Coach Seymore expects good season for DHS Tigers
Demopolis High football coach Brian Seymore expects the team will have a good season, but it won’t be without its challenges, the first being the coronavirus pandemic.
He told members of the Demopolis Rotary Club Wednesday that five players have tested positive, and even more are in quarantine. He planned to have the team back on the practice field Thursday and a full complement of players by the first game at Calera on Aug. 20.
The Tigers’ 11-1 season last year took a toll on the team, especially losing to a really good team in the playoffs. “We lost a lot of our key players,” he said, and others got banged up a bit.
The Tiger squad he has always believed is a physical team, a tough team, he continued. “We spent the whole summer really, really trying to get that mentality back.”
One of the ways the team got ready for the new season was through Organized Team Activity, or OTA, where DHS practiced with other schools. It was a chance for the young players to gain more experience, and the coach was very happy with the way the team performed.
Seymore was disappointed that, in spite of the good showing last year, DHS is not ranked in pre-season. “That’s okay because the last time Demopolis wasn’t ranked was my first year, and we had a pretty good year.”
He said there is a good group of players coming back. “The offensive line will be huge,” and he added the running game is looking good as well.
The success of the DHS team attracted the attention of other school programs, and many of the staff have left for another position. He has replaced the entire offensive coaching personnel.
Seymore said his son is in line to be quarterback, and he wanted to back out of offensive coaching. “I get to sit back and be a dad a little bit and watch him play a little bit,” he said. “I know the kid, and he puts a lot more pressure on himself that I ever put on him.”
The coach said they’ve put together “a lot of pieces of the puzzle on offense” and good, experienced players coming back.
Defense is Seymore’s strong suit. “We’re physical, we’re big, we’re athletic, we’re strong.”
His biggest concern for the upcoming season is the kicking game. “I’m worried about the punter, worried about the kickoff, worried about the extra point.” Those are the issues the team will be working on during the next two weeks of pre-season practice.
The Tigers have long road trips ahead of them this fall. All but one of the five away games will require at least two hours of travel.
The end result of all the preparation is winning, being successful, “but I just felt concentrating on doing your job, showing up, being accountable to your teammates, to your coaches day in and day out. Work hard while you’re here,” he said. “We ask a lot of these kids.”
The first DHS home came is against McAdory on Aug. 27.