Assistant football coaches play a key role in player development

At the high school level, assistant football coaches are a hidden treasure — they work long hours, but rarely get recognized despite playing an integral role in supporting the head coach.
They also help develop players at certain positions, and nowhere is that more apparent than at San Benito High. Baler assistant coaches David Clay and Mike Lango coach special teams, and they spend a lot of one-on-one time with the kickers and long snappers, respectively.
It’s the latter where San Benito has flourished recently, as it has two former athletes playing a prominent role as long snappers on Division I programs. Michael Murphy (North Dakota State) and Ryan DiSalvo (San Jose State) graduated from San Benito in 2010 and 2012, respectively.
DiSalvo, who just completed his sophomore season, is rated No. 3 at his position in the class of 2016 NFL Draft prospects. Murphy has never missed a game in his collegiate career spanning 57 games.
On Jan. 4, the Bison will be aiming for their third straight FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) championship when they play Towson at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Clay and Lango will be watching with pride as Murphy powers snaps to his punter and placeholder.
“It’s very rewarding for me just to think you had a tiny, small part in their success,” said Clay, who started off his assistant coaching career at San Benito as the team’s equipment manager in 1994, the same year current coach Chris Cameron arrived. “Ryan and Michael, those are the kids that keep you going.”
Although Lango just completed his second year with the program, he’s known DiSalvo and Murphy since they were kids playing for the Hollister Vikings Pop Warner team.
Lango, 27, was an assistant coach for the Vikings and saw both players go through the Pop Warner level. In fact, Lango always sees Murphy when the NDSU senior is back in town, as they live on the same street, about five houses apart.
They grew up together playing football and baseball in each other’s backyards, developing a close-knit bond that still exists today.
“I talk to Michael on a weekly basis,” Lango said. “Any time he’s on television, I make it a point to watch him because he’s such a role model for all the students at Hollister High School.”
Lango has also stayed in contact with DiSalvo: “Over the summer DiSalvo gave me a call asking to work with him on his long snapping. He made some adjustments to his velocity and accuracy of the snaps, and it’s a credit to him for working his tail off everyday.”
At 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds, DiSalvo has a legitimate shot to make an NFL roster one day. The best long snappers can send the ball spiraling in a sharp arc at 52 mph, on the hip of a punter and placeholder 100 out of 100 times.
They also have to be able to rumble down the field and be physical enough to ward off blockers and make a tackle, something DiSalvo has the instinct and ability to do since he was a standout linebacker coming out of high school.
“Ryan has always had tremendous talent,” Clay said. “He was snapping the ball at NFL speeds as a junior in high school. I don’t think he even realized as a sophomore and junior just how much talent he had. You can’t coach that size, and as a coach, you just have to mold and build that athlete into something that will translate to the next level.”
Clay never played high school football, while Lango played and graduated from San Benito in 2004. Both coaches are effective when it comes to teaching the finer points of long snapping.
Clay and Lango said the biggest similarity with DiSalvo and Murphy is their willingness to compete and improve.
“Their success really came down to them putting the work in,” Lango said.
Said Clay: “The talent was there, and it was just a matter of pulling it out of those guys.”
Before the 2006 season, Clay asked Cameron if he could work with the long snappers and kickers, adding that the Balers were deficient in those areas at the time.
“I didn’t think I could make those areas of the team any worse,” Clay said. “We were really bad and I saw a need and was hoping I could help.”
Clay and Lango were quick to point out how Cameron and San Benito defensive coordinator/athletic director Tod Thatcher have consistently pushed their players to achieve at a consistently high level.
Perhaps it’s just a coincidence that San Benito has had two long snappers since 2010 playing prominent roles for their college football teams. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s what happens when solid coaching meets talented and hard-working athletes.