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This week, our GoBlackKnights.com “pipeline” series continues with another high school powerhouse.
Katy High School in Katy, Texas (approximately 30 miles west of Houston) has provided a stellar pipeline to a number of D1 football programs over the years, to include many Power 5 programs. Talk about impressive … They won their 9th state championship in 2020 as the Class 6A, Division 2 champions.
Coach Gary Joseph, who is also the athletic director at Katy H.S., has been on staff for 8 of those 9 championships. His record as head coach is a phenomenal 227-22 (for a 91.2% winning percentage)!
This week, I had the opportunity to speak with Coach Joseph about the program’s success, and the four (4) players from his outstanding senior class, who have committed to attend and play at Army West Point this year from his outstanding senior class.
Q&A with Katy H.S. Head Coach Gary Joseph:
GBK: What was there about the connection to the Army football program with your outstanding team this year that made West Point such a good fit for 4 of your graduating seniors?
Coach Joseph: Probably the type of kids that we’ve had this year made it a good fit. We’ve had some go to the academies before. Three or four of them have gone to the Air Force Academy and I’ve had a couple go to the Naval Academy. With Army, just the type of kid we had that fits that mold. We had some real quality kids, and those are the kinds of kids Army looks for.
GBK: Next I’m going to go through each of the four players who committed to West Point and if you could describe their unique strengths and what you believe will make them successful at Army both on and off the field. Let’s start with your big offensive lineman, Omarrion Aigbedion.
Coach Joseph: Omar is one of those kids that just kept getting better as he went along. He grew. When we first put him on the offensive line, he was probably going to be a better defensive lineman. I kept telling him to be patient, and that he was going to grow. The best thing about Omar is he continued working at it. He became an offensive lineman. We run the football quite a bit. It’s the same with our center. He’s a very quiet kid who loves to finish blocks. He’s a good run blocker.
GBK: That will certainly make him an awesome fit for the option and power offense that we run up there (at Army).
Coach Joseph: Right!
GBK: Let’s move on to your outstanding Linebacker, Shepherd Bowling.
Coach Joseph: “Shep” is a good athlete. He missed all of sophomore year with a knee injury. He came back his junior year and had an outstanding year for us. We had him playing Outside Linebacker and really, he could be a top player. He was a better fit for the outside. He’s a playmaker. He’s going to the regional track meet for hurdles. He runs pretty well. He made plays. He’s a smart kid. He’s got good football instincts. The moment’s not too big for him. He had some other opportunities with other schools, but just the opportunity to be a graduate of West Point really intrigued him in terms of what it would do for him when he got out of school.
GBK: Absolutely! That shows a lot of maturity in his decision-making process. Very impressive!
Next, let’s talk about your wide receiver, Taylor Saulsberry.
Coach Joseph: Taylor played H-back for us. He’s a bigger kid, about 6’4”, 215. He’s one of those kids that blocks really well for us. He catches the ball pretty well, but he’s a real good blocker. He’s not afraid to mix it up; he’s a track kid. The passes don’t have to be perfect. (He) and our other TE had the height advantage on almost everybody they played, so they could go up and get those one-on-one balls. His Dad enlisted in the Army, but he let the kid make up his own mind.
GBK: Last but not least, let’s talk about Bill Katsigiannis (Center).
Coach Joseph: He was probably one of our best football players. He had about 83 pancake blocks this year.
GBK: Wow!!
Coach Joseph: He was voted by one poll as 6-A player of the year. He’s undersized. He’s about 6’0” – 6’1”/255 or so. He’s got that mean streak in him. He snaps the ball; he’s quick; he gets good pad leverage and he drives and finishes blocks. With the quickness he has and the way he zone blocks, he’s going to fit in real well up there. I anticipate him being a Center. A lot of people who watch our film say, “Well I watched your Center. Where is he going to play?” I tell them, “The Center is going where he needs to be going.” You know, that’s a great deal for him to be able to go to West Point. He’s over a 4.0 student.
GBK: That’s great. I’m not going to say the academics will come easy to him, but that certainly sets him up for success.
Coach Joseph: He’s one of those kids that really didn’t start for us until his senior year. He was content until he realized that this was his last chance. He made all our line calls and line checks and communicated with them really well and got them all on the same page before the snap. That, to me, was the leadership he took. His mother and Dad are (from Greece) and this was a big deal for them. They have great Greek food, and Greek everything. It’s neat, you know?
GBK:: That’s a great story. I love Greek food.
Coach Joseph: The kid’s a good football player. If I had the choice to have one kid to coach on our offensive line, and we had a really good offensive line, you know, I had a tackle going to Sam Houston State, and Omar, and Bill, I’d take Bill because of his leadership and the attitude he brings to the offensive line.
GBK: It sounds like you guys had a great offensive line, which as you know, leads to a lot of wins (laughing).
Coach Joseph: We did. They weren’t big 300 lb. kids and stuff but they played very well together and got better as the year went on; they understood what we were trying to do; they were disciplined in their steps and footwork. You know, as I said, zone blocking takes all of them going together.
GBK: That will be a good transition for them because Army uses a lot of zone schemes with their OL for the option.
Coach Joseph: It will be good for them. It’s just a matter of getting used to a regimented lifestyle. They came from a program where there were high expectations. They came from a program where they were expected to do the little things right. That’s what they’ll have to do at Army.
GBK: Sounds like they’re all going to be a great fit. Thank you very much for your time, Coach!
Coach Joseph: You take care of the boys for me!
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