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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

It’s year two for the Oak Mountain Eagles under Shane McComb, and their hope is that year two will bring many positive changes and a step in the right direction toward their long-term goal.

McComb and his staff got a full year to implement their offseason program, and he believes that the culture changes that have happened since he got there have made a big difference.

“The kids bought into the culture,” McComb said. “Day one of spring ball looked a heck of a lot different than last year. Guys know the expectations, where they’re supposed to be, how they’re supposed to get there and we’re going to be a more well-rounded, stronger, faster, older football team.”

One of the other big changes is to both the offensive and defensive systems. While McComb used his old systems from his previous coaching job in California during year one, this year’s schemes look completely different, and that’s by design to better suit the players that they have.

While new offensive coordinator Jerad Holder’s offense is quarterback Will O’Dell’s third system in three years as a starter, he believes this one will play to their strengths at each skill position, including Marty Myricks in the backfield and a promising receiver corps.

“I think coach Holder has done a great job of fitting the offense around our players and playing to our strengths,” O’Dell said. “Great backfield, Marty, he’s working hard. He got a lot bigger this offseason, so we’re obviously going to want him to have the ball a lot. We’ve got some good receivers, Sean, we’ve got Walker Shook and Jacob Moore going in at our Y and Zach Fitzgerald will be another playmaker out there. Coach Holder has just done a great job of finding where we can get the ball to our best players.”

One of those skill positions will look a little different as cornerback Sean Ray joined the receiver room as a slot player. He’s looking forward to using his athleticism on the other side of the ball to bring another dynamic to the offense.

“I’m excited for this season,” Ray said. “I get to use my speed out at receiver, so we’re going to be able to move the ball well pretty well this year.”

Over on the defense, while the secondary is currently down a couple of playmakers like Jayden Aparicio-Bailey, it’s the defensive line that the Eagles hope to hang their hat on while the defensive backs get healthy.

Colton Moore believes they have progressed a lot from last season, particularly in their communication thanks to returning nine of their 11 starters, and the pass rush will be a calling card of this defense as he teams with Niko Varvoutis and Caleb Jaworski.

“I feel like our d-line has improved a whole lot,” Moore said. “We had a linebacker leave, but we had a young guy fill right in and he’s doing everything he needs to do. I feel like we’re going to be a whole lot more physical this year.”

Cole Kelly believes a big part of that is because of improvements communication which came from having so many starters back. It comes from the top down thanks to the bonds that the senior leaders have from playing with each other for so long.

“I think it comes from leadership,” Kelly said. “All of us seniors, we’ve played since we were young. A bunch of us have played since we’re sophomores. So, our senior year, we can be some big-time leaders, letting people know what to do and keeping everybody in line.”

With a mix of old and new challenges on deck for this season, the Eagles hope to be more competitive this season as they rebound from a challenging 1-9 campaign in 2023 and continue to give their young team experience they can use both now and in the future.