Interview: Northshore football coach Josh Buelle looks to guide program forward from winless campaign

No one said it was going to be easy.

Entering his second year on the job, Northshore head coach Josh Buelle began the rebuilding process a year ago as the Panthers struggled through a winless 10-game campaign.

The closest Northshore came to victory was a 14-point loss to crosstown rival and district champion Slidell on the final playing date of the regular season.

Prior to coming to Northshore, Buelle was the defensive coordinator at Mandeville under Guy LeCompte then became the Interim head coach of the Skippers in 2017 when LeCompte resigned.

Buelle arrived at Northshore in 2018 as defensive coordinator under Mike Bourg and was named head coach after Bourg stepped down following that season.

The Panthers last reached the Class 5A playoffs in 2017, losing a close 41-38 contest to St. Amant. The last winning season for Northshore was in 2008.

The changing of the culture has been hard at Northshore but Buelle is ready to embrace it.

Speaking on All Access on 106.1 FM Wednesday night, Buelle said the complications from the COVID-19 pandemic not allowing him to gather his entire team even once since March has been a real challenge.

“It’s hard when you can’t get the whole group together,” Buelle said. “You want to try to build that chemistry with everybody all at once and it’s forcing us to have all these different groups and figure out who’s going to be with who at what times. I’m just thankful that we were able to get helmets on and get shoulder pads on pretty quick.”

Buelle knew he was taking over a total rebuilding situation a year ago.

“We had lost probably 17 or 18 starters,” Buelle said. “We knew we were going to be young. Our numbers were real low. We finished the season with probably about 53 kids on our varsity roster. That was a challenge I didn’t anticipate.”

How difficult was it to endure losing every game?

“It’s extremely difficult,” Buelle said. “You go into each week expecting to win and obviously things don’t go your way. You get to later in the season and you start to worry about keeping the kids motivated and are they going to continue to show up every day? You try to sell them on the vision and things don’t play out the way you want them to. We never had issues with kids not showing up. I was very pleased with the effort we put forth.”

Despite the lack of historical success at Northshore, Buelle remains optimistic about the future.

“I tell people pretty often, I’m very encouraged for what the future of Northshore High holds,” Buelle said. “I’m very encouraged about what I’ve got coming back. We played about 15 sophomores significantly last year. All those guys are back and we’re excited to move forward.”

The Panthers will have several key players back on offense that should be productive in 2020.

“Brandon Hines is a guy who sticks out,” Buelle said. “Brandon started for us as a sophomore. Toward the end of the year, he started at wide receiver and corner. We’re expecting big things from Brandon. Our running back, Langston Jackson played significantly for us last year. He’s a big bruiser type running back. Danny Jochim is going to be a three-year starter on the offensive line. Sophomore James Bridges is a basketball-football player he has a ton of potential.

Then, there is the most important position on the field and two players are battling for the starting quarterback spot.

“Bryce Spencer is going to be a senior,” Buelle said. “He played some for us last year. He brings some leadership qualities that we really like. We have a kid who is going to be a sophomore in Jack Buell who’s got really good arm talent and we are excited to see what he can do.”

The defense is experienced as well.

“Defensive line-wise, I’ve got all three guys coming back,” Buelle said. “Cedric Smith, Justice Hobgood and DJ Carbo. I’ve got two linebackers in Jordan Bourg, who started for us last year and Fabian Hartley. He is going to be a big year for us at middle linebacker. Logan Abney is going to play outside linebacker for us. Kyle Williams and TJ Coleman are freshmen that we really like. Simon Franks is a first-year basketball player and a good athlete.”

District 6-5A will be a balanced league, once again, in 2020, after Slidell won the league a year ago.

“The coaching is phenomenal,” Buelle said. “Every week, you’re going to be presented with challenges. You can’t go into any week unprepared because your team will get exposed. Every year, a 6-5A team makes a run. You’ve had Mandeville last year with Coach (Hutch Gonzales) and before that with Coach LeCompte. You’ve had Covington with Coach Salter, St. Paul’s didn’t lose a district game for a long time.”

How much would it mean to play or how much would it affect players at Northshore not to play in 2020?

“First and foremost, safety is the biggest issue,” Buelle said. “We’re going to do whatever we can to keep these kids safe. We’re following all of the protocols that have been put in front of us. We’re doing everything we can on our part. A lot of these kids need football, quite frankly. They need to fill up their time in the afternoon, to be involved. Some kids all around the state come from broken homes and the only stability they have is when they’re with their team.

“We provide such a stable environment for them and to take that away is concerning. Some of these kids stay in school primarily because they get to be involved in athletics. My fear is if you strip that away, maybe they become virtual students which is a totally different dynamic, something that is going to be difficult for kids to do overall.”

The desire to play is of paramount importance for the Panthers.

“I hope we get the opportunity,” Buelle said. “We feel like we have a lot to prove and we feel we have improved this offseason,” Buelle said.