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Football / Sports / Top Stories
UPDATED: Dewey leaves Chaps for St. Andrews
Friday, July 16, 2010
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Editor’s note: Original post has been updated to the version that appeared in print on July 22.
Any potential Westlake High School quarterback controversy has ended before it had a chance to start.
Senior-to-be Preston Dewey announced Friday that he has enrolled at St. Andrew’s. Dewey transferred because he said the offense that St. Andrew’s will utilize under the direction of coach Ty Detmer fits his style more than the run-based offense that the Chaparrals have adopted under second year coach Darren Allman.
Detmer is in his first year coaching St. Andrew’s. Detmer won a Heisman Trophy at Brigham Young in 1990 and spent eight years in the NFL with several different teams. While at BYU, Detmer was one of the NCAA’s most prolific passers, and it seems Detmer’s offense at St. Andrew’s will resemble the pass-first attack that made him famous.
“This is a once in lifetime opportunity to play for Coach Detmer in a wide open passing offense,” Dewey said via email. “I am really looking forward to playing for him and learning a lot.”
Dewey will get to showcase his drop-back passing skills — his strength — more than he would were he to stay at Westlake, said Mike Dewey, Preston’s father. The quarterback attended a number of prestigious camps and was rated very highly at several national camps, including the U.S. Army All-America National Combine and the ESPN/Steve Clarkson Dreammakers camp in Dallas. Dewey was ranked as high as third among quarterbacks attending those camps and has drawn interest from a number of schools.
“Dewey without question was one of the most intriguing prospects on hand especially considering he does not hold any offers yet and probably should,” said ESPN national director of scouting Tom Luginbill following the Clarkson camp. “Dewey would be an ideal fit in the shotgun spread, dink and dunk scheme where his accuracy could be accentuated… He is a prospect who should and likely will be drawing interest in the fall.”
The senior leaves after two seasons on the Westlake varsity. The upcoming season will be his chance to showcase his skills for college recruiters.
“I really enjoyed my time at Westlake; I was a varsity quarterback there for 30 games in two seasons,” he said. “It is a great program, and I have some great friends on the team. I wish them all the best this season.”
Dewey’s departure leaves Allman with only one experienced quarterback to replace Tanner Price after the Wake Forest-bound lefty led the Chaps to the state championship game. Like Dewey, Price had come up through Westlake’s more pro-style offenses through the years. The adjustment to Allman’s power spread took a few games, but once he got command of the attack, Price turned in an all-state season, passing for 2,643 yards and rushing for 1,108 more. In limited action, Dewey threw for 114 yards, completing 7 of 13 passes during the season.
Dewey had received most of the snaps during Westlake’s spring practices while rising junior Lewis Guilbeau starred for the baseball team. When Guilbeau returned for the spring game, he showed off the running ability that lends itself better to the core values of Allman’s offense.
“In our offense, when we can have an effective runner at quarterback, the defense has to stop that, and looking at things from a defensive coach’s point of view, it’s a nightmare to have to contend with a quarterback who can ran like Lewis can,” Allman said.
Following the spring practice season, Allman and his staff talked about the situation and then met with all of the quarterbacks individually.
“At the end of spring practice, the coaches called Preston in and told him that while he was a great passing quarterback, Westlake was a running team and Lewis was a better runner,” said Mike Dewey. “They were going to create a package of plays and Preston would have played a lot, but he wasn’t going to start. I give Coach Allman a lot of credit for telling him that, because he didn’t have to. That’s a stand-up guy.”
Allman said the meetings were designed to let everyone know where they stood heading into the summer.
“We thought it was fair to let everyone know exactly where they stood so there would be no surprises,” Allman said. “There was no doubt in any of our minds that Preston wanted to be the starter, but we felt that Lewis would be our starter.”
Mike Dewey said both he and his son understood the coaches’ decision.
“I’ll take off my ‘dad hat’ and be the first one to tell you that if this is the kind of offense you want to run, Preston’s not your guy,” he said.
Allman said he hopes Dewey has a successful season.
“I know Preston wants to be on the field,” Allman said, “and rightfully so. He’s a very good player who could start for a lot of people. I thought the meeting we had was a positive meeting and we wish him luck.”
Guilbeau played a number of different roles for the Chaps in 2009, serving as a Wildcat-style quarterback, running back, receiver and even defensive back. He showcased his athletic ability on the baseball diamond in the spring, helping lead the Chaps to a district title and earning first-team all-state honors. While Guilbeau’s strength right now is his ability to make plays with his feet, Allman expects that his quarterback will be able to make plays from the pocket as well.
