By Adam Houston

adam.houston@salisburypost.com

Salisbury High School will have a new look on offense when they take the field in August.

On Monday, Principal Luke Brown announced the hiring of Clayton Trivett, the head coach at Trinity High for the past two seasons, as the Hornets’ new offensive coordinator.

“He brings a lot of football knowledge,” Salisbury head coach Ryan Crowder said. “He is coming in from being a head coach. So he is someone who has pretty good knowledge of all 22 people [on the field].

“His background is a little more in the spread and spacing the ball out, which will open us up more than we have in the past,” added Crowder.

The Hornets’ style during the last decade has been to grind out yards and first downs by keeping the ball on the ground. That look of the offense will change, but the philosophy remains the same.

“We’re still going to be option and run. It’s just going to be out of the shotgun,” Trivett said. “It’s going to be quick passes, all off the run game.”

The transition to a new scheme isn’t expected to be difficult. Crowder said Salisbury incorporated spread concepts in 2014 with two- and three-receiver sets. Quarterback Riley Myers threw for a season-high 250 yards in a season-opening loss at Carson and for 215 yards in the Hornets’ playoff win over Surry Central.

“With the talent and skill players they have, I don’t think it will be that big of a deal for the kids,” Trivett said. “The way I coach the spread, they will have an easy time picking it up. I keep it simple. Everything is going to be simple.”

The Hornets averaged 180.2 rushing yards and 83.2 passing yards per game. Running backs Antwond Glenn and Willie Clark combined for more than 1,800 rushing yards and ran for 13 touchdowns.

By contrast, the Bulldogs’ offense in 2014 averaged 159 passing yards and 109.3 rushing yards per game. John Wagner was their leading passer with more than 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns. D.J. Pratt ran for close to 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Trivett, who will also coach track at Salisbury, was the head coach for two seasons of his three seasons on the Bulldogs’ staff. He was 10-13 as a head coach from 2013-14. The campaign ended with a 52-6 loss to Shelby in the first round of the 2014 2A state playoffs.

Trivett had stops at East Montgomery and Randleman before coaching at Trinity. He played offensive line at Catawba College before graduating in 2007. He is a 2003 graduate of Thomasville High.

The hiring of Trivett allows Crowder to be more hands on with the Hornets’ defense, something he did last season as the Hornets approached the start of their Central Carolina Conference schedule. He did that for 10 years as an assistant under Joe Pinyan, now the head coach at Carson.

“I had a good 10 years of running the defense and doing whatever works best week in and week out,” Crowder said. “…It kind of allows you to focus on the kids being good on one side of the ball and allows you to open things up more.”