OZARK, Mo. — A first-year coach leads to a learning curve for any program, but Chad Depee made it clear that last season was not a loss.
"We saw our kids improve throughout the year," he said. "It was a disappointing year. Anybody would say that. You have to look at the positives. We saw kids grow and start to understand things and we see the benefits of that this summer."
Head Coach: Chad Depee (2nd year)
2015 Record: 1-9
Key Players: Nathaniel Burlage (FB), Solomon Douglas (TE/DL), Curt Gracey (RB/DB), Cody Lanning (OL/DL), Noah Tucker (LB)
After an 11-3 campaign at Monett, Depee went back to the drawing board in 2015. The Tigers went 1-9 and fell in the first round of districts, the first time they failed to advance since the current district format was implemented in 2012. 18 seniors graduated from that group, but a host of juniors that gained experience are now providing optimism.
It starts with Nathan Burlage, a bruising fullback who led the Tigers with 453 rushing yards on 90 carries to go with four touchdowns last year. Curt Gracey will also get carries as well as be a threat in the secondary. He racked up 46 tackles and a pair of interceptions in 2015.
"It's not just this new junior coming out and seeing how he'll do. He's been tested as a sophomore, so he can come out and perform at a high level."
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Senior Solomon Douglas returns as a two-way player after leading Ozarks with three sacks a year ago. On the other side, he'll shift from offensive lineman to tight end.
The Tigers' size in the trenches will be fine without him. Four offensive lineman (Cody Lanning, Jace Gorn, Jacob Sanders, Landon Hanson) come in no less than 255 pounds.
The biggest thing Depee has focused on this summer is fundamentals, namely tackling.
"You see everything in our league from guys who are going to line up and 'smash mouth' to guys who spread it out, four verticals, and throw it deep. You have to be able to adjust to everything."
That rings even more true this year as brings in Carl Junction, a team Depee is familiar with from his time at Monett.
"They'll fit in just fine."
With more direction and a year to develop relationships, he expects a better product this fall.
"Our locker room is a bit tighter and guys understand the direction we're trying to go. It's part of that building process, so it's nice to see step two now."
Ozark hosts Carthage to start the season on Aug. 19.