“We’re not going to play a quarterback we feel can’t throw the ball and throw it effectively,” he said.
Rising junior Blake Box joins the varsity this fall. He saw extensive action this spring and led a pair of scoring drives in the Chaps’ spring game. Like Guilbeau, he brings a dual-threat presence to the position.
Westlake’s offense will click. They just need to stay healthy at QB. I think they will mix in some different pass coverages to help vs spread passing teams. Box must have been a JV QB while Guilbeau was on the varsity? Sound like what happend with Brees. I think Allman became the Westlake HC after the loss to Bastrop. I think if they stay healthy they sweep 15-5A!!!
Good luck Preston. Looks like Westlake will be a running team this year.
Great move–Good luck, Preston. Whatever happened to that Foles kid? And Riley Dodge?
That Foles kid is the starting quarterback for the University of Arizona. While Dodge started at quarterback at least at the beginning of last fall, he’s listed on this year’s roster as a wide receiver. Hopefully someone else knows more of the story.
Westlake’s produced some fantastic QB’s, and Preston Dewey will be another one, and so will Lewis Guilbeau. Both of them know physics, which says two bodies can’t occupy the same space at the same time, and Ty Detmar’s new position is a perfect fit for Preston. Good luck PD, and good luck to my Chaps! You’ll be great, LG. Stand by, Blake. You’ll be needed, and you’ll be next!
So what does this say anything about the big picture of high school football as far as individuals are concerned? What if Nick Foles had been playing for Todd Dodge? Not a running QB, so would not get to play? Well, SLC won state didn’t they; but the individual kid who had great potential at QB might have been playing at tight end, and the running QB who had no future as a QB past high school was their QB. Interesting consideration: is high school football about a “system” that the individuals need to fit in and change for, or is it about individuals who should be played according to their talents & strengths and make the system work according to the individuals? I certainly don’t have the answer, but it is a fascinating quandary.
Fortunately, most of our high school athletic associations in this state prohibit transfers for athletic reasons to avoid the concerns you’re expressing. Apparently the school administrators and coaches believe that the answer is that the value of learning to put the team first outweighs grooming athletes for the next level. The UIL has often banned players from participation even when there was a lot of evidence that their transfer wasn’t for athletic reasons because of the concern that it might be. Also, the ban can extend beyond a year. TAPPS, which most private schools belong to, has similar rules. I can’t speak to how strict their enforcement is. St. Andrew’s and St. Stephen’s seem to belong to a smaller private school athletic league, and I guess they don’t have the same rules.
I think any successful coach utilizes the talent he has in the best way possible. I thought that Allman had more success when he broke open the playbook to some of the old explosive Chap ball type plays after the first few games last year. I think we’re probably best with a combination of his solid ground game and that explosive capacity. But I’m just a fan, not an analyst.
How many of the football players are transfer students?
Good luck Preston. You’re a fine young man and I believe you have made a great choice. Believe me, Ty Detmer can open more doors for you than the WL coaches can. You just now have to be able to walk and/or run thru them. Allman’s O favors a guy like Louis who can carry the ball twenty times and throw a couple of bubble screens and slants per game. Louis will be fantastic for the next two years, terrorizing defenses at will.
Riley Dodge is a receiver now at North Texas State. Not enough arm to play even in the lowest of the D1 conferences. He’d probably be taking Shipley’s vacated spot at UT if he hadn’t followed Daddy to meangreen land.
I agree with everything Eanes Taxpayer said, except the part about Detmer opening more doors than the Westlake staff. I believe that having college football scholarships offers is up to the player. You can either play or you can’t. If you can play, then college coaches will take notice. If you can’t, you can’t. That said, good luck Preston and good luck Chaps.
I think Eanes taxpayer is wrong about Riley Dodge. I did a little checking. He suffered a throwing shoulder injury at the end of last season and had to have surgery. In a newspaper article he was quoted as saying he doesn’t think his arm is strong enough now to play that position. I think it does a disservice to what appears to be a fine young man, and the grandson of Ebbie Neptune, to suggest he never had the arm to play quarterback. Riley was one of this state’s best high school quarterbacks, and his record speaks to that.
Yes, the college football scholarship offers depend on the player. But a player won’t get offers if he is on the sidelines instead of on the field. For that reason, Preston will have more exposure playing for Detmer than Allman.
I think the point Eanes taxpayer was making is right on. If Nick Foles, by accident of birth or his parent’s job, was playing on the SLC team in 2006, he would NOT have been the starting QB. And, therefore, he would not have gotten a college scholarship.
