When the 2016 football season rolls around, the Alcovy Tigers will look a lot different.

Earlier this year, Chris Edgar was named the new head coach of the Tigers, and with him came a few changes. During spring practice, Edgar introduced new players, as well as a new playbook.

“I could not have been any more pleased after spring practice,” he said.

According to Edgar, there were over 110 athletes at this year’s practices, including current Alcovy students and incoming ninth graders.

“Offensively, as they were learning the new system, which is really different from what we’ve done in the past, we were able to make some big plays,” Edgar said.

While Alcovy has been a “shotgun” team over the past few years, Edgar says the Tigers will debut a new pro-style offense in the fall that will allow them to go under the center and incorporate a fullback and a tight end for a more power-run game.

On the defensive end, the Tigers will switch to a 3-5-3 defense, meaning there will be three down linemen, five linebackers inside five yards of the ball and three defensive backs protecting the pass.

“It allows them to play all over the field, both in the run and the pass and create some good excitement on that side of the ball,” Edgar said.

There were several bright spots throughout spring ball, including Malachi Dave, an upcoming senior fullback.

“He ran the ball hard down, right there at the line of scrimmage,” Edgar said. “He had nice, good powerful runs, and he also had some great blocking to allow some of our faster guys to get on the perimeter.”

Edgar also praised tight end Austin Davy, who he says did tremendous work catching and blocking the ball throughout practice, as well as middle linebacker Isaiah Dennard.

There will also be plenty of new faces on the squad come August, including an exciting pair. Twins Adrian and Andrae Robinson from Liberty Middle School impressed their new head coach throughout spring ball.
“They showed some flashes of brilliance,” Edgar said.

The Tigers, who will move to Region 3-AAAAAA, are coming off two back-to-back losing seasons, finishing 1-9 in 2015 and 0-10 the year prior. But with the new additions, the team is ready for a new start.

“I think that we are going to be competitive for a chance for a playoff spot in our new region,” Edgar said. “I don’t want to put a number on wins and losses, but I think we’re going to have a quick turnaround.”