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GRUNDY COUNTY YELLOW JACKETSRegion 4-3ACrisp Field, 24970 Hwy. 108, Coalmont, TN 37313Driver’s seat: Casey Tate (first year here and overall)Road tested: 2 offensive, 2 defensive starters return
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Pump the brakes: All five starting offensive linemen from last year are gone. The quarterback transferred. The first- and second-string running backs graduated, as well as the top receiver from 2014.
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Route ’15: A dark cloud looms over Coalmont. Tate is trying to blow it away. He is concerned more with measurable growth in individual skills and team development than what the scoreboard reads on Friday nights.
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Taking the wheel: Junior RB James McDaniel is the lone returning player with considerable varsity experience. He’s an explosive runner with good size and strength. Senior Cody Crisp is the only senior on the offensive line, but he didn’t play last year. LB Dwayne Grooms leads the defense.
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Cruise control: Most of the best Grundy players would be on freshman or junior varsity teams at other schools. The strength of the 2015 Yellow Jackets is in the talent of underclassmen who have yet to earn or gain varsity experience.
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Backseat driver: An opposing coach said, “The team we played last year was one of the worst Grundy County teams I’ve ever seen. They’ve got to be in a rebuilding phase.”
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Rearview2014 game resultsAug. 22;Marion County;lost, 49-22Sep. 5; Sequatchie County;won, 36-35Sep. 12;Silverdale;lost, 10-6Sep. 19;Signal Mountain;lost, 70-14Sep. 26;South Pittsburg;lost, 49-27Oct. 3;Chattanooga Christian;won, 30-24Oct. 17;Bledsoe County;won, 28-7Oct. 24;Cumberland County;won, 44-36Oct. 30;Notre Dame;lost, 68-13Nov. 7;McMinn Central;lost, 43-14 (first-round playoffs)5-6, 3-2 in District 7-AA
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On the horizon2015 scheduleAug. 21;at WhitwellAug. 28;Marion CountySep. 4;Cannon CountySep. 11;WatertownSep. 18;at UppermanSep. 25;at South PittsburgOct. 9;at DeKalb CountyOct. 16;York InstitueOct. 23;Sequatchie CountyOct. 30;at Smith CountyRegion 4-3A games in bold
Pedal to the medal
Grundy County coach Casey Tate hopes he has a cure for a chronic ailment.
He calls it "the loser's limp."
It's not a medical term by any means. But it's a mood, a feeling, an attitude that infects one individual, then spreads to his entire team over a period of time.
"When you have a group with 'the limp,' that's the first thing that you have to cure," Tate said. "We have to cure that, or nothing else will matter. The talent that we have coming in cannot be contaminated by that."
Tate is high on his crew of freshmen and sophomores, but they have no experience.
"If they had a playoff system for JV teams," Tate said, "we'd be in the mix."
He needs those younger players to learn the proper way to prepare, practice and perform so the Yellow Jackets can flourish as a program in the future. But the immediate outlook is bleak.
Grundy County graduated 14 players from a 5-6 squad and returns three starters from last year, plus a lineman who had spot starts two years ago but didn't play a snap last season.
Tate has told his leadership council - a group of his most veteran players - that it's going to be rough. Junior running back James McDaniel, who has aspirations of playing at a small college, has shown maturity in his approach to the season, Tate said.
"He has a grasp of what's coming," the coach said. "He doesn't like finger pointing and reminds players in the huddle to do their job as best they can. His mentoring is very good."
Capsule by David Uchiyama; contact at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or follow on Twitter: @UchiyamaCTFP.