WCHS football coach Tom Moore gave the Noon Rotary Club of McMinnville a report on the current state of affairs regarding the 2017 Pioneer team as they prepare for the upcoming season.
The Pioneers are getting ready for DeKalb County, as they play host to the Tigers on Aug. 18 at Nunley Stadium to kick off the year.
“I am doing things differently, which means the team is doing things differently than we have before,” Moore said. “Like coach Nick Saban from Alabama says, there’s only one way to do things and that’s the right way. I’ve listened to a lot of people at the school who will say you have to do this, you can’t do that here … I stopped listening to people and am doing some things I believe in.”
Not having a lot of starters returning, and many of the bigger players that made up a strong line, has necessitated adjustments in the ways the Pioneers will go about winning ballgames.
“We have some talent this year but most of our kids are just mediocre so we’re doing some things that are different,” said Moore. “I don’t think you can talk about winning until you do the things necessary to win.”
“The first year I was here I have some of the worst pregame speeches to the team and the reason was I knew in my heart that we weren’t doing the right things to win in practice. We didn’t walk off the field one time that I felt we had a good practice,” said Moore. “I feel like we’re doing quite a bit better. We had two good practices this week. We had one winning practice and one losing practice. Our kids have a good attitude, they’re not talking back.”
One of the goals Moore wants to accomplish is to give the county and city something they can be proud of, referencing last year’s Blackman game.
“Blackman is a tremendous team. Our kids came out there we took the ball right down the field and scored. We tied it 21 all and had the ball at the end of the game but couldn’t close the deal,” said Moore. “We’ve got a tough schedule and there’s some teams that are great challenges. Hustle and good attitudes, good defense, running to the ball, not dropping it, it’s the basic stuff and that’s what we have to do as a team.”
Returning to the gridiron again this year for the Pioneers is QB Isaiah Grayson, who will also play some defense this season.
“He’s one of the best athletes we’ve had in this county,” Moore said. “He’s a really good basketball player smart and good on defense. I could use three of him.”
Trayton Rackley is returning as linebacker, Deandre Thomas in a defensive lineman, Shawn Woodlee, fullback/nose guard, Zane Maxwell, offensive line/linebacker, Luke Nisbett, defensive tackle/defensive end and Jacob Marsh, longsnapper/outside linebacker.
Missing some size this year without players like Ethan Stuart and K’Rojhn Calbert, Moore says the Pioneers are going to throw more in an attempt to spread out the defense and give the team running room.
“You have to commit to throwing the ball,” Moore said. “We have a young receiving corps and lost two this year due to personal reasons. We do have some new talent from recruiting the hallways. I wouldn’t have noticed Brandon Hennessee, but he tried out and now I think he’s going to make a pretty good receiver. Some guys come out and don’t like it, that’s fine we don’t hold it against anyone who tries out and doesn’t think it’s for them.”
The Pioneers have three scrimmages planned, tweaking the earlier schedule with the first being next Friday at Nunley Stadium against Lincoln County. The Pioneers then play host to Tullahoma on Aug. 4 and travel to Columbia to play Dixson County on Friday, Aug. 11. Each scrimmage will include an extra quarter for the freshman teams to play as well.
Several members of Noon Rotary had questions for coach Moore after his briefing including:
Q: “How many players are on the team?”
– Don Collette
A: “We have 65 including freshman. We had 30 guys after the season and recruited the halls and sports teams for 30 additional athletes.”
Q: “How’s the turf at Nunley Stadium?”
– Neil Schultz
A: “We’ve had great weather. It takes a lot of rain and heat to grow Bermuda grass and we’ve had it.”
Q: “There’s a lot of discussion about how well our middle school football does and then get lost in the hallways at the high school. Can you address that?”
– Ben Myers
A: “I don’t think they get lost in the hallways. We had a great team, but we have just one middle school. Many of the other counties have several middle schools so their talent pools are diluted. We also lost two good players to Coffee County. The middle school also plays their natural rivals. We’re in one of the top 10 districts in the United States including Murfreesboro’s Blackman and Riverdale. I think the most important thing is to keep the younger student-athletes engaged. Our freshman team went 6-1 and had a good experience, and that’s key.”
Q: “Do the students at the high school not on sports programs have any sort of PE program,”
– Wallace Bigbee
A: “We’re going to block classes this year. The difference is block classes consist of three 1.5-hour classes instead of 7 classes. One class is weightlifting at the end of the day. Most of our athletes enroll in it as they can workout during the day instead of after school like they do in Murfreesboro. Any student can enroll in the class, they don’t have to be in a sports program.”
Moore reported he’s looking forward to working with Mike Mansfield who is heading the football booster club this year. The football team has five fundraisers, already having completed three. Upcoming will be a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s Saturday and the football players will be selling discount cards for the local community which bear the Pioneer logo and schedule on the front, local discounts and offers on the back. If you want to buy a card and don’t see a football player about, you can email coach Moore at mooret@warrenschools.com or text at 615-927-5627.
Coach Moore arrived at the WCHS football helm in 2015 after a 24-11 record in three years at Brentwood Academy.  He previously led some of Tennessee’s most-recognized secondary schools, including Montgomery Bell Academy, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Christian Brothers High School in Memphis and Franklin Road Academy.  After earning his BA in history at Vanderbilt University, where he was Commodores football team captain, he received a master’s in business education at the University of Tennessee.