Sitting in an office away from his coaching staff last week, Brent Tinker pondered two questions about his Fox football team.
The first item on the head coach’s mental agenda was how his Warriors went from a 10-2 season in 2020, including an impressive playoff run, to 3-7 last season. The other question was who will play quarterback, after Grant Gibson transferred following his sophomore season in 2021.
The answers, Tinker said, do not involve roster attrition.
“The way I see it, it’s pretty simple for us,” Tinker said. “We have got to refocus on being reliable, good people. Once we can master that, we’ll start winning again.
“Our issue last year wasn’t talent. We believe we have the talent to be a tough team if we can refocus. That team two years ago was the perfect storm. It’s not a matter of me being angry with last year’s kids, they just didn’t achieve a maturity standpoint that’s needed. If we can put value on our school attendance, and penchant to make it to practice, we will win more games.”
Senior Dylan Stevens and sophomore Cameron Underwood are vying to succeed Gibson at quarterback. “Dylan is leading the way as a senior,” Tinker said. “He’s gained 20 pounds and is growing and maturing. Underwood was an all-conference defensive back last year as a freshman.
“The returning kids at running back are (senior) Dom Murray, (junior) Kevin Nguyen, and Aidan Smith, another junior. And we’ve got a good handful of others (getting reps) through there.” Murray, Smith and Nguyen combined for 1,362 yards on 174 carries last season.
“(Junior) Kyle Gast is our biggest threat from a receiving standpoint. Senior Clayton Boice and junior Sawyer Petty will be our tight ends.”
Tinker repeated his annual wish that he’ll be able to limit two-way play for his linemen as much as possible. Sam Street, Tony Redding, Hudson Brewer, Payton Younger, TJ Locklear and Hunter Hathaway are the leading candidates on the offensive side.
“Some of the offensive linemen will do double duty on the defensive side, when needed,” Tinker said. “So there’ll be some crossover, but I like Chase Pfeffer, Tarik Erdic, Sam Gaines, Tommy George and Hunter Naylor over there (on defense). We have a strong group of linebackers, including Nik Nordin, Cole Simpson and Sam Street (all seniors), juniors Jamieson Winfrey and Landon Ellis, and sophomore Brayden Griffith, who I’ve really been impressed with. Gast, Stevens, Underwood, Dalton Evans, Junior Pisoni, Sam Michel and Wes Jeffers will form the defensive backfield.”
What he’s looking for the most on defense, Tinker said, is consistency.
“The big thing is we’re returning three starting linebackers (Nordin, Street and Winfrey), and we think that’s a pretty seasoned group. In fact, if you look across the board, we have a fairly good number of starters, returners, and others climbing the depth chart.
“What we’re looking for is a much more consistent defense. Last year we didn’t stop the run and gave up big plays. We have to reverse that and have more consistent performances.”
The Warriors open Friday at home against Mehlville (5-6 last year).