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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Calera Eagles are working hard to put last season’s disappointments behind them and focus on the future that’s ahead of them with a new man at the helm.

Scott Rials arrived in Calera in January as the third different head coach in three seasons, and he brings a much-needed spark to the group after an 0-10 campaign in 2023.

One of the most encouraging signs is that the players have bought in to the culture change and have fully supported their new coach in his first few months in charge, putting in the work in the weight room and on the field to acclimate themselves to his new systems.

While Rials knows this won’t be an overnight transformation, it’s that support that he believes makes the difference early on.

“I’m so proud of these young men and the effort that they put out day-to-day because it’s hard. It’s a grind,” Rials said. “And these guys that come in, they didn’t know me when I got here in January, I didn’t know them, but they have come in with a good mindset with a good effort, with a good attitude on a day-to-day basis and understand that, ‘Hey, it’s going to take us a little bit, but we’ve got the wherewithal to do it.”

More discipline and motivation have been two of the biggest differences that the players have seen since Rials took over, and LeShond Boone said that support has changed a lot.

“We have a better support system,” Boone said. “The coaches push us a lot to get things done, work hard and they’re just with us through everything.”

On the field, this is a Calera team that shares DNA with previous playoff teams thanks to their speed on both sides of the ball.

The offense will once again be led by AJ Johnson at quarterback, and he’s put in work over the offseason to become a sharper passer and better leader.

Rials said Johnson still has room to grow but he is incredibly optimistic about his starter’s ceiling.

“I think this is starting my 27th year as head coach, and I’ve had several quarterbacks sign and playing college, and he’s probably as far as just arm strength, the best that I’ve had,” Rials said. “He really can spin it. He’s got a lot of things to work on. His reads and his techniques sometimes and those kinds of things, but he can be really special. He can have a huge year.”

He’ll be complemented by another quick and athletic receiving corps, and it’s a deep group led by the dynamic KD Young.

The group not only shares the same mold as legendary wideouts Kobe Prentice and Braylyn Farrington but were taught by them as well. Both receivers came back to practice over the summer to help teach the current crop of Eagles, and Young has taken certain aspects from their teaching over the years.

“Kobe Prentice, he’s one of the faster guys, he taught me some of the routes I run, some techniques I’ve used to get open and where to be and how to be there at a time like that when I need the ball,” Young said. “Braylon Farrington, he’s fast, go and take the top off. He just told me, ‘Run. Ain’t nobody can run with you.’”

With a veteran offensive line heading up the attack, the backfield should be another strong piece of the offense with Demetrius Davis to serve as the primary running back.

Davis trusts his offensive line to help him succeed and is working on taking advantage of their good blocks to maximize his runs.

“We’re just making sure we’re hitting our holes right, reading and cutting off them,” Davis said. “I feel like we’re going to be really good in the backfield this year and the offensive line is really strong up front. ”

Over on defense, the Eagles hope to use that same speed to stop opposing offenses. Young has seen the defensive backs in particular get closer through good communication, which has helped them become a more effective unit.

“We’ve been working more on communication from a DB perspective because that was our biggest problem last year,” Young said. “We didn’t really communicate on the field. So, we’ve been trying to get calls in faster, talk to one another when we’re on the field and make sure we’ve got the right call.”

Playing together as a unit is one of the key goals for the Eagles this season. For offensive tackle Kade Mitchell, that looks like players picking each other up during practice and fostering a positive atmosphere that brings them closer.

“We’re just using each other as motivation,” Mitchell said. “Somebody’s down, pick them back up, somebody else is down, pick them back up and just be a unit as one, not as 22.”

Rials’ goal since the moment he stepped into the school has been to get Calera back to its team motto: “Fly As One.” He has regularly stressed to the team the importance of living out that simile on the field and in their lives, giving their best effort while lifting each other up.

This time, he also offered another analogy of the team being a train, taking a full team effort to pull it along. He believes the effort and talent are there to help the train leave the station and move full steam ahead toward their long-term goals.

“Everything’s got to work together to get that train up and down that track and get all those loads to wherever they got to go,” Rials said. “So, I say, ‘Hey, we’re like that train. We’ve got to all pull the same way. If just one of those engines isn’t pulling the right way, the whole train is going to slow down.’ So, we’re trying to get the train, get it on the track, get it rolling in the right direction and hopefully get a big head of steam in there and get that thing going down the hill.”