'A totally different team': Gulf Breeze football has new coach, scheme and culture

If there’s one word to describe what the Gulf Breeze football team is walking into for the 2023 season, it’s “new.”

Jeff Gierke was announced in February as the Dolphins’ new head coach. He brings a wealth of experience from a few different schools throughout Florida – primarily as a defensive coordinator – plus a couple in Tennessee. He was most recently the defensive coordinator at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, before moving back to Florida.

Gierke is bringing with him a new scheme, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. On offense, Gulf Breeze will utilize an air raid offense. Gierke said the offensive style is most similar to what the University of Tennessee is using with coach Josh Heupel. On defense, the Dolphins will be in a 3-4 formation with press coverage – compared to the 4-2-5 formation before.

“Not to say what (former head coach) Bobby (Clayton) was doing there wasn’t successful, because he won more games in Gulf breeze than they had in 20 years. But, I only know how to do it my way, and my way is not the way that Bobby Clayton does things, right or wrong,” Gierke said. “But it will be a totally different look when people come out on Friday nights.”

And off the field, Gierke is honing in on a new culture. He’s trying to get the team to understand that “the expectations are never enough,” and the vast majority of the Dolphins “want to take the program to the next level.” It also helps that Gierke has gained a lot of support from the administration.

“It’s just a complete culture change, a complete change of everything that we’re doing,” Gierke said. “We’re going to be a totally different team than what they’ve been the past five years – on both sides of the ball.”

‘It’s going to frustrate guys’

Gierke’s offensive style is unique to the area. He said there might be one other team that will throw the ball as often as Gulf Breeze – around 70% of the time – but doesn’t think that team is going at the pace the Dolphins are, hoping to “snap the ball every 10-12 seconds.”

This style of offense worked with previous quarterbacks that Gierke has coached. While coaching at Blackman last season, the quarterback – who now plays at Tulane – had three Division I targets for him to throw to, and the team wound up throwing for 4,200 yards in 13 games, Gierke said.

With an athletic quarterback at Gulf Breeze, Battle Alberson, it all plays right into Gierke’s new system.

Last season, Alberson threw for 1,696 yards and had 17 touchdowns. He also ran for 44 yards and scored three times.

“I think Battle Alberson will break every passing record in this area. He’s got a chance to throw for 4,000 yards in this offense if he stays healthy,” Gierke said. “Having a senior quarterback that’s played for two years, and some guys around him that have played a lot of football, it’s huge. If I was breaking in a sophomore quarterback that had never taken a varsity snap, we’d never be able to do all the stuff we’re doing.”

The chemistry between Alberson and senior Bryson Rouillier has been building for awhile, Alberson noted. And he’s already a fan of the new offense. Now the focus just turns on “getting that urgency” between everyone on offense.

Alberson also sees the offensive scheme as an advantage, “showing something on Friday nights that defenses haven’t really seen.”

“I’ve got a bunch of guys that can really run and can really catch,” Alberson said. “The better we can do it right here (in practice), the better we’re going to do it on Friday nights.”

“Battle is so reliable. You know he’s got the confidence to hit good throws. He barely misses anyone. I trust to him to put it right on the spot,” Bryson Rouillier said. “I love faster-paced (play) because it’s going to confuse defenses and they’re going to be tired, and we’re not. We do this every single day. Once we get to Friday nights, they’re going to be gassed after one drive – and we’re just going to keep pounding on offense.”

The air raid offense also needs dedication off the field, especially from a coach’s standpoint, Gierke said. There’s a lot of film work and meeting time so that once a team gets to the practice field, “you can just rep it.”

“If you’re wasting a bunch of time coaching it on the field, you’re not getting that fast. To get that fast, you have to practice that fast,” Gierke said. “The tempo is so different, and we’re kind of at the graduate level of doing it because I’ve been around it for different iterations for the past four years. … It’s going to frustrate guys on defense that haven’t faced it.”

A fully-stocked offense

With several weapons on offense – including Rouillier, Tristan Keigley, Jake Hooten and Jake Frazetta – “there’s so many advanced-level things” within the structure the Dolphins are utilizing.

The Dolphins did lose Troy Coughlin to graduation, who ran for 1,402 yards and 12 touchdowns. But Gulf Breeze will now rely on Gavin Quenneville (120 yards, 2 touchdowns) at running back.

Rouillier had 558 receiving yards and six scores last year. Hooten saw limited action last season as a sophomore. But adding Frazetta – who transferred from Escambia – will give Gulf Breeze a player it can utilize in multiple positions.

He’ll primarily be at inside linebacker, but will “play some running back, tight end and wide out” who “might end up scoring a ton of touchdowns” from several spots on the field, Gierke said.

“It’s been a lot of fun. Yeah, the heat’s killing us out here, but we’re making the most of it,” Frazetta said. “Coach (Gierke) is doing an amazing job.”

The Dolphins also have K.T. Randle, a 6-foot-4 freshman, at wide receiver. “He will be the biggest recruit to ever come out of Gulf Breeze,” Gierke added.

