Bishop returns to North Baltimore after stint at Elmwood

NORTH BALTIMORE – For Greg Bishop, it's a new coaching job. But it's also a return to an old one. Bishop's first head coaching job was at North Baltimore, and he led the Tigers from 2013-15. He was 12-18 in those three seasons. Bishop has spent the last eight seasons as the head coach at Elmwood, where he presided over highs and lows. In 2021, the Royals went 10-2. The next season, they advanced all the way to the Division V regional final. But Bishop's last two seasons at Elmwood were tough. The Royals won just three games in '23, and were 0-10 last season. "Sometimes you get your rear end handed to you, and that's sometimes how you learn the best," Bishop said. "It was definitely a learning experience last year. I'm always trying to get better as a coach, and that's huge for any coach. Always try to get better." Bishop will look to do that back at North Baltimore, which went 4-7 a season ago and clinched a postseason spot under then-coach Wade Ishmael. Bishop said he liked where the North Baltimore program is headed. "Obviously, there's a lot of support; we've got great facilities here," Bishop said. "They've done a lot here, trying to promote their sports. So, it's definitely appealing, seeing all that." The coach said he's also happy with his players. "We have some athletes, they've been working hard," Bishop said. "We're excited to see how we progress throughout the year, getting better every single day, so, we're excited about it." On offense, Bishop said the Tigers will be using a spread, trying to take advantage of those athletes. "We want to be more of a tempo team and kind of dictate the pace of the game. We have kids in spots we really like, with Brody Walter, Cooper Clark, Luke Long and Zander South…there's a plethora of athletes we want to get the ball in space to." One of those athletes is Long, who will return as the Tigers' starting quarterback. "He's really taken control of the offense, he's really picking it up very well," Bishop said. "He's a leader on the offense, so we're seeing a lot of good things from him." At running back, the Tigers will turn to Zander South, who they have high expectations for. "Zander South has showed he's a physical kid; he's a strong kid," Bishop said. "He's got some speed and he's a physical runner, so we'll lean on him to carry the load at the running back position." The coach said that Emmit Heldberg also will see time at the tailback spot. Wide receiver is a spot where the Tigers appear to have talent and depth. "We have Isaiah Hyden, Cooper Clark, Brody Walter, Ian Ramirez, and then Jacob Rockhill," Bishop said. "We have about six kids that we can rotate, that we feel comfortable with that can cause some problems in space." Bishop said North Baltimore is still figuring the rotation out on the offensive and defensive lines. "We're still getting reps there, still getting better," he said. "The line is starting to progress. We have some size up there that we like and then, we're trying to build some depth up there as well." On defense, Bishop said the Tigers will use four down lineman, with either four linebackers and three DBs, or two linebackers with five in the secondary. "We like where we're at," Bishop said. "We've just got to keep taking big steps forward." Quintin Contreras in expected to play at middle linebacker, with Emmit Heldberg and Zander South on the outside. Trevor Walter and Brody Walter, are expected to play a role in the secondary. When asked about expectations for the season, Bishop said he's taking it one week at a time. "Our biggest goal, we tell the guys, we want to be 1-0 every single week," he said. "Focus on that week. Focus on being 1-0, and the rest of the season will take care of itself."