Tigers coach gearing up for spring
Published 12:00 am Monday, March 6, 2006
It's been a month since Bryant Vincent has taken the reins of the Greenville High football program and he has yet to slow down.
The Tigers new coach has been gearing up for his first spring practice as a head football coach in April, by doing all the little things to get his team ready for spring drills.
While Vincent has been impressed with the work his team has shown in the weight room, he said that he has noticed an aura of excitement outside of the weight room.
“After four weeks, you can feel the excitement,” he said. “And it's not just from the current football players, I've had other athletes come to me and want to try out for the team. Everyone is on board with what we are trying to do to revive this program from the administration down to the students. It's been four weeks of success to me.”
Although the Tigers are more than a month and a half away from the start of spring drills on April 24, Vincent has been busy getting things in order for the upcoming fall season already.
The preparation begins in the weight room, and he's using the work in the weight room to help raise money for new uniforms.
“We've been rocking and rolling and trying to take care of a lot of things in a short period of time,” he said.
The Tigers will host a lift-a-thon on April 20 in the school gymnasium to help pay for the new uniforms. Greenville will sport a gold top with black pants during home games, and a white jersey with black trim with the black pants on the road.
“The lift-a-thon was very successful when I was at Spain Park,” he said. “We were able to raise about $19,000. We've set a goal for each of our guys to raise at least $100 each.”
The top two pledge takers will earn a prize, while the best 8-man pledge team will be awarded a group dinner, Vincent said.
Prior to the lift-a-thon, Vincent is calling for a mandatory parents meeting of rising freshmen and varsity players on March 16 at the high school auditorium.
“We want to give our parents a spring calendar to see what we will be doing during spring practice and talk about our summer workout schedule and booster club membership to get more parental involvement,” he said.
Before the varsity football team plays host to Highland Home in a spring scrimmage at Tiger Stadium on May 12, the team will have a kick-off dinner at a site to be named later with Troy University head football coach Larry Blakeney serving as the guest speaker.
Vincent said that his varsity staff will conduct spring practice with rising seventh and eighth-graders starting April 11.
Vincent also is hoping to see Greenville field its first freshman football team in at least three years.
So far the Tigers have six games scheduled, and Vincent said he's hoping to schedule one more. The Tigers are scheduled to face Booker T. Washington, Monroe County, Carroll-Ozark, Charles Henderson, Wetumpka and Stanhope-Elmore.
“I can't believe a school this size hasn't had a freshman team,” Vincent said. “This is the bloodline to the varsity. By having a freshman team, this allows our players to get better, mature as a player and make a more easy transition to the varsity level.”