Likewise, I feel quite certain that Foles could not play for Westlake in this new running offense. In 2006 when he set the single season WHS passing record, he ran for 5 yards the entire year! That is not a knock on Nick, he is one of the very best QB’s I have seen in long time; nor is it a knock on the new WHS coaches. It is simply a different offense; one that values different skills.
Preston seems to have done the exact right thing by transferring to play for Detmer. He is a fine young man and I know the entire Eanes community wishes him all the best and we hope he has a great year.
I moved my students to private school too, not for athletic opportunities but for academic excellence. This is a decision that we will never regret. LOVE private school.
Everybody needs to wake up. It was never going to happen for Preston at Westlake. The coaches have been trying to 4 years. At some point, you just move on. Good luck preston.
It’s unfortunate that this young man’s decision (or that of his parents) to enroll in private school for whatever reason made the front page of our local paper. The Westlake Picayune should choose to highlight stories on their front page about non-athlete students and their many accomplishments sometime during the school year. Now that would be news worth reporting.
This was an article in the sports section. There are other areas of a newspaper where acticles are written about non-athletes on a regular basis.
What’s “Updated”?
Though this story may have been in the sports section of the print edition, it was front and center of the online version, and subsequently realized a high level of community coverage and commentary.
I have seen several such stories on our community’s youth in the last few months on one of the featured panels online. We are a community that cares about its youth. No one has to be a sports fan, but the truth is participation in sports in Eanes is extremely high and a lot of readers are sports fans. Newspapers are in a marketing business. They print important news, but especially community newspapers print news that the community would be interested in. The starting quarterback for the Chaps, where you like it or not, is big news in this community. If you want a less sports-oriented neighborhood, AISD offers a refuge. I should also add that I have never had any children in sports, but I was interested in the story.
Eanes mom, I want a less sport-oriented SCHOOL BUDGET. The interests of my neighbors (sport-oriented or not) are of no concern to me. I certainly didn’t build my house in Eanes ISD for sports and I don’t believe that the majority of Eanes ISD residents are focused on sports as the priority either. Remember the 2006 bond election? When the indoor football field was voted down? When you start funding their houses, you can choose where your neighbors live. Maybe you should find your own refuge where sports rule and the voice of the taxpayers is silenced. Meanwhile, Eanes ISD is a PUBLIC school where the top priority should be education not entertainment.
Neither you nor I can determine the priorities for the district–only a majority of the voters and the school trustees can. As for the indoor practice facility, none of the major school groups, as I recall, publicly backed it. The stadium renovation approval would probably be be a better gauge of community support of football. However, it’s been my observation that sports at all levels is as integral a part of this community as quality academics. If you didn’t realize that when you built your house and that’s a real problem for you, moving to an area where the views of the majority are compatible with yours may be preferable. We went through the opposite–we moved here from AISD, and we were initially shocked at the intensity of sports. However, we like the community and have learned to appreciate its love of sports at all levels. For the record–I don’t anticipate supporting any of the bond issues as last reported because of the extreme pork and lack of oversight of the expenditure of bond funds. We need to balance our budget and either change our board or get an independent bond oversight committee (like AISD) before I’ll support any more bonds here.
Isn’t it ironic that three of the best schools, just to name a few, in the state have fantastic football programs (Westlake, Highland Park, Southlake Carroll). No it is not ironic. Pull your head out of the sand. There are cities that are put on the map because of good football teams. Face up to the fact, football brings in big money even at the high school level. If you think for one minute that money is put into athletic programs because they think football is more important than academics, you need to have your head examined. The money that is made by football doesn’t just fund football.
Eanes mom – I enrolled my children in private school where the academics are the priority. It’s worked out well.
Citizen in the District,
Apparently it’s your head that is in a dark place. Come out into the light and get a clue: Football is not a money-maker in high school. That’s a ridiculous statement that simply is not supported by data — just try. You need to face up to the facts but first — you need to get the data.
The three school districts you mentioned are good because the demographics are easy — not because they have some magic formula for educating children. And another fact check, Eanes ISD is not so good (actually quite deficit) for many of the students who live in the district. Thus the exodus to private schools.
