TRION, Ga. — Trion can count on having at least three things this high school football season: a new coach, a new stadium and renewed enthusiasm.

Former Rome coach David Humphreys as been hired to guide the Bulldogs, who are also making the transition to a new stadium. Humphreys said the project cost about $1.3 million and is a nice way to usher in the 75th anniversary year of Trion football.

Now it’s up to Humphreys and the staff he’s assembled to revamp a tradition-rich Class A program that’s slipped some in the last few seasons. Although Trion has lost 19 of its last 25 games, Humphreys looks favorably at the immediate future.

He likes how the players have responded to working with strength and conditioning coach Scott Chandler. He said developing some depth along the line is of major importance.

“We’ve got extremely high expectations,” Humphreys said. “All the coaches we’ve brought in have been around winners. I expect us to have an immediate turnaround. I don’t know about winning X amount of games, but I didn’t come here to rebuild a program in two or three years.”

That attitude is not lost on the players. Junior Glenn Emery is a running back and defensive back whose outlook this year is “start little and go big.”

“It’s been really intense,” Emery said. “They’re looking for the best, and we want to be the best. We’re ready. We just have to put it together. We’ve just needed somebody to get us there, and I think we have that.”

The Bulldogs return about half of the starters on each side of the ball, but the schemes are going to be new to everybody.

Senior quarterback Daniel Prince will direct the veer option offense. Results on that side will be reflected by his perfornances.

Emery said he thought defense, particularly tackling, is the area where the most improvement is needed. Trion will run what Humphreys calls a “Blitz 4-3.”

Regarding Humphreys’ attention to the third phase of the game, last season he was special teams coordinator for the Arena Football League’s Georgia Force. He’s working on finding a kicker and a punter.

Humphreys said he enjoyed his time in the AFL and the challenges it brought but missed the developing of relationships with young people and watching as boys mature from freshmen to seniors. He’s glad to be back in the high school ranks and said it was equally important for him to be somewhere where passion is abundant.

“This town loves football,” Humphreys said. “You can’t go outside for five minutes without somebody pulling you over and wanting to talk about football. Unfortunately, the last three or four years we’ve not done a whole lot.”

Comments