A different headset for Saffos now

Dean Saffos should feel comfortable in his surroundings.

Tonight he will don a headset and talk high school football a t Hoggard just like old times, with one difference: He won't be roaming the sidelines like he did during most of his 32 years as either an assistant or head coach.

He spent three seasons as head coach at Hoggard, where he returns to provide radio commentary for the Vikings' opener with New Bern. The game will air on WMFD-AM 630, where he and play-by-play man Payton Warren will do a game of the week.

"We plan to keep the game flowing with no dead air time,'' Saffos said. "We are trying to give the fans a good appreciation of what high school football is all about.''

Saffos is no novice to broadcasting. He has done prep games on radio and television on and off since the 1970s.

For nine years as coach at Pine Forest, he did color on televised playoff games in Fayetteville after the Trojans' season.

"One of my goals each time we do a game is to come down and watch film, if a coach will let me, so I'll have some kind of knowledge of what they are trying to do,'' said Saffos, who now lives in Brunswick County.

To aid his preparation, he has seen all four New Hanover County teams in scrimmages. He observed Hoggard's scrimmage with West Brunswick and saw Ashley, Laney and New Hanover in the BB&T Jamboree.

"The coaches in the county have been so cooperative and have told us they'd help us any way they can, and that includes providing us information,'' Warren said.

Warren and Saffos have never worked together, even though Warren has periodically called games in the Port City since the early 1990s.

He is familiar with Saffos, who grew up in Wilmington, played football for New Hanover and was head coach at Fayetteville E.E. Smith five years before returning to coach the Vikings in 1989.

While there through 1991, he compiled a 12-18 record and had just one winning season.

"Coming over to do the game doesn't conjure up any bad memories for me at all,'' he said.

He also has been in Hoggard Stadium before. In 2001, Sharod Wallace ran for 205 yards on 30 carries to spoil his return as Hoggard beat Pine Forest 25-7.

A year later, Saffos' team beat the visiting Vikings 41-21.

Saffos will always be a coach at heart, and that is likely to come through in his analysis.

"I am not going to second-guess the four county coaches,'' he said. "They get enough of that in the stands. We are not going to be critical of what they do, but we will put our twist on it.''

Chuck Carree: 343-2262

chuck.carree@starnewsonline.com