Tiftarea is in need of depth, but that isn’t dampening their spirits.
It is no secret that smaller schools struggle with the number of players on the roster, leaving them susceptible to injuries that could wreak havoc on the lineup. And while the Panthers have suffered some damaging offseason injuries, head coach Tully Payne and his staff are already piecing together the answers.
“Last season I learned that I needed to change my offensive style a little bit to better suit my team,” Payne said. “Defensively, we installed a brand-new system last year, and I think we’re going to be a lot better because the kids are going to understand more, and the speed of the game will change for them because of that knowledge.”
But more important than X’s and O’s, Payne is still reforming the culture surround Tiftarea’s football program.
“We are basically building this program from the ground up,” Payne said. “When I got there, the weight room was not a priority, practice was not a priority. You know, these were things that they just kind of did if they wanted to. We came together and we decided that if we expected anything out of it, we had to put something in it.”
Tiftarea will go to work in preparation to face the GISA’s most dominant region in recent history, 3-AAA.
In the Game Magazine / South Georgia / August – September 2017
Tiftarea Panthers
Panthers Hope for Health and Developed Depth
Written by Cole Parker
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