Former Opp Bobcat Orlando Lacey is excited to get the season started as a member of the Troy Trojans’ football team.

“Fall camp has been going pretty good,” Lacey said. “This weather has been pretty hot, but it’s been going good.”

Lacey said the he has enjoyed competing for a starting position.

“Just being able to get out there and compete for a starting job has been the most enjoyable,” Lacey said. “That’s basically what I like about. The competition and just having fun with my teammates.”

This season, Lacey expects to see more action on the field.

“Playing time is looking good for me,” Lacey said. “I’m starting on some special teams and working my way up the depth chart on defense. All I have to do is keep working my way up there and I will find my way up there.”

Lacey is a redshirt sophomore this season for the Trojans.

“I play cornerback and I got moved to kickoff return and punt return,” Lacey said. “We worked out a lot this summer. We started back last week doing recovery workouts so we want be sore in fall camp and we can be fresh.”

The Trojans have a brand new head coach this season in Chip Lindsey and Lacey said he is excited to play for him.

“Coach Chip… I love Coach Chip,” Lacey said. “He has introduced a lot of new things to us like nutrition and us being able to preform better in fall camp because fall camp is long. We are there from 7 in the morning all the way to 8 at night. He has introduced us to a lot of stuff and he is a cool guy to be around.”

To be successful, Lacey said there are many things that drive him.

“Basically, every time I want to do something in sports or football, my family and the people in my hometown that have been supporting me are what drives me to be my best,” Lacey said. “That pushes me through everything. The biggest thing is God. I read the word every morning when I get up. My family drives. With me being from a small town, that motivates me to put Opp on the map. That’s a big drive.”

Lacey said he is going to continue to work as hard as he can to earn a starting job on defense.

“I would say I just want to go out there and dominate,” Lacey said. “Try to get on the All-American list either first-team, honorable mention or something like that. I’m really trying to set my goals high so that I can achieve them.”

Lacey said he has high hopes for the Trojans this season.

“The team is looking pretty good,” Lacey said. “We are building together. This is a very special team. We are very close, we get along great with one another and we joke around with each other. The biggest thing is we all love each other and would do anything for each other. That’s a big thing when it comes to a team.”

The Trojans should have a strong defense this year as well as strong offense, Lacey said.

“I say our strength will be our defense,” Lacey said. “Our defense is pretty talented. We have a lot of depth, a lot of freshman that are going to play and we have a lot of veterans on defense that can do some special things. We have some people on offense that can do some special things. We have Kaleb Barker (quarterback) coming back and we added a new receiver from Mississippi State, Reggie Todd, and we added some new freshman out there that can dominate the game also.”

Besides working on football, Lacey said he has stayed focused in the classroom as well.

“We finished up in July and I had a couple of days off so I went home for a few days,” Lacey said. “I did pretty good this summer and finished up with a 3.0. Summer was good and I got bigger, stronger and faster.”

Lacey is studying communications with a focus in sports information.

“I’m studying communications,” Lacey said. “I want to go into sports broadcasting or something where I can be around sports and be the information guy. I’m liking the classes. I got introduced to journalism technology and that’s part of my major. I learned how to do photos, adding stuff into photos, newspaper articles and stuff like that. It was pretty challenging, but it was cool to learn. Now I know how to do it. It’s pretty cool. Hopefully, I can end up with another degree and then go into coaching.”