Last night marked the debut of the new Bainbridge High School football coaching staff. The Bearcats played in a scrimmage game against Chamblee in preparation for the upcoming season and the first regular season game next week in Bainbridge against East Gadsden High School.

Because I am writing this on a dreary Friday afternoon, I sure hope the rain stayed away and the teams had a dry field to play on and the fans stayed dry.

I am really excited and anxious about the upcoming season. The Bearcats have a new head football coach and several new additions to the coaching staff.

This will be Jeff Littleton’s first season as the Bearcat head coach after a very successful run as the defensive coordinator at Cairo High School. Even though he spent several years in Grady County wearing red and black, I am thankful and excited that he and his family now call Bainbridge home and don the purple and gold.

I have been able to spend some time with Coach Littleton and his staff over the past few weeks and very impressed would not be a strong enough description of what I think about what I have seen.

Are they miracle workers? No. Should we all be making plans to be in the state championship game in Atlanta this season? Probably not.

You might think of this season as the first building block of many successful seasons to come. There is still a lot for these players to learn about new schemes, new terminologies, and new approaches to playing the game.

But I am fairly confident saying that you will see a bunch of kids playing with lots of effort, heart, and determination this season. Coach Littleton told me the very first night I met him back in March that the team approach would be to play physically, to play fast, and to play aggressively. Just a few days ago, he used those exact words when I asked him what we should expect this season.

His message, again from the first time I met him to the team, is simple; but, if you really think about, very powerful. Do right. Very simply, just do right.

Another big factor and change that I noticed right away is that this staff wants football players—not offensive players or defensive players, they want football players.

That means that for the first time in several seasons, some of the players will get playing time on both sides of the ball. Chances are if a kid is a good running back, he’ll be a good defensive back. If he is a good offensive tackle, he, most likely is a good defensive tackle.

I think the new defensive coordinator, Brian Hill, summed it up best when he told me “when the game is on the line, we want our best 11 players on field.” I really like and appreciate that philosophy.

If you missed the game last night, please make plans to attend the first regular season game next Friday night at Centennial Field.

The football players, the cheerleaders, the band members and all the faculty, staff, and workers associated with the game have been working hard for many months to entertain you and represent our community in an admirable way.

Hey, I’ll see you at the games.