ROYAL CITY — Royal Defensive Coordinator Jeremy Scroggins received the High School Broyles Award for Washington, the Washington State Football Coaches Association announced on social media last week.

“I’m very humbled,” Scroggins said. “I’m just a guy – we have great kids, and I get the opportunity to work with a hall-of-fame coach that I get to continue to learn from every day.”

The Broyles Award was created in 1996 and is given annually to the nation’s best collegiate assistant coaches, honoring Arkansas Head Coach Frank Broyles and his legacy of selecting and developing assistant coaches. The High School Broyles Award was launched in 2018, serving the same mission by recognizing top high school assistant coaches in participating states.

Scroggins credited the players at Royal High School as well as the surrounding community for helping him reach this point.

“It’s not about me – if we were not winning football games, then this wouldn’t happen and if we didn’t have great kids and a great community that’s special, then we wouldn’t win those football games,” Scroggins said. “It’s really a testament to Royal High School football and coach Allred, and everything they’ve built.”

Royal Head Coach Wiley Allred, who coached Scroggins when he suited up for the Knights during his high school career, spoke highly of him.

“He had some great experience as a head coach, and he’s brought a wider range of knowledge with him – more than just what he got at Royal High School, which is great,” Allred said. “He’s got a great personality with the kids, a great mentor, a great person and has a great way of communicating with players.”

A 2001 graduate of Royal High School and a member of the Knights’ 2000 state title-winning team, Scroggins went on to play college football at Whitworth, taking the field as a safety before transitioning to linebacker for his final season. Scroggins cited two of his former coaches with the Pirates, Kirk Westre and Dave Pomante, for sparking his interest in coaching. Scroggins went on to take the role of a graduate assistant in the program.

“Both of those guys were mentors for football, but also life as a young man,” Scroggins said. “I met my wife at that time so I’m dating, getting engaged and I got to coach ball, and I loved it. I think that is what flipped my switch, that I have to do this. Not just to coach, but the impact you can make on young men – they made that impact on me.”

Following his time at Whitworth, Scroggins took a head coach position at Grandview High School, where he coached for three seasons beginning in 2008.

“I was a young head coach with a lot to learn,” Scroggins said. “Our record might not indicate it, but I felt like we were successful and we were starting the foundation to try and start building a program.”

After resigning from his head coaching position in Grandview, Scroggins found his way back to Royal City, with Allred seeking a defensive coordinator ahead of the 2011 season.

“I don’t remember how it happened, but I remember talking to (Allred) going, ‘Hey this would be great, right?’ I get to continue to learn, ask questions and grow as a football coach, but I also get to not be in education. That was a unique opportunity for me, and I dove into it.”

Scroggins described his coaching philosophy as being “attack-oriented.”

“I know we’re called defense, but I want to dictate things,” he said. “I want to understand their strengths and weaknesses, and where do we have an opportunity to exploit weaknesses. How do we defend their strengths? I think it’s really important for me as a coordinator to understand how they are wanting to attack you.”

Beyond the x’s and o’s, there’s also an importance of “empowering our kids.”

“I want them to understand those types of things as much as anything – what do they want to do so that we can play with anticipation and understand how they’re wanting to attack us,” Scroggins said. “So that our kids can play exceptionally fast, even if they’re not blazing fast. I want us to play fast, fearless and aggressive on the defensive side of the ball.”

For Scroggins, lots of prep goes into a standard practice week during the season. After a game on Friday night, the following weekend is typically spent breaking down the upcoming opponent and drawing up plays for the scout team to run during practices. With junior varsity and freshmen teams playing their games on Mondays, time is spent self-evaluating by watching game film and looking for areas of improvement. While Tuesdays are spent focusing on the offense, Wednesdays are mainly focused on the defense before practices wrap up on Thursday.

“I would like to think that we do an excellent job as a staff of communicating to our kids how and why we do things just so that they feel empowered,” Scroggins said. 

Scroggins said that after receiving the High School Broyles Award, everything that goes into his coaching has been heightened – from preparation to empowering the athletes, there’s something extra to live up to.

“It’s awesome, it’s a blessing and I guess it just reinforces the need to be really efficient and prepare,” Scroggins said. “Mostly, make sure our kids are prepared and confident week in and week out.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Royal Defensive Coordinator Jeremy Scroggins, right, works with a Royal player during Tuesday’s spring jamboree in Royal City. Scroggins said an aspect of his coaching philosophy is to empower the players.