While he’s just a freshman, Gierke said, “We’re not counting on KT to win games, but he’s going to be out there and he’s going to look the part. Hopefully, by halfway through the year, he’s becoming an impact guy for us.”

With all the options at receiver, “it’s been a battle every day” at practice to determine who’s going to be on the field to start the season.

“We grade them out. How many balls did you drop? How many routes did you run the wrong way? How many routes were you loafing on? All these guys want to play. Everybody wants to start,” Gierke said. “But right now, we’re mixing in eight or nine guys between the first two groups. But it’s been good because they’ve all raised each other’s level because they keep screwing it up, so the next guy’s up and he makes a play.”

Defensive upgrades

Gulf Breeze returns Shemane Walker, a defensive end. He’s recorded 99 tackles in two seasons (60 solo, 39 assisted) and three sacks. He’s also tallied five fumble recoveries.

Walker is “pretty much unblockable,” Gierke said, despite being undersized at 5-foot-5.

“He’s just got a motor,” Gierke said. “He’s undersized but he’s so strong and quick.”

Quenneville and Frazetta will be utilized on defense, as well, and bring a wealth of experience as returning starters. Quenneville had 50 tackles last season (38 solo, 12 assisted). While at Escambia last season, Frazetta recorded 79 tackles (52 solo, 27 assisted).

After losing linebacker Turner McLaughlin, who transferred to Pensacola Catholic, the Dolphins now have Roehn Maldonado, who came from a school in Connecticut. He was named to the all-state team in 2022 in Connecticut for defense, where he had 141 tackles, 10 forced fumbles and six sacks.

“He’s going to start for us at middle linebacker, and that was a huge hole that we had. … He’s got the potential to be a Division I kid,” Gierke said. “Our middle linebacker transferred to Catholic, so we actually upgraded somehow.”

Gierke did mention that the Dolphins are getting some players in the secondary back after injuries in the spring or earlier summer. “That’s where most of the competition is,” he said.

A new culture

Gierke doesn’t settle for “good enough.” After the success he had in Tennessee, plus coming from a family where his father, Bill Gierke, is Orlando’s winningest football coaches with more than 300 victories. Off the football field, Gierke’s late uncle, Gregg Gierke, won more than 500 games as a basketball coach in the high school and college ranks.

Gierke’s focus has turned to “telling the kids that (they’re) going to be elite.”

The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game in program history. “Hopefully, that’s done with after this year,” Gierke noted.

“When I started coaching at Edgewater High School, we were in the final four or the state championship just about every year. The past three years, we’ve been in the playoffs and won the state championship three years ago,” Gierke said. “I’m not used to not being at that level. … We’ve got a lot of talent where I think we can make it happen and set that standard.”

Rouillier said the impact Gierke has brought in his first year “is insane.”

“Coach (Gierke’s) had a positive impact on the program because we all still have the same energy as we’ve had every other year, and not getting down because it’s his first year,” Rouillier said. “He really has implemented a new culture here that we needed.”

The culture change that Gierke has brought all started in the offseason. “They’ve run more than they ever have,” he said, and there was a lot more lifting and crossfit training. That was followed by individual football drills during the offseason.

He treated the offseason “almost like a summer-long football camp.”

“We’ve had darn near perfect attendance, unless they’re at a … football camp,” Gierke said. “Obviously, they’re doing to do a lot of work when they’re at those things.”

Also new to the Gulf Breeze program this summer was going on a 7-on-7 football tour, including stops at the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida, the University of South Alabama and Florida State University. Gierke said 7-on-7 football is something the team hadn’t done in the last five years.

That’s where, especially on offense, the Dolphins could really start to understand the new style.

“The kids saw a little bit of success in the spring game, with what we’re doing on offense and how you’re never really out of the game,” Gierke said. “The kids saw how quickly we can score, and how the pace starts wearing on people. That opened their eyes to, ‘OK, all this crazy stuff that he’s got us doing, maybe we need to buy into it more because it’s working.’”

Gulf Breeze Dolphins

District: 1-4S

Coach: Jeff Gierke (first season as head coach)

Last Year: 5-5 (3-1 district); missed playoffs

Key Players: Battle Alberson, QB, Sr.; Jake Frazetta, QB/RB/TE/LB, Sr.; Bryson Rouillier, WR/CB, Sr.; Gavin Quenneville, RB/CB, Sr.; Jake Hooten, WR/FS, Jr.; Tristan Keigley, WR/FS, Jr.; Shemane Walker, DE/NG, Sr.; Luke Denby, OT/DE, Sr.; Londen Taylor, C, Sr.

Key Losses: Troy Coughlin, Dakota Watson, Brock Clayton, Turner McLaughlin

2023 Regular Season Schedule:

9/1: at Crestview

9/8: vs. Escambia

9/15: at Milton

9/22: vs. Pensacola

9/29: vs. Pace

10/6: vs. Pensacola Catholic

10/12: at Tohopekaliga

10/20: vs. Tate

10/27: at Navarre

11/2: at West Florida

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Gulf Breeze football enters season with new coach and scheme