With a new year of spring football, comes new faces. After head coach Todd Ford was hired for the job, several new coaches followed his steps. The new football coaches include defensive coordinator Zack Smith, offensive coordinator Marshall Williams, special teams coordinator Tyler Wicke and offensive line coach Vince Hernandez. Ford said he’s very excited to be apart of Leopard football.

“It is a joy to be a part of a program that has established traditions,” Ford said. “As a result, what I would like to do is continue those and add a few wrinkles to hopefully make them even better.”

Ford said he’s still deciding the new wrinkles to input.

“[I’m] really just researching the past and seeing what it is that could be improved upon,” Ford said. “Nothing in detail that is decided yet. That will come through the summer.”

Spring football started up on April 25, and the team had the first scrimmage on May 5 with a second scrimmage following on May 12. The spring game will be held on Saturday, May 21 at 9 a.m. at Leopard Stadium. Wicke said the morning practice is very important to the players.

“[The most important thing in practice is] the ability to get quality work done when you’re still mentally and physically fresh,” Wicke said.

Ford said he’s seen major improvement with the team as a whole from the past two scrimmages.

“Defense wins championships and we will build from there. We have really been pleased actually with all three phases of the game,” Ford added. “Our players have applied our philosophy of improvement each day and it’s exciting to see their growth.”

Ford said that philosophy is about growing the entire program, from the middle school to the current seniors to make the team thrive.

“A culture of small improvements each day is the formula we try to preach, and with that our program will continue to grow,” Ford said.