Westlake, Highland Park, and Southlake Carroll are also some of the wealthiest school districts in the state. Surely, Citizen of the District is not implying champion football teams are the force responsible for strong academic achievement. Let’s give credit where it’s due. For starters, our classroom teachers deserve a huge high five. Parents who pay for private tutors, supplemental training, private summer programs and the like also get a nod. Those efforts are positively reflected in the test scores which identify (some may argue erroneously) the ‘best’ schools. Nobody is debating that football generates revenue. Football programs also cost a lot in taxpayer funds to maintain. Money spent on coaches, uniforms, travel, state of the art stadiums, jumbotrons, practice fields, astroturf, chartered buses, weight rooms and so on and so on are not solely funded by income generated by our football team. They are funded with money diverted from the classroom (down to the over crowded elementary classes) to the athletic facilities and programs. The citizens of the district who think otherwise have more than their heads buried in the sand. The devil is in the details. Publish the documents that illustrate ALL the money spent then compare it to documents showing money earned by our athletic programs. And publish the documents for public review that reflect the money generated by football that is used to the benefit of anything other than athletics. I double dog dare you!
I love the arrogance of the private school parents. They think that their little darlings are at private school and their education will be so superior to an Eanes education. Not so.
It’s ALL entertainment-student council, AP courses, sports, video games, reading, movies, assassin game, what college you go to, what neighborhood you live in–we all have different preferences, no value judgements, please!
Overcrowded elementary classrooms? You must not be familiar with the fact that the elementary classes are limited by state law. Overcrowding, if it occurs would be in fifth grade and up. Further, if we are overcrowded, that would be a good reason to reduce the number of transfers we accept. I don’t think athletic spending has any impact on classroom spending. I think our rapid growth in the administrative ranks is a far likelier culprit.
Agre – Our family has experienced both Eanes ISD (for many years) and private school (now also for many years). Our students attend private school because Eanes ISD would not meet their educational needs. The education at our private school (and I am speaking for our children/family) really is far superior to the education that Eanes ISD would/could provide. There really is no comparison. School choice should be an option for every child.
I just think it’s hilarious that the Westlake High School quarterback is bailing WHS for St. Andrews private school. Oh, the irony of it all.
Agre, when your student is forced out of Eanes ISD and you must locate and pay tuition to a private school in addition to property tax to fund Eanes ISD, then we can talk about arrogance. We can talk about the arrogance of a public school district that cherry-picks the students they serve by pushing district children out of the door and replacing them with transfer students. You bet the education in private school is superior. It couldn’t get any worse than Eanes ISD under the present administration. Arrogance? That describes well the parents who think that as long as their student is doing well at Eanes, then all of the students must be doing well. Not so. Before you judge, walk a mile in the shoes of the children who are harmed by this district.
All learning does not occur in the classrooms. For my children, extracurriclar activities (that included sports) gave them opportunities to learn team work, leadership, goal setting, etc. They learned to relate to other people and to manage their time. They got a lot more out ot Tech Theater and Football than they ever got out of a lot of their academic courses. It is critical to educate the whole child and extracurriculars are a huge part of that. What they learn in these activities is what will take them to the next level of success !!!
I believe that the extracurriculars are there because there is a demand for them, not because the school is pushing them…. think about it; these are not required, they cost the parents a lot of money and the activities are packed !!! The facilities follow after the programs are in place, not the other way around.
Amazing. People actually think that football makes money for the district. Nothing that Dr. Wellman has been asked to produce has ever supported that notion.
Football costs the district a great deal of money. It is a money sucker, not a money maker. This is the reason, I believe, that EISD publishes financial statements that make it completely impossible, without having audit level access to the General Ledger, to see the true costs of football in EISD. But you can do the math. There are 11 full time coaches (last I checked.) They have average class sizes of 10 -12 students (at least in 2008 when I last submitted an information request). They “teach” additional courses, but the vast majority of what they teach are electives, not core, college prep work.
Then there is the stadium maintenance, the costs of the fields, the sunk costs of the facilities, the lights, the fabled jumbrotron, the special buses to away games, etc, etc. etc.
It is a money sucker: anyone who wants to see that can see it.
Now it may be a good use of money–that is subject to debate in tough economic times–but please, folks, stop this myth that it is additive to EISD’s economics. That is simply untrue.
And, because it costs more than it brings in, that is why EISD has created an accounting system that simply will never group all the costs together so that the public can see it.
Please share the “math” that proves that football ” is a money-sucker, not a money-maker”. It should be enlightening, and could serve a great purpose.
Only when Nola Wellman releases all the documents that reveal all the income and expenditures of all of the athletic programs will we all be able to ‘do the math’. the information would indeed be enlightening for those having opinions on both sides of this issue. Don’t forget the legal expenses associated with her chronic attempts to hide the documents via filings with the Office of the Attorney General hoping to find an exception that allows her to exempt this information from public review.
All together now:
Show us all the money Nola!
