By Erik Harris
CLAY — Coaches DiAngelo Perry and Eugene Dallas have received coaching promotions at Clay-Chalkville High School.
Perry has agreed to replace Scott Robertson as the varsity wrestling coach. Dallas, who served as an assistant on the Cougars’ ninth-grade football team last year, will now take over as head coach of the team.
Perry has served as the Clay-Chalkville Middle School wrestling coach for three years, each of which the Cougars saw improvement from the previous season.
In his first year coaching at Clay-Chalkville Middle School, Perry’s team placed fifth in the Metro division. The following year they placed third and won the Jefferson County Tournament, which they successfully defended last season while finishing No. 2 in the Metro division.
“I think we did very well in those three years,” Perry said.
The first-year coach might have a new job title, but he hardly feels like he’s starting over. Perry will have the luxury of acquiring a team built primarily by athletes he’s already coached at the middle school level.
“Being able to see those kids from middle school up to high school has been a big advantage, because I know those kids and they know me and I know what they can do and they know what I expect out of them,” Perry said.
Carrying over the success he achieved during the last three years and translating it to victories at the varsity level is something Perry expects.
“Within the next couple of years I look to try to win a state championship,” he said. “That’s our goal, is to win a state championship.”
On the football field, Dallas coached ninth-grade linebackers and offensive linemen in his lone season with the Cougars. He brings with him a bevy of experience coaching under Mike Battles at Handley High School.
Under Battles, Dallas became familiar with the power running game, but had to transition his coaching style to fit Clay-Chalkville’s spread, zone-blocking scheme upon arrival last season.
“There’s been a lot of learning, but I’ve picked it up pretty quickly,” Dallas said.
Fans can expect “a physical, fast, high-powered football team” when watching the ninth-grade Cougars moving forward.
“We use the same terminology, same concepts (as the varsity), so once they get to the JV and varsity level, they already know our base packages,” Dallas said.
