The football team is in the process of an entire makeover. 

The football team cleaned house with the coaching staff and it is now the start of a new beginning. 

Over the course of the off-season, Ethan Atchley was named new head football coach after previous head coach Mark Sander stepped down. With that came changes that have shown to be in the positive direction. The coaching staff, the way they do things and how they carry themselves as football players are all changes that have been impactful for the players. 

It was a crazy offseason for the Chargers football team as they were going through transition with a new coaching staff, but not only that, they were transitioning to class 6A for KHSAA football. That is a big change for a team that now has a 6A state champion in the Male Bulldogs to compete against in their district. It is something the team is looking forward to, though, as they know how they need to get better to compete against the best of the best. The Chargers entire district for class 6A consists of the Male Bulldogs, the Fern Creek Tigers and the Southern Trojans. The task is large, but the reward could be even larger. 

The team has been hard at work all offseason, starting with the strength training. Senior running back Max Gauthier said, “The practices are a lot harder with a lot more supervision and attention to detail. We focused on that a lot more and it paid off for a lot of us as we felt a change in our bodies.” The practices have been a lot more fast paced, which was something they were not used to so they had to get accustomed to the change. 

Leadership is a huge role in a team that is going through change as the leaders have to show a “buy in” approach. Once leaders show a good mentality, others will follow and it is a domino effect. “I try to be a vocal leader when I’m out there like motivating everyone and getting everyone through no matter how much it takes out of us and do it for the team and not yourselves. There’s no place to mess around so I get on people about that as well to limit all that,” said Gauthier. The Chargers will need that senior leadership during the season. 

There are many new faces on the field this year, but not at the quarterback position. Junior Aeron Adams is in his third year on the team and with a year of varsity under his belt, he is looking to have a breakout season and lead the Chargers to more victories. “There is always room for improvement with myself and everyone, so I’m always looking to improve and help the team the best way I can. Leadership is key as well and all the seniors and some underclassmen with bigger roles are really stepping up and doing a good job of bringing everyone along,” said Adams. The coaching staff is changing the mindset of the players and Adams loves that and is glad that everyone is buying in to them. 

Preseason rankings won’t show it, but the Chargers are bound for a good season. The Chargers are predicted to finish 28th in the 6A rankings and all the odds are against them, but that is just even more motivation. “I predict we have a winning record this year. It’s a ‘shock the world’ kind of feel to me and it motivates me everyday to shock a lot of people this year,” said Adams. A season like last year and a new coaching staff coming in would lead people to believe those rankings, but the players are motivated and ready to attack everyday better than the last. 

RED is the new fast, GOLD is the new standard.