Father-son duos share gridiron as coaches, QBs
Thursday, September 10, 2015
by Mike Forman, Victoria Advocate Sports
AdvoSports.com Article | Shiner Football | Shiner Comanche Sports Home Page
The misery of Friday night's loss to Odem continued after the game for Goliad quarterback DJ Taylor.
Shiner coach Steven Cerny, left, discusses the next play with his son and quarterback, Brandon Cerny, during practice Tuesday.
[ click on any photo to enlarge ]all photos by Jaime Carrero, Victoria Advocate
"It wasn't a very good ride home," Taylor said.
The trip home was more pleasant for Shiner quarterback Brandon Cerny following the Comanches' win over St. Joseph.
But talking about football is a way of life for Cerny and Taylor, whose fathers, Steven Cerny and Kyle Taylor, are the head coaches at their respective schools.
"It's definitely a little different," Brandon Cerny said. "At home, he doesn't bring it too much. There's always going to be some football, like talking about practices and stuff."
"Half the time we're talking about football," DJ Taylor agreed, "and half the time we try to get our minds off it and talk about family."
The head coach/quarterback, father/son combination is not unusual.
Bay City's Warren and Beau Trahan, Victoria High's Mark and Travis and Charlie Reeve, and Cuero's Mickey and Clint Finley, and Travis and Blake Reeve have enjoyed success in the same role.
"Back in seventh grade before our season started, he knew our whole playbook on the varsity because we spent some time going through each play," Steven Cerny said of his son. "That's the same thing that Kyle has with DJ. He can go home and especially as much as they run the spread and reading defenses, they got a lot more work with it there."
Shiner QB Brandon Cerny gets ready to hand off the ball during practice.
[ click on any photo to enlarge ]
Brandon Cerny, a junior, and DJ Taylor, a sophomore, were ball boys for their father, and grew up around the game.
They attended elementary school together in Shiner before Taylor moved to Hallettsville and eventually went to Goliad.
They will meet again Friday when the Tigers travel to Shiner's Comanche Stadium.
"When I was little, I would come to practices and watch and try to take in as much as I could," Brandon Cerny said. "I would go home and go through plays and stuff. It was always something I was looking forward to."
"My brother's and my dream was playing football for my dad," DJ Taylor said. "Jackson and I would be throwing the ball in the backyard. I would always throw to him on routes my dad called."
Kyle Taylor knew his son would be a quarterback and got a chance to groom him last season when DJ played behind Nate Kowalik.
"He's been on the sideline and throwing balls pretty much all his life," Kyle Taylor said. "Ever since he was able to be around, he's been around the game. He's just been throwing the football pretty much since he was in fourth grade."
Brandon Cerny grew up wanting to be a running back like Chris Baer, who led the Comanches to the 2004 state championship.
But he moved to quarterback and backed up Blake Michalec last season.
Blood Lines
Following are the Victoria area father / son, head coach / quarterback combinations:
Bay City: Lupe Florez / Darryl Florez.
Yoakum: Bo Robinson / Silas Robinson.
Goliad: Kyle Taylor / DJ Taylor.
Shiner: Steven Cerny / Brandon Cerny.
Schulenburg: Brandon Brown / Joshua Brown.
Louise: David Lucio / Eric Lucio.
"He's always been a pretty sharp, intelligent kid," Steven Cerny said. "Not only that, he's had a good arm, he's athletic and he likes football. It just happened he was the one who was the best fit for it."
Mistakes are another matter and the quarterbacks hear about them from their fathers.
"You notice it more when it's your own kid," Steven Cerny said. "You notice every little thing they do wrong and you do want them to excel out there. I've always told them you need to try to separate yourself from other people especially with your work ethic. It's nice because you can talk to him at home about stuff and it's legal. You can definitely get in a lot more detail than you could with somebody else's kid."
"Unfortunately I am tougher on him," Kyle Taylor added. "I'm a coach's kid and you had to be twice as good to make sure your kids could play. It's kind of unfair, but they understand. They've heard me before so my voice doesn't bother them. He's a smart kid and the biggest thing is he's got thick skin and he's coachable."
Balancing being a coach and a father can be difficult during football season.
But the Taylors and Cernys have done their best to maintain perspective.
"We're always together as far as riding to school together and we try to talk," Kyle Taylor said. "My mind during football season is always on football, so I really have to work on it as far as making sure we discuss other things."
"I've gotten better at it," Steven Cerny said. "I was probably a little tougher on him when he was younger. Now, I try to be a dad and compliment him on things. When we get to next week and we prepare for the next game is when I try to be a coach."
Mike Forman is a sports writer for The Victoria Advocate.
Contact him at 361-580-6588, or by e-mail at mforman@vicad.com.
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| Brandon Cerny, QB for Shiner HS makes a lateral pass during practice. | Shiner QB Brandon Cerny hands off the ball during practice. | Steven Cerny, Head Coach for Shiner HS (right) and his son and QB for the team discuss the next play during practice. | Shiner QB Brandon Cerny gets past defenders during practice. |
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| Brandon Cerny, QB for Shiner HS. | Shiner head coach Steven Cerny gives directions during practice. | Shiner quarterback Brandon Cerny calls a play during practice Tuesday. | Brandon Cerny, QB for Shiner during practice at Shiner HS. |
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| Goliad quarterback DJ Taylor throws a pass to a teammate. | Goliad quarterback DJ Taylor, left, listens to instructions from his dad and head coach Kyle Taylor during practice Wednesday. | Goliad quarterback DJ Taylor, left, listens to instructions from his dad and head coach Kyle Taylor during practice Wednesday. | Goliad quarterback DJ Taylor throws a pass during practice Wednesday. |
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