Any turning of the football calendar to spring practice brings its own wind of change. It’s no different for the Greyhounds, who officially began spring practice last Wednesday afternoon. It was one of nine scheduled practice sessions for Jones County, which will wrap up the spring May 10 for its spring game against defending GHSA Class AAAA champion Perry.
“I thought we had a good day. The kids are handling transitioning to a lot of things really well,” Greyhounds head coach Mike Chastain said. “I’m fired up as all get out about this group.”
Chastain said after last week’s first practice that one thing is already standing out – senior leadership.
This comes after Jones County graduated a massive senior class after last fall. While the likes of Zion Ragins, Ched Smith, Tyler Stewart and Omarion Tucker are part of those moving on as departing seniors, scores of others who have been part of the continued success of the Greyhounds are among the seniors heading into the fall. That includes quarterback Devin Edmonds, defensive back Javion Butts and other defensive standouts Zacari Thomas and DJ Ingram in addition to receiver Jaivon Solomon and running back Bruno Hicks.
“Our senior class, I can’t say enough about them and the job that they are doing. They have stepped up, and they are leading. They are being the model citizens and players you want. I can’t say enough about the leadership we are getting from them,” Chastain said. “We’re asking a lot of them, and they’re answering the call.”
That’s not to say that spring practice is a rinse and repeat for the Greyhounds. For example, the expectation is for more Greyhounds to play on both sides of the ball than in previous years. That means that getting as many quality reps as needed in spring practice is key.
“We’ve got a lot of new things going on, doing some different stuff,” Chastain said. “We’re asking a lot more guys to play both ways. We’ve never really done that.”
That work is underway under the guise of a coaching staff with a high level of continuity. At this time a year ago, for instance, new coaching staff additions included new offensive line coaches Trent Cook and Daniel Brinson, defensive coordinator Will Conner and defensive backs coach Pat Jordan. Going into the spring, the majority of that coaching staff is intact, although receivers coach Kevin Patterson did accept the head coaching position at Baldwin after the end of last season.
“To be able to be this efficient on the first day, that’s a huge testament of guys knowing what to do,” Chastain said. “Our coaches are a big reason for that.”
