DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710090687

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER  

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   78 lines

KILLMON STRUGGLING TO REBUILD CATHOLIC FOOTBALL

If someone had told first-year Catholic High football coach Ron Killmon that his team would have only one fewer victory than Notre Dame at midseason, he'd have been ecstatic.

Well, it's midseason and The Fighting Irish are 1-4 and the Crusaders are 0-4. Is it superfluous to suggest Killmon is not ecstatic?

Killmon, 56, whose background includes four seasons as a safety and kick returner for the old Norfolk Neptunes along with head coaching stints at Granby and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, admits he should have seen it coming.

He was hired - as a coach only - a week before the season started, and it's been a voyage of discovery since. Killmon found no game film to help him identify strengths and weaknesses; no teaching tools, such as tackling dummies, to help speed the learning process; and practically no players.

The numbers are up to 33, counting those sidelined by injuries. But 27 are freshmen and sophomores making it difficult to field varsity and JV teams.

Several people advised Killmon against taking the job.

``Only the parents of kids I'd coached before said I needed to get back out there,'' he said. ``I missed the kids, and I have that coaching mentality that I can overcome anything.''

Maybe he can.

The school administration is solidly behind him.

``Hiring Ron was a great move for me,'' Catholic athletic director Tom Kilpatrick said. ``We needed somebody with pizazz to kickstart the program.''

The players also have rallied around their new coach.

``He's more knowledgable and instructs us more,'' senior co-captain Pat West said. ``I think he'll be very successful.''

Added freshman Matt McCarthy, a two-way starter, ``I like the coach.''

There must have been been times in the past four years when Killmon wondered if anyone liked him. He resigned at N-SA after losing a philosophical dispute with the president, despite a 60-31 record.

He thought he had another job in 1995 as coach of a professional eight-man team only to see the league fold before the first kickoff.

Killmon's primary source of income since leaving N-SA has been brokering seafood from his native Eastern Shore to markets in Washington, D.C., Delaware and New Jersey. But that business dries up after Labor Day.

A fitness buff, he hasn't even kept up his regular shifts at the YMCA since losing a favorite workout partner.

Look hard enough and one can see traces of Killmon's four-year travail in the furrows that line his brow like battle trenches, the silver that's infiltrated his hair like Virginia creeper and the hollow areas beneath both eyes that relect a comic sadness.

But bring up football and Killmon is instantly transformed. His pecs puff out, his biceps bulge and his cheeks reflect the glow of a much younger man.

``These kids leave here after a game with tears in their eyes and come back Monday ready to go,'' he said. ``You see the effort they are making and you wish there was something more you could do for them. If that doesn't keep you going . . . .''

The Crusaders haven't been in a close game since a 19-12 loss to Brunswick Academy in the opener and have been outscored 142-32.

The quarterback, West, is a converted defensive tackle and Saturday when they play Atlantic Shores a 165-pound tackle will line up opposite the Seahawks' 320-pound Trey Freeman.

But Killmon emphasizes the positive. Players are starting to get to the right spot, even if they don't always make the play.

``We've changed the work ethic,'' he said. ``Changes are being made that will pay dividends down the road.''

The biggest change is a plan to find Killmon a teaching position in the school next year.

``If they are committed to the program,'' he said, ``then I want to ride it with these little kids.'' ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER photos

Catholic coach Ron Killmon is a very emotional, intense motivator.

Here he gives his players a blistering halftime speech with the

Crusaders trailing 24-0 to Nansemond-Suffolk, a school Killmon used

to coach.

Coach Ron Killmon gathered his players for a few words of

encouragement following a 30-6 loss to Nansemond-Suffolk.

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