Greyhounds christen Montgomery’s first spring practice in pre-dawn
The stillness of the early-morning serenity was pierced during the middle of last week, as the Greyhounds took the turf around 5:30 a.m. at Greyhound Field to begin spring practice under first-year head coach Justin Montgomery.
Jones County began its spring with three early-morning practices in a row last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, building toward a May 17 intrasquad scrimmage at Greyhound Field.
With any change of coaching staff, there are bound to be different ways of doing things. That was a prime focus on Wednesday morning. After six seasons of Mike Chastain at the helm, one facet of Montgomery’s staff is how practices flow, from warming up to drills.
That, the Greyhounds new head coach said, was a prime focus on the first day for a staff that other than Alexus Humphries and David Denson is mostly new to JCHS.
“We’re growing. Day one was about establishing how we practice and day two was about growing,” Montgomery said. “I thought that we did a really good job of growing on day two. We tell our guys, you are either growing or decaying, and we grew.”
Obviously, more changing over is to come for the Greyhounds in adapting to a new scheme on both sides of the ball and replacing key losses from last year in quarterback Devin Edmonds, defensive back Javion Butts, receiver Javion Solomon and linebacker Zaccari Thomas.
The transition flips to the coaching side as well as coaches get to know players in their position group. One example? Players practiced last week with names taped to their helmets.
“It’s important to make sure that we have the right guys in the right position,” Montgomery said. “The scheme will come. Our philosophy is players, technique and then plays. The scheme is going to come; first we have focus on our players and techniques.”
An additional change-up in spring practice to previous years is how it will end for Jones County. In the past, the spring ended with a scrimmage game. This year, it’ll wrap up with an intrasquad scrimmage, giving the Greyhounds coaches more time to evaluate what they have in hand.
“We’re able to focus on small things and basics before we play someone,” Montgomery said.
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