Western football’s key to success under coach Adam Ratkevich? It’s the ‘secret sauce’
Randy Shannon, now the UCF defensive coordinator, visited a Western Wildcats practice recently and, according to his host, was amazed by what he saw.
Western, which by the middle of the 2014 season had lost a demoralizing 19 of 20 games, is now riding the best wave in program history, going 27-9 during the past three years.
“Coach Shannon,” Western coach Adam Ratkevich said, “told me that this is one of the best turnarounds he’s ever seen.”
Ratkevich, a 47-year-old former offensive tackle at Miramar High and Saint Joseph’s University, has had a lot to do with the culture change at Western. He took over the program in 2014, inheriting a team that had finished 0-10 the previous season.
After being hired at Western, the first nonfamily member Ratkevich called was the father of quarterback Harrison Story, a kid who was just in the eighth grade at the time.
Previously, talented passers such as Story who lived in the Western district in Davie had opted to attend other schools.
“We were hemorrhaging kids,” Ratkevich said of Western’s history of losing players as transfers. “It was a huge hurdle to convince kids we were going to turn things around.”
Ratkevich sold the Story family on his vision for Wildcats football, and the kid quarterbacked Western to a school record 10-3 season and a berth in the state quarterfinals as a senior in 2017.
And the Wildcats, who finished 9-3 last season without Story, have shown staying power.
In addition, in just five years under Ratkevich, the program has started to send high-level players to colleges, including cornerback Teshaun Smith (North Carolina State); defensive end Kevin Oliver (FIU); and wide receiver Jordan Smith (Temple).
This season, the Wildcats return seven starters on offense and six on defense. The Wildcats will play national power St. Thomas Aquinas for the first time in school history as the Raiders will visit Western’s home stadium for the regular-season finale on Nov. 1.
The other big date on the Western schedule is Aug. 31 when the Wildcats play their first out-of-state game, traveling to Milton, Georgia, to play Alabama power UMS-Wright Prep in the Freedom Bowl.
Western’s offense once again has skill-position standouts such as senior running back Miles Friday and wide receivers Kauran St. Louis and Shamarr Wright.
Junior quarterback Cedquan Smith, a first-year starter and a transfer from Carol City, will direct the attack.
But it’s on defense where the Wildcats have truly made their name. Running a 4-2-5 system, Western might have the best secondary in South Florida
James Williams, a 6-4, 220-pound junior, is ranked by ESPN as the No. 1 safety in the nation for the Class of 2021.
Fellow safety Websley Etienne, just a sophomore, already has offers from Kentucky and Syracuse.
Western’s secondary also has senior Justin Hodges, who is a Hurricanes recruit; junior Brian Blades II, who is the son of the former Hurricanes star; and junior Omar Simpson, who has numerous Football Bowl Subdivision offers.
“When people think of Western,” Wildcats senior linebacker Bryan Miller said, “they think of defense.”
Miller leads a linebacker crew that also includes junior Justin Mackie.
The defensive line includes senior tackle Larry Johnson (Tennessee-Martin recruit), sophomore tackle Derick Walker and senior ends Erik Rozanski and Kevin Izquierdo.
The defense, led by coordinator Aaron Strumski, produced three shutouts last season.
Ratkevich, who was previously the coach at Northeast and Deerfield Beach, is enjoying the best run of his career and nearly everyone he meets asks him about his “secret sauce.”
The answer isn’t much of a secret at all; it’s the weight room, where Western’s brand of “Davie Strong” has been created.
“We’re a blue-collar football team,” said Ratkevich, who was visited by 65 college coaches and recruiters this spring. “We look at ourselves as underdogs. We outwork people. That’s our DNA.”