Let’s meet the 2021 Brooks Lions.
After finishing 6-5 for the second straight season, the Brooks Lions are looking to emphasize competitiveness as they prepare for the new campaign.
“I think that’s the biggest thing,†head coach Brad Black said. “Anything that you do in life, if you’re competitive and you try to be the best that you can, that’s huge. And at times last year, I felt that we weren’t there. I felt like we showed flashes of it at times, but we weren't there consistently like you want to be.â€
Black is entering his seventh season as Lions’ head coach. The team has posted a winning record and made the playoffs during every year of his tenure, but there’s a shared feeling that his squad this year is different.
“This senior class is a class that I saw when they were young and I said they had something special about them,†he explained. “I think they have the potential to do whatever they want to do and I’ve told them that and a lot of coaches can’t say that to their teams or you know if they do they might be lying to them a little bit, but I can stand in front of our guys with full honesty and tell them they have everything that they need to do whatever it is they want to do. It’s gonna be up to them to do it.â€
Coach Black isn’t the only one who sees it. Senior quarterback Kyler Murks shares the sentiment that the sky's the limit for this group.
“I think this is going to be our best year at Brooks football in a while,†Murks said. “I have a lot of confidence in my guys.â€
Murks has been working on his speed to improve his ability to score on runs this season. But looking at the team, the biggest improvement he’s seen is on defense.
We’ll see if the Lions can hold opponents under 300 points for the sixth time under coach Black when their season begins against Colbert County on Aug. 19.
