Local Sports
BUILDING THE CULTURE
By Justin GravesRelated Photos
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Members of West Point High's football team go through offseason strength and conditioning drills early Monday morning.
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A.J. Lamar will take over as West Point High's head football coach this season. He led Vinemont to an 11-10 record with one playoff appearance in two seasons at the helm.
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Add a comment on this storyYelling and screaming could be heard from across the road.
The source of the hoopla was approximately 200 yards away on West Point High’s practice football field. There, two groups of players were pushing tractor tires under the morning sun.
And these tires weren’t rolling.
Using tractor tires that were taller than most of the players, members of West Point’s football team took turns flipping them end over end all the way across the practice field.
It was just a little friendly contest — one of many strength and conditioning games played by the Warriors early Monday morning — but the competition was fierce.
The losing team got to run. The winners, they got to watch.
And the whole football team, well, they got a little stronger because of the activities. Or, that was the general idea, at least.
Just call it strength and conditioning, West Point style.
“They’re getting after it, aren’t they?” first-year Warriors coach A.J. Lamar said. “They’re busting their tails this morning.”
These unorthodox activities aren’t new at West Point. Local strength and conditioning coach Steve Johnson has been doing this with the Warriors for a few years.
What is new is the intense, in-your-face attitude that Lamar brings to the practice field — something the players have already caught on to.
“He’s tough. There’s no doubt about that,” junior running back Black Cobb said. “Coach Lamar is going to push us … really make us work.
“But hey, I like it. That’s what we need.”
West Point junior Brandon Jacobsen agreed.
“We’ve been doing this for a few weeks, and it’s been tough,” he said. “But I think everyone has started to get used to Coach Lamar. He demands a lot from us. And if someone is lagging, he’s going to get on them pretty good.
“But that’s not a bad thing. I can already see a difference out here.”
Lamar knows he’s intense. It’s something he’s picked up from every football coach he’s ever played for — including former Cullman coach Dale Cook and West Alabama coach Bobby Wallace, who Lamar won three national titles with at North Alabama.
Now Lamar is trying to implement that same coaching style at West Point.
“We’re just trying to get mentally and physical tougher,” he said. “That’s something we’ve got to do.”
In two seasons as Vinemont’s head football coach, Lamar took a program that perennially underachieved and turned it into a playoff team. The Eagles finished third in Class 3A, Region 7 last fall— snapping a six-year postseason drought.
At West Point, Lamar inherits a team that made the Class 4A playoffs a year ago.
But just making the postseason isn’t enough for the first-year Warriors coach. Lamar wants West Point to be a program that advances a few rounds every season.
Lamar believes he knows how to make that happen, and it starts with a strong offseason program — one that every member of the football team participates in.
And when Lamar says every member of the football program, he means it.
After West Point’s varsity football team finished its two-hour workout at 8 a.m., a group of local Pee Wee players took the practice field to do the same thing.
Now that’s starting early.
“But these guys, they’re the future of our program,” Lamar said. “And plus, Steve does a good job with them. They’re having a pretty good time.”
It’s obvious that West Point’s coaching staff has been thinking about the program’s future. All of the teams are on the same page.
Former varsity assistant Randy Jones is going to coach the middle school team this fall with the help of longtime Warriors coach Michael Simmons. And according to Lamar, they’re going to run the varsity’s Wing-T offense.
“That’s really going to help in the long run,” Lamar said. “It’ll make the transition easier for those young guys when they get to the varsity level.”
It’s all part of building a winning culture at West Point. That’s Lamar’s ultimate goal.
“These players just have to keep buying into what we’re doing out here,” Lamar said. “It all starts right here … with what we’re doing right now.
“We can’t be afraid of a little hard work. That’s what it takes to be a winner.”
Justin Graves can be reached by phone at 734-2131, ext. 257 or by e-mail at jgraves@cullmantimes.com.
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