Eagles coaches preaching no complacency

Dan DeMasters and David DiPiazza have a lot in common.

Their names are similar — same initials and capitalize the third letter in their last names. They both coach soccer at Oak Mountain High School. They have both coached at the high school and college levels of soccer. 

Not to mention, during their high school days, each won the Gatorade Player of the Year. DiPiazza took home the 1994 honor in Alabama from John Carroll Catholic High School. DeMasters hails from the state of Pennsylvania and won the award 10 years later in 2004.

DeMasters led the Eagles to the program’s fifth state championship in 2015 in his second year on the job. DiPiazza stepped in at Oak Mountain last year and equaled that on the girls side, after a successful tenure at John Carroll that included five state titles.

Oak Mountain has become something of a soccer powerhouse, so there was no need for either man to reinvent the wheel. Neither did, but they did take a unique approach to the way the programs work together.

“Ever since Dave got here, it’s been awesome,” DeMasters said. “At least from the boys perspective — and he’ll probably say the same thing — the culture that we’re trying to create is something different than a lot of high schools.”

There has not been the slightest conflict between the two when it comes to the soccer programs.

“Honestly, I’ve always had that except when I coached (both teams at John Carroll),” DiPiazza said. “There’s always been tension between the boys team and the girls team until I got here.”

DeMasters added, “We’ve never butted heads about anything.”

The teams practice next to each other, attempt to schedule back-to-back games on the same days, and the players get along great. 

“It creates that overall atmosphere, even between parents. We have both of our managers communicating with both teams. We talk all the time,” DeMasters said of the relationship between the two coaches.

Both Oak Mountain teams made impressive runs to capture the first Class 7A state championships, with the AHSAA adding the classification before the 2014-15 school year.

Last year, the boys program went on the road in the first three playoff games. As the No. 4 seed, the Eagles knocked off No. 2 Vestavia, No. 3 Hoover, and No. 1 Bob Jones to get to the final. The girls program beat Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills (in a 13-round shootout), and Bob Jones to also reach the final.

Both teams beat Auburn in the 7A title game to take home dual crowns.

Each coach also agrees that the Birmingham metro area houses possibly the four best teams in the entire state every year, and only one advances to the Final Four.

“It’s horrible because Vestavia should be a Final Four team. Hoover should be a Final Four team. Oak Mountain should be a Final Four team,” DiPiazza said.

The plan to repeat the feat once again in 2016 requires extra work. DeMasters preaches not to get complacent. DiPiazza has upped his team’s strength and conditioning program. 

Both teams got off to hot starts, so look out for Eagle Nation once the playoffs roll around again.