That math doesn’t exist, because over the course of the season, football makes alot more money than it spends. Common sense.
Just a few minutes spent on the numbers show that Westlake football would generate at least $500,000 yearly. This does NOT include Jumbotron revenue, just ticket sales, concessions and athletic participation fees.
The Chap Club raises money for uniforms, etc; so they don’t have those costs.
$500,000 will rent a lot of buses.
I don’t know how much it costs to run a high school football program, but it seems unlikely that Westlake could actually be losing money on football.
Math wiz you are not. Who do you think purchased the jumbotron, astroturf, football stadium, referees, coaches, coaches clothing (sometimes 2-3 pairs of high end shoes a year), security for games and stadium, weight rooms, hotel rooms, meals, charter buses, trophies, food for the press box, state of the art audio visual equipment (rivaling some professional businesses)……. 500k per year does not cover all these costs. There’s a reason our administrators aren’t jumping at this opportunity to clear the air don’t your think?
Athletic participation fees are the same for a cross country runner as they are for a football player. Which costs more to equip? How much does it cost to pay all the football coaches and put on a football game? Are other sports subsidizing football to some extent?
The jumbotron was not paid for by the football program so its revenues should go back to the school.
The Chap Club is supported by ALL athletes and their families, not just football.
I also don’t think that up to 10,000 people are “forced” to come to the football games on Friday nights….. come on people, this is a popular event. It gives a venue for the band, the Hyline, the Cheerleaders, and is a huge community “bonding” experience. I am sorry that some of you don’t enjoy this, but it is obvious to me that a lot of people do. Go find something of real substance to do for the community, rather than continue with your negativity.
Gotta agree with “the whole picture”. We get it picayune posters…many of you don’t like football. Yes it costs more money to run a football program that it does cross country. However, there are roughly 300 boys involved in WHS football, compared to 20 in cross country. (Please understand that I’m not picking on cross country. I’m just using it b/c a previous poster made a comparison. I have the ultimate respect for those kids that get up before the sun and run their guts out). The jumbotron was not paid for by football budget money, but the money generated by sponsors does not all go to the football program. The field turfed practice fields and game field (not astroturf) save the district countless amounts of money each year (maintenance, water, ect.). Lastly, football coaches are paid around $3000 to coach football. Their salary for teaching. And before we start the whole “coaches don’t teach ‘real classes’ ” argument, do some looking. Yes there are some coaches that don’t have curricular classes, but the vast majority teach a full classload.
To close this out, football costs more money than any other sport to operate. Has anyone ever taken a look at the band budget? I don’t hear anyone complaining about it.
I, in turn, have to agree with “what the whole picture said”…
Just EXACTLY what is the Band budget? they use the same stadium, they rent the same buses they have as many kids as football; but they don’t have ANY ticket revenue to offset the costs.
I’ll be a nickel that of the extra curricular that involve more than 75 kids, football has the least negative financial impact on the school.
What say you, those who hate football? Which costs more (net, net)? band or football?
I think “The whole picture” got it partially right. As a parent, I want my kids (all of whom are Chaps) to grow up to be well-rounded individuals. To me, that includes participating in sports and other extracurricular activities, in addition to getting an exceptional public school education. I expect WHS and EISD middle schools to offer a full set of extracurricular opportunities, whether or not my kids choose to participate.
That said, WHS does not need a covered practice facility for football or any other “outdoor” sport, a new administration building, another elementary school, or any other fripperies. WHS didn’t need the state-of-the-art bells and whistles in the FAF either. And … there are legitimate reasons to fault many of the decisions made by EISD’s board and superintendent.
Love her or hate her, Nola Wellman won’t be with us forever. Nola has burned through an enormous amount of good will in the Eanes community in the past few years. Nola’s reputation for honesty is in hot dispute, and Nola’s questionable behavior has created some implacable foes who won’t sit quietly on the sidelines. Nola relies on the board’s reflexive and dogmatic support, but her majority is dwindling. The board’s refusal to exercise meaningful oversight has given Nola more than enough rope to hang herself, and sooner or later she will.
Nola and the board bear a lot of responsiblity for creating the poisoned and distrustful atmosphere in the EISD community. Frustration over Nola’s manipulations continues to mount, and the divisions in the Eanes community deepen. Such is the environment fostered by the illustrious Dr. Wellman and her pets on the school board. Nola plays all of us very well.
Anyway, I’ll be at there cheering for the Chaps to corral the Cavaliers. See you at the game. I’ll also be voting in November and May.
and what is the tech theatre budget……seem to remember some pricey camera equipment purchased with bond funds……cameras to film football.