Preseason practices begin Aug. 2 as Lions embrace return to normalcy

July 30, 2021 at 7:43 am Updated: August 5th, 2021 at 1:34 am Derrick Stuckly

Brownwood Lions head coach Sammy Burnett is beginning his fourth season in charge of his alma mater. {File photo by Derrick Stuckly}

For the Brownwood Lions football program, a return to business as usual is a welcome sight with the start of preseason practices set to begin Monday,

During a 2020 campaign in which the Lions posted a 4-6 overall record and reached the playoffs as the No. 4 seed out of District 5-4A Division I, Brownwood had to overcome a two-week quarantine for head coach Sammy Burnett, followed by a two-plus week quarantine of almost the entire program, which then resulted in reshuffling the district slate as games took place just five days apart after initially being told multiple contests would have to be forfeited.

But all those worries are behind the Lions, who are eager to start their fourth season under Burnett’s direction.

“We’re extremely excited,” said Burnett, who owns a 19-14 record with three postseason appearances in his first three years coaching his alma mater. “For us, what happened last year is behind us. We’ve set our eyes forward, we’ve forgotten about the pandemic and the days missed and the frustrations that came with that. We used it as fuel to take every day that we’ve had, and there’s been a lot of them which is good, and use them to the best of our ability. The kids had an opportunity to work all spring and they’ve worked extremely hard in the summer. No one’s giving us a chance, we’re not ranked in the Top 25, but we like that because only we know our heart and what we’ve done to try to get where we want to be. It’s been a consistent spring and a consistent summer, so we’re hoping for a consistent fall.”

Players report Monday at the high school at the following times:

1 p.m. for Seniors
1:15 p.m for Juniors
1:30 p.m. for Sophomores
1:45 p.m. for Freshmen

All equipment aside from socks will be provided by the coaching staff if players so choose.

The first practice for the varsity and JV Lions will take place at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Gordon Wood Stadium, while the freshmen will practice at the high school soccer practice field, which faces Good Shepherd.

Tuesday through Friday, practices will begin at 7 a.m. at the same locations.

The initial week of practice concludes Saturday with intrasquad scrimmages at Gordon Wood Stadium. The varsity will take the field at 9:30 a.m. with the subvarsity squads to follow at 11:30 a.m.

Regarding the first week of practice, Burnett said, “We’re still rocking and rolling from the summer, the only thing different is we’ll put a helmet on. What we want to see is growth and development in the mastery of their position. Learn the playbook and don’t ask what route I’m supposed to run or what I’m supposed to do. When a receiver or back goes in motion out of the backfield, we want to see adjustments being made, not OK let’s stop and talk because we weren’t anticipating those type of adjustments. Alignment on defense, proper coverage, making adjustments on offense, and simple execution are the main things.”

Due to COVID and the early closure of school in 2020, offseason work was extremely limited. Burnett said the Lions have made the most of having that opportunity return in 2021.

As for where the Lions have displayed the greatest strides, Burnett said, “chemistry, the desire to be a team, their work ethic and their willingness to listen to each other. I think that’s going to be our big strong suit. They’re a group of guys that love each, they trust their coaches tremendously and they do what they’re asked to do.”

Regarding the 2021 roster, Burnett pointed to the strengths as, “our line. They’re going to be good, I don’t know if that’s the biggest strength but it’s going to be a strength for us because I’ve seen those kids work. We also have some talented kids on the outside. We should be well-rounded.”

Concerns coming into the season include the defensive line and linebacker corps.

“The question mark for me still is our D line and maybe a couple of spots in the linebacker positions, but all in all there’s not a lot of bunch of concerns,” Burnett said. “We’ve put one of the best coaches in the state of Texas in David Jones with our linebackers so I don’t worry too much about it because he’ll get every ounce of effort out of them that we have in a kid and put enough knowledge in the kid that he can play.

“Fortifying our D line was an opportunity to put two coaches in that position so they can double up that D line and focus real hard on that. We’ll have two sets of eyes instead of one and I think we’re going to be solid in that area. We just have to make sure we get the right person in the right spot on the field, that’s what our challenge is going to be.”

The Lions will host Salado Aug. 13 for their first scrimmage, venture to Godley Aug. 19 for their final scrimmage, then welcome Lampasas on Aug. 27 for the season opener at Gordon Wood Stadium.