TALLULAH — First-year Tallulah Academy football coach John Weaver knew that the attitude around his program was a serious one when he showed up on Monday for the start of practice.

His line coach, Brad Ulmer, whom he had seen at church on Sunday with some length of hair, had shaved his head for the 7 a.m. practice and was already making his booming voice heard amongst the linemen.

It’s a fresh start for a Tallulah program ready to make a step up from last year’s winning season.

There’s a new scoreboard, a state-of-the-art Daktronics unit, waiting to be mounted. There’s also the refurbished locker room with more improvements on the way.

“I think we’re just really a hungry team,” Weaver said. “We had phenomenal attendance in our offseason workouts and when I asked the kids how they rated their first practice, the average was an 8 1/2. The work we’ve been doing is paying off.”

Tallulah is trying to shake the bitter taste of a playoff loss to Porters Chapel in the first round of last year’s MPSA Class A playoffs.

But that taste won’t have long to linger, as the Trojans face their rivals from across the river in the opener on Aug. 21.

It’s been a motivating factor, a battle cry for the Trojans as they dive right into two-a-days in helmets and shorts. While many schools eschew the age-old format of two practices daily in the blistering sun and soup-thick humidity, the Trojans embrace the old-school style.

The day is divided into two sessions. The first, from 7 a.m. until noon, is spent strictly on conditioning and agility work. The team works in 20-minute blocks, spending five minutes apiece at four different stations where a different physical element is tested. Then there are the feared gassers, sprints which build stamina and character coated with a heavy veneer of sweat.

The afternoon session couldn’t be more different, as the team focuses on the mental side of the game with a meeting and 7-on-7 and pursuit drills. It’s clearly the fun part of practice, especially for the skill position folks. With the Trojans playing a lot of spread, it’s important work.

“We’ve had a really good competition between our wide receivers and defensive backs,” Weaver said.

The reason, said Weaver, for putting the thinking part of practice in the afternoon session is a simple one. Players tend to focus more in the second session with all of the unpopular conditioning out of the way in the morning.

“I tell them that we’re going to crack their coconut in the morning,” Weaver said of his practice regimen. “But I want your brain in the afternoon.”

The Trojans have 26 players on their roster and will start practicing in full pads on Saturday.    

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburg.com