By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — After capturing the 2025 NCHSAA 6A Football Championship title, what does the Watauga High School varsity do for an encore?
There is little time to bask in last year’s glory. With a 2026 roster featuring only two players from the 2025 starters, the Ryan Habich-led coaching staff arguably faces their biggest challenge in more than a decade.
“We are a young team,” Habich said after the team’s Aug. 14 scrimmage vs. North Surry, shadows growing in the twilight at Jack Groce Stadium. “Our coaching staff knew this was going to be a rebuilding year, a real challenge, but it is a challenge that every one of us wanted to accept. We have more players out for football this year than ever before, 103 aspiring athletes. But of those, only Aidan Plemmons and John Wilson Mills were in the starting rotation last year on either offense or defense. We had 23 seniors on last year’s team. This year we have only eight.”
Watching from the sidelines in the scrimmage vs. the Greyhounds of North Surry, there were many teaching moments for Habich and his staff of coordinators and position coaches — and they exemplify what makes the Watauga program so successful. They are the little details of a championship program.
At one point, Watauga’s varsity offense was on the field facing the Greyhounds’ first team defense. Breaking from the huddle, things didn’t look quite right. Habich quickly barked, “Huddle back up and do it right!” After three attempts of the team correcting it on their own, Habich got in front of them, lining them up one-by-one in their correct huddle positions and then explaining how they break out of the huddle to the line of scrimmage.
That’s discipline. That’s a championship mindset, doing the little things right.
On the Greyhounds’ sideline, a couple of players seemed exasperated by Habich’s repeated interruptions until an older fellow told them, “That’s teaching discipline. That’s a championship mindset, doing the little things right.”
On another occasion, later in the scrimmage and standing among the players on the Pioneer sideline, on one play there was a missed blocking assignment and a Pioneer pass was intercepted. A big fellow came off the field and said, “What was that?” and started to say something. One of the assistant coaches immediately got in front of the player and told him, “Not a word.” As the young player kept wanting to say something, the coach repeatedly said, “No.” Then said, “That’s not how we do things here.” And one of the older Pioneers nearby said to the still frustrated player, “Let it go. We are on to the next play.”
Once again, the exchange was a reflection of the championship culture that Habich and his staff have ingrained in the varsity football program. You don’t complain. You don’t point fingers. You accept that a mistake was made, vow to correct it, and move on to the next play because it is the next play that is most important.
If anyone knows how to nurture 13-, 14-, and 15-year old boys into becoming young men with championship values and attitude, it is Habich and his staff.
“This scrimmage was not about winning or losing,” said Habich. “The primary purpose is to see what we have. Get as many players as possible on film so we can evaluate individual strengths and weaknesses. From here on out, we will get down to about 15 regulars on offense and 15 on defense who will be our core and coach all of our players up. In a scrimmage, it’s hard to develop momentum because you are changing personnel.
The Pioneers open the regular season with three games on the road, at Ashe County (Aug. 21, 7:30 p.m.), at TC Roberson (Aug. 28, 7 p.m.) and at Mount Airy (Sept. 4, 7 p.m.).
BONUS PHOTOS (All photographic images by David Rogers for Blowing Rock News)
