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Tigers start spring practice
Indeed the task could be a daunting one for the Tiger staff which will be looking to replace 16 seniors who formed the nucleus of the winningest class in Thomasville High School football history, having won 45 games in their four years in the program including 11 of the 15 post season games played during that period. Add to the equation that there are only four starters returning on offense and four starters returning on defense and it is easy to see that the Tigers have a lot of hard work ahead of them. In the end though for Hankins and his staff it's really pretty simple. "Naturally it is our goal this spring to find the best player possible for each position and develop a little depth," Hankins said. "But more importantly we want to build team unity with players who have character, who are concerned about being a good student and who care about each other. If we can achieve that we believe being successful on the playing field will take care of itself." If finding that many replacements weren't challenging enough, the Alabama High School Athletic Association didn't really make it any easier when they limited the number of spring practices to 10 days this year instead of the customary 15. That basically means one less week for the Tiger coaches to evaluate the 96 aspiring young men who started spring practice. As is customary in the spring, each of the practices will be very physical with the majority of the time being spent on the fundamentals of the game like blocking and tackling. "With the shortened time frame we feel like we need to get as much as we can out of each practice," Coach Hankins said. "So we will be wide open from the beginning to the end every day. That is the only way I know to prepare these kids to be mentally and physically tough enough to handle a schedule like we will have this fall." The 2008 schedule which includes seven teams who advanced to the playoffs last season including four who went at least to the quarter finals may indeed be the toughest schedule a Tiger team has faced in recent history.
Spring practice, which actually began on Monday, April 28, is scheduled to wrap up on Friday, May 9 when the Tigers host Holt High School and Southern Choctaw High School in a three team jamboree. The format for the game will involve each team playing the other for one half. Kickoff for the event is set for 7:00 PM at D. F. Anderson Field.
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