When a new head coach arrives with a different system to implement, adjusting to a new passing-heavy offense could, in theory, feel like homework. Extra reps, extra walk-throughs.

No worries.

“Love it,” said Rocori senior quarterback Max Fredin, grinning.

“Love that call,” agreed senior receiver Caleb Maddox.

Anyone who watched Rocori’s 28-7 season-opening win at Totino-Grace on Thursday could see why Fredin and Maddox are so fond of new head coach Greg Enz’s passing plans. The pair connected for 34- and 36-yard second-half touchdowns as Rocori, No. 23 in the Minnesota Top 25, pulled away from last year’s Class 4A state runner-up.

“[The adjustments] clicked right away,” Maddox said. “Honestly, like, first seven-on-seven, we were all on the same page mentally.”

After coaching at Rocori since 2009, James Herberg took a job on the coaching staff of St. John’s University in May. Enz, after serving as an assistant coach at Rocori for a year, slotted in for Herberg, emphasizing more on-the-fly offensive adjustments.

Fredin finished 31-for-46 for 273 passing yards against Totino-Grace, while the team rushed for just 33 yards. Last year, the statistics show, Fredin attempted just 61 passes in eight games, and the team averaged 178.2 yards on the ground.

“It’s that trust,” said Enz, who took over a 6-3 program that has two state titles and finished as Class 4A runner-up in 2023. “I said, ‘This is what I’d like to do,’ and they embraced it, yeah? You can go to a lot of places that have a ton of success, and they say, ‘Well, that’s not how we do it,’ and that makes it difficult. So I give them a lot of credit.”

Enz kept molding a group that included Fredin and two senior Division I commits in 6-7, 300-pound left tackle Andrew Trout (Minnesota) and 6-5, 250-pound defensive end/tight end Brody Woods (North Dakota), and seven different receiving targets Thursday night.

“He’s completely different from Herberg, not better, not worse, just different. Honestly, they’re both great coaches, elite coaches,” Trout said. “But there’s different styles. You have to get used to it.”

On Thursday, Totino-Grace kept it close early, answering Fredin’s first-quarter rushing touchdown with a well-placed 16-yard pass into the hands of senior tight end Luther Bunge from senior quarterback Michael Sarych, new under center for the Eagles. A young Totino-Grace team had its own adjustments to make, having graduated around three-quarters of last fall’s starters.

Totino-Grace sophomore cornerback Edward Benson’s goal-line tackle helped the still-gelling Eagles make a fourth-down red zone stand in the first half, but Rocori’s size and experience won out once the Spartans found their rhythm.

Senior Maddox Abel and sophomore Tyson Zauhar capped off the Spartans’ surge with fourth-quarter interceptions, and Abel took his back 50 yards for the final touchdown of the game.

“We have a killer mindset. We never turn it off,” Trout said. “Foot on the gas pedal the whole game.”