Coach Tommy Balom is just beginning his second year as Head Coach at Terry Parker High School. Prior to this position, he served as Defensive Coordinator at Terry Parker under Head Coach Randy Glass. He attended Texas Southern University, where he played defensive lineman and earned second team All-SWAC honors. At Texas Southern, he also played basketball, playing in the forward position.
Question: How has the offseason been?
Answer: Offseason’s been good, we’ve traveled a lot, hit a lot of different camps: Wake Forest, Tulsa, Georgia Southern, we went up to Temple last week and took a group of guys up there. So we just got a chance to travel and let Brave Nation see the world a little bit. We’ve worked very hard in between those times, and we’re excited about what’s going on and we’re excited for the season. I think our guys are excited to beat up on some other people right now.
Q: How are you trying to change the culture of Terry Parker and their community outreach?
A: We have so many different ways we’re trying to change, first is the community involvement that we’re doing. We put on a camp at Justina Park, which is one of the rough parts of the neighborhood, and we went out there and we just wanted to show our kids how they can be impactful by the stage that they have and the abilities they have. You know, they’ve been presented with that stage and they need to use that to be successful and be productive in the community. And just leading by example. We hang our hat on our grades right now, Terry Parker’s valedictorian last year was a football player, and Isaac Ricks, our running back, has the chance to do that again this year. So one by one and day by day we’re trying to change how the community views Terry Parker football.
Q: What are the team goals for the season?
A: District champions. We don’t want to sound too boastful, but we think it’s achievable. We came up a little short last year, but we have the team and the men this year to break Terry Parker’s seventeen-year drought and get in the playoffs. We want to at least go .500, but we won’t be satisfied with that. You know if you’re playing on Thanksgiving weekend that you’re deep in the playoffs and you’re having a good season, so right now we’re planning on playing Thanksgiving weekend, and that’s really our goal.
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Coaches Corner: Tommy Balom, Terry Parker High School
Written by Kim Hoy
