Media Day: Kellyville Ponies

With a new head coach, the Kellyville Ponies are ready to bounce back from two straight winless seasons.

Thursday, July 28th 2011, 5:42 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Aug 21, 2010 10:21 AM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Kellyville Ponies have suffered through two consecutive winless seasons, but are looking to turn things around this year with a new man at the helm.

Jason Culler will take over the head coaching duties and has overhauled both the offense and defense. The biggest change will come on the defensive end, where Kellyville will switch to a 3-4 scheme.

Culler previously coached at Bishop Kelley and used the same defensive scheme. He said its installation at Kellyville should allow the Ponies to become more aggressive.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in 3A that runs that style of defense,” Culler said. “Coaches are going to have to prepare for it and be prepared to face that, and I don’t know that they’ve seen it. So it’s going to be a shock for them.”

In order for the new system to work, Culler needed more players. There were only 19 players on the Kellyville roster at the end of last season, but since Culler arrived that number has grown to 50.

“When I first got hired, I had a school-wide meeting with every boy in the school,” Culler said. “If they played sports or if they didn’t, I got them out there and encouraged them to give me a chance.”

Across the board, players said Culler has instituted a much more intense conditioning regimen and that he lit a fire under them. Culler added that it is important to everyone surrounding the program that Kellyville regain some success.

“On a daily basis, I’m reminded of where they’ve been and that we want to win,” Culler said. “The community wants to win and the administration wants to win.”

While Culler’s ultimate goal is to instill a winning tradition at Kellyville, he also acknowledged that is a slow process and will not happen immediately.

“I’m not going to be na?ve and think we’re going to make a run at the Gold Ball. I try to be forthcoming and honest with our guys, and let them know that our main objective is just to win games.”