By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

One thing is clear when talking to new East St. John head football coach and Athletic Director Phillip Banko: he’s glad to be back.

Banko was officially named to the position on March 1, succeeding Larry Dauterive, who stepped down from the position last November. And Banko has wasted little time in getting acclimated again with the Reserve school, where he spent 2007-08 at as Dauterive’s defensive coordinator. Banko held the same position with Pontchatoula before accepting his new position at ESJ.

Banko said his first three weeks on the job have gone smoothly, and he’s excited to make the most with his opportunity ahead.

“We’ve got a principal who is very supportive and a staff of really good coaches,” said Banko. “That’s really the main reason I applied for the job. I knew there was a staff of very good coaches entrenched here. And also a very good feeder system, an excellent community and an excellent administration. That was why I wanted to return here. And it’s felt great to get started.”

Having been with the school before, Banko already knows the lay of the land. He knows the team’s senior core. He knows the teachers and administrators. And he said it’s made for a seamless transition.

“It’s definitely made things easier,” said Banko. “No question. Knowing the dynamics of a major 5A school already is a boost.”

The team cannot yet practice under him as per LHSAA rules, so the on-field agenda for his team has been limited to conditioning work.

That said, he’s begun instilling his philosophy in the players. The words Banko uses to summarize what he expects from his program include teamwork, character, discipline, and esprit de corps, a term that describes a team’s ability to pull together and maintain a collective belief in a goal.

“If you don’t have these things, then your program won’t amount to much,” he said. “These kids know what I expect. We’re going to work hard and push for excellence every day. If someone doesn’t want to do that, they won’t be here.”

On the field, Banko said specific strategy will be based on his personnel. But he said he can make one promise: his team will attack.

“We’re going to do it on offense, defense, and special teams,” he said. “We’re going to be relentless in what we do. It’s not about being so concerned with what the other team does or wants to do. It’s about what we do. We want to dictate to them and make them adjust to our attack.”