesn’t mean you split. So flipping your mindset, ‘Yes it’s an obstacle but we can win.’ And it’s believing in each other. Those type of things are goals of mine.”

With 54 players on the roster as of Aug. 13, the Bluejays already have four more than last year’s depth chart going into Week 1, and Vannornam said more and more players keep coming every day as some are coming when they can get time away from summer jobs. And the sophomore class is the largest at the moment, helping provide support for the future of the program.

Building Confidence

Stepping onto the practice field, not only is there noticeably more participation, there’s more prototypical athletes that Perry has not often seen.

The offensive line has a swarm of bodies that hope to be rotated in, and noticeable size-strength advantages, even at the freshman level that Vannornam hopes could get action. And players like Renzo Saenz coming from a sprinting background hope to stretch the field in new ways, Vannornam said.

In turn, Vannornam said he hopes quarterback Geren Kenney (seven touchdowns was Perry’s most since 2018) can build upon a successful junior campaign with more support around him on top of returning building blocks like center Zach Shelley and touchdown-leader Eric Lagos.

“I think it gives Geren confidence as a quarterback,” Vannornam said. “And I think being in the weight room helps out a lot, but his knowledge of the game has gotten better.”

As for the defense, Vannornam said the team is moving from a 4-4 scheme to a 4-2-5 with a focus on run-stopping. That will need some key contributions in the middle from the linebacker spots that look to be filled by twins Alec and Aiden Burgin. Alec was second on the team with 27 solo tackles last season.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Perry football sees continued growth with higher participation