The football field tucked in the hollow behind Warren Central Junior High holds a secret.

It’s a secret shared among a select few in the sweat that rolls down the faces of tired athletes as their lungs burst from running in the 90-degree heat. It’s whispered by the incessant tweet of the whistle Jim McGowan blows to start another drill. And it’s finally told to the world in the long line of successful football players who have come through Vicksburg over the last decade.

The secret is McGowan’s workout program. Roughly two dozen players, ranging from junior high prospects hoping to improve their game to college stars trying to stay at a high level, show up four times a week to run around cones, up hills and over the grass on the unlined field. It’s all an effort to improve their agility and their games, and those who have tried it are enthusiastic supporters of the regimen.

“Put it like this – last year I broke a record. I felt like I was in the best shape I’ve ever been in,” said Arkansas-Monticello wide receiver Von Mixon, a former Vicksburg High star who set the Gulf South Conference record for receiving yards in 2004. “I feel like he should get paid for what he does out here.”

McGowan doesn’t get paid, though.

A 1989 graduate of Vicksburg High, he played at Hinds Community College before coaching that school’s running backs in 1994 and ’95. While at Hinds, McGowan noticed how Warren County’s players often lagged behind their counterparts from Jackson when they arrived for fall drills.

“You weren’t hearing from a lot of them until their senior year,” McGowan said of the Warren County players. “A lot of kids from Jackson weren’t better athletes, but they were in better shape so they got the spots.”

After leaving Hinds to go into private business in 1996, McGowan decided to do something about it. In 1997, he started working with former VHS receivers Michael Slater and Bunkie Perkins during the offseason. Both went on to enjoy successful college careers – Slater at Murray State, Perkins at Memphis – and a tradition was born.

McGowan has organized the workouts every year since, except for one.

After sitting out one summer, his cousin D’Eldrick Taylor – who played the last two seasons at Hinds and will play the next two at Southeast Missouri State – convinced him to come back.

Over the years, dozens of local players from junior colleges and four-year schools have participated in McGowan’s workouts. They heard about it from friends or coaches and quickly saw improvement the next season.

“It helped a lot,” said former VHS linebacker Ray Kline, now a rising star at Millsaps. “I went into camp in shape, started as a freshman and made all-conference. It definitely works.”

Mixon, one of eight college players who attended Tuesday’s workout, said he saw the difference even sooner.

“Before Chris Humes got hurt, we had to run 110s and we beat all the defensive backs by 30 yards,” Mixon said, referring to his former VHS and current Arkansas-Monticello teammate. “We’re just talking to each other while we’re beating all of them.”

While the workouts are designed to help high school and college players get to the next level, they aren’t the only ones taking advantage of the opportunity to stay in shape.

Tim and Tony Taylor, 28-year-old twin brothers and cousins of McGowan, use the workouts to stay in shape for the flag football season. Their team, Top Authority, has played in a number of national tournaments.

And Eddie London, who McGowan jokingly refers to as his “graduate student,” is using them to help him in life after football.

London played at Warren Central before moving on to Hinds and Northwestern Oklahoma State. He earned his degree last year and plans to apply to the police academy soon. He’s using the organized workouts to stay in shape, although they have become a summer habit for him after five years of attending.

“It just becomes a habit. Jim did a real good job with me, and I started all four years in college,” London said. “I’ve been successful with Jim. I got one championship ring at Hinds and played for another at Northwest Oklahoma State, so it’s been a real good experience.”

London added that the workouts have also formed a bond between old rivals. Former Gators and Vikings encourage each other throughout the drills, offering friendly competition while pushing each other to excel.

“Different friends from Vicksburg and Warren Central, if they weren’t friends, they come to be friends after being out here,” London said. “We’ve got a little brotherhood going on here.”