Football camp begins at WCHS
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With this being the “Volunteer State,” after all, and Monday being the first day of Pioneer camp, you could just sense that someone would proclaim that traditional Tennessee slogan.
And, just like clockwork, there it was, shouted across the WCHS football field by new head coach Gerald Tidwell as he got the team started for the first session of Monday’s opening three-a-day practice.
“Come on, guys! It’s football time in Tennessee!”
Tidwell and the Pioneers hit the field bright and early Monday morning, beginning a week-long series of three-session practices at 6:30 a.m.
By the end of the day the players were tired, they were hot and sweaty — but they were also fired up and happy to be back on the gridiron.
“It’s kind of rough, being the first day back since spring,” said senior running back T.J. Jarvis. “But it wasn’t too bad, though.”
“Everybody’s fired up. (Coach Tidwell) gets us pumped up pretty good, and hopefully we’ll come together as a team a lot better now.”
This year’s senior Pioneers are no strangers to beginning practice with a new coaching staff, as they’ve had three head coaches over their four-year careers.
According to Jarvis, however, the amount of organization and the coaching techniques the team is experiencing with Tidwell — along with his staff of John Dryden, Matt Turner and Chris Madewell — is a refreshing change from past fall camps.
“The way he runs things is a lot smoother, a lot cleaner,” Jarvis said of his newest coach. “The other coaches we’ve had, they’d just kind of throw us out there and tell us to do things.
“This year seems a lot more organized, and there’s more teamwork.”
Monday’s session was held with players going through drills in shorts and helmets.
According to Tidwell, his staff will continue to teach techniques through Tuesday and Wednesday’s sessions, with plans calling for the team to hit the field in full gear Thursday.
As Monday’s practices progressed, the Pioneer head coach said he detected a steady, and expected, increase in his players’ enthusiasm.
“That’s always been the case in this type of practice set-up,” he said. “Because when the kids start out, they don’t know what to expect. They don’t know what the staff’s going to be like, or how hard they’re going to be pushed.
“But by the afternoon they’ve got a feel for it, and they say ‘Hey, I can handle this.’ And they get more fired up as you go.”
“I was pleased with the way they reacted to Day One of getting after it,” he added. “I was talking to them walking off the field, and they said they weren’t even close to this level of intensity or being pushed last year.
“But this team stood up all day, and reacted in a positive way to being pushed.
“They had a good attitude coming off the field, and I think they really want to change the way people look at Warren County football.”
Three-a-day practices continue throughout this week, with the Pioneers scheduled to spend the second week of fall practice at Camp Tanisi in Westmoreland.
PHOTO LEFT:
The sun rises over Warren County’s practice field Monday.
PHOTO RIGHT:
The Pioneers ‘break it down’ following one of Monday’s drills.
BOTTOM PHOTO:
Linemen Greg Cotten (54) and John Morrison (60) participate in agility drills. While WCHS has a wealth of linemen, coach Gerald Tidwell said more skill players are needed. (Rob Nunley photos)