Considering Porters Chapel Academy is coming off a 1-9 season, it seems appropriate that one of the best symbols for its potential football renaissance is the toilet.

Over the past couple of years, the bathroom in PCA’s football fieldhouse had grown grimy and unkempt. Sinks and urinals were dirty, floors were sticky. The general funk had spread to other parts of the building as well, and in a metaphorical sense to the program as a whole. The Eagles went 3-17 the past two seasons.

A recent cleaning effort by the players and coaches has restored it to a spotless condition, however, and given a team trying to claw its way back to respectability a point of pride to grow on. As they progress through their summer workouts, the clean fieldhouse is an emblem of a new, and hopefully brighter, era for the team.

“It’s a thing we started on, and now we want to keep it that way,” PCA junior linebacker Glenn Alan Kittrell said. “He’s not going to allow you to let it go back to being that way. That’s not how he runs his program.”

The “he” Kittrell is referring to is new coach Blake Purvis. The Porters Chapel alum returned to his alma mater with the mission of rebuilding the football program, and has started by laying the groundwork this summer.

Purvis was hired in February, and so far he and his players seem to be getting along famously. The players said they liked Purvis’ coaching style and discipline, and he praised their work ethic and positive attitude.

“He just knows how to put confidence in each player,” junior linebacker Michael Brewer said. “He brought new programs for running and lifting, and everybody’s jumped on the bandwagon with him and believes in him.”

Even during the dismal 2015 season, when the Eagles’ only win was a forfeit against Riverdale, they never seemed to get down. Only three players left from that team, so most kept an eye toward the future. Purvis said that sunny attitude has carried over to 2016.

“Any time you have a group of kids that want to be here and have the desire to get better, that’s half the battle as a coach,” Purvis said. “It’s much easier to coach a group that’s coachable and eager to learn.”

The mutual respect has made for a smooth transition to the new regime, even though there’s been little in the way of actual football played so far. Most of PCA’s players also play baseball and are splitting their time between the two sports. The baseball team gets them for two days each week, and then they come to football for two days.

The limited practice time has led Purvis to focus mainly on conditioning and weight lifting in June. He said he’ll start focusing more on the X’s and O’s after the July 4 holiday, when the summer baseball season ends.

The lack of football work might also be indirectly tied to the lack of a quarterback. Returning starter Garrett Hutchins broke a bone in his hip while playing baseball last week. He’s expected to be back in time for the start of preseason practice in late July, but will be on the sideline for most of the summer.

“I definitely wanted to see him out here throwing. But it will give us a chance to find our second-team quarterback,” Purvis said. “To make the best of a bad situation, that’ll help us find another guy. In a week or two, he’ll be able to start lifting and he’s getting mental reps and getting what he can out of the month.”

For the rest of the Eagles, June is about laying a strong foundation for August, September, October and, hopefully, November. One thing is certain — Purvis and PCA have a plan this summer and are following it carefully to make certain things stay neat and tidy.

“I think we’re on pace for where we need to be. We’ve still got a lot of offense to install. That’ll come this summer,” Purvis said. “I think with our work ethic and desire, we’re on pace. Half the battle is getting them to believe and show up with the desire to get better, and we’re there on that part.”