Montgomery Academy opens modified workouts
Quarterback Britton Kohn goes through workouts with his teammates as Montgomery Academy opened summer workouts this week. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
It’s the first week of June. There’s social distancing. Face masks. And football practice.
“It’s different for sure,” Montgomery Academy senior quarterback Britton Kohn said. “We’re used to being ahead of things by now. Especially with a new coach coming in, we’re having to learn a lot. How the first week looked, it looked like we were learning fast and kind of handling everything well. Everybody’s had a good attitude. I’m just excited to see what happens.”
Monday was the first day new football coach Robert Johnson could meet with his players and by the end of the week, social distancing, smaller workout groups and face masks couldn’t deter an eager group of players anxious to overcome the cancelation of offseason conditioning and workouts by the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March, April and May.
Schools throughout the River Region returned to the field on Monday (some Alabama Independent School Association teams are waiting until June 8) but few places needed the work more than Montgomery Academy and Trinity, where new coaches were counting on spring workouts to install new offenses and defenses. At Trinity, new coach Granger Shook had an opportunity to meet his players before the coronavirus shutdown on March 13. At Montgomery Academy, this week provided Johnson the first opportunity to meet his players.
“We are further ahead on June 4 than I would have thought we were when I got the job, without COVID-19,” Johnson said. “Meaning, we’re further ahead now than if there had not been a shutdown and we had spring training. Which is very surprising.”
He brought his players up to speed in recent weeks by diagramming plays in Zoom video conferences, followed by game film of previous teams at Tuscaloosa Academy and Lee-Scott Academy running the plays in the correct manner. That, along with Johnson’s on-the-fly learning of his players’ names, made for an efficient workout on Thursday.
“We had two Zoom calls a week,” Kohn said. “It was challenging, for sure, but we would watch his old teams on Hudl. He would share his screen and we could watch that. He would draw up plays and hold it up to the camera, so we were prepared, but obviously it’s way different to come out and run it on the field.
“I knew it was going to be challenging but I’ve known these guys forever and I knew they were fast learners. We always have a good attitude out here and we’re ready to take on whatever. I think we did a really good job out here. We all felt normal out here. We’ve all been comfortable, so that’s a good thing.”
The Eagles accomplished the work with few coaches – on Thursday, Johnson was assisted by Jeremy Arant and his son Noah as volunteer coaches Steve Holloway, Weyman Holloway and James Henderson had other commitments – and in spite of the wholesale change of both the offensive scheme and the terminology in calling the plays.
“It’s a lot different for me,” Kohn said. “Last year, we were strictly spread so I was in the shotgun and could see the whole field. (Tailback) Jamal (Cooper), too, taking (handoffs) in shotgun is different, but I like it. I think it’s a good strategy for us. We’ve got a big offensive line and can really hurt some people with it.”
Johnson’s video education paved the way for a surprising first week of practice, but he was quick to deflect any praise to the players and the previous coaching staff under Gary Nelson.
“I can’t believe how good we looked today on our execution of trying to throw the ball and run some plays,” he said. “The kids really get it. We’ve got a lot of natural leaders out there. There are plenty of times where a younger kid would mess up and I’ve got an older kid already coaching them before I could say something to them.
“You don’t teach that. That shows what kind of parents these kids have and how they were raised. That’s also an indicator of what the previous coaching staff has done with these kids.”