MAX Round Table Puts Elmore County Football in the Spotlight

With another high school football season just around the corner, the MAX Round Table turned its attention to the coaches, players and communities preparing for Friday nights across Elmore County.

Presented by the Elmore County Economic Development Authority and hosted by Doug Amos, two days of broadcasts brought the conversation to Coach’s Corner in Downtown Wetumpka and Baumhower’s Victory Grille in Millbrook.

Elmore County High School Head Coach Kyle Caldwell and Wetumpka High School Head Coach Bear Woods joined the broadcast in Wetumpka, while Stanhope Elmore Head Coach Hunter Adams and Holtville Head Coach Cory Lee took their turns behind the microphone in Millbrook.

The settings changed, but the conversations carried many of the same themes. Leadership, preparation, community pride and the work being done to build programs that last were at the center of each coach’s outlook heading into the season.

At Elmore County High School, Caldwell is preparing a Panther team that will lean on returning talent while asking a number of players to step into larger roles.

One area of interest is at quarterback, where Kason Moe will lead the Panthers’ offense. Caldwell talked about the advantages that can come with having height at the position while emphasizing that the fundamentals of playing quarterback remain the same.

“At the end of the day, it’s still decision making and getting the ball out,” Caldwell said.

The Panthers return experience at several key spots, including the backfield, while other positions will depend on players who have spent the offseason preparing for their first significant varsity opportunities.

For Caldwell, preseason conversations about returning starters only tell part of the story. Every season creates opportunities for players who may have waited behind older teammates to show what they can do when their number is called.

That development will be important as Elmore County prepares for another season in Eclectic, where Panther football remains a centerpiece of the community each fall.

In Wetumpka, Woods is entering his fourth season with a program he believes is beginning to see the results of years spent building its foundation.

“It feels like year one in a lot of ways,” Woods said.

For Woods, that feeling does not mean starting over. It comes from seeing many of the pieces he and others envisioned for the program beginning to work together.

The connection between Wetumpka High School, Wetumpka Middle School and youth football has become increasingly important. High school coaches are spending time around younger teams, terminology and expectations are becoming more consistent and youth football participation has grown.

Woods said those relationships help young athletes and their families feel connected to the program long before they reach the varsity level. That sense of connection stretches beyond football. Wetumpka has continued to build traditions that bring its athletic programs and community together, including Meet the Tribe and community pep rallies.

Woods also wants his players to understand the history of Wetumpka football. The program uses legacy jersey numbers to connect current Indians with players who previously wore them, reinforcing the idea that representing Wetumpka comes with expectations.

One of the standards Woods emphasizes is HEART, which he defines through humility, effort, attitude, reliability and toughness.

That culture will be important for a Wetumpka team replacing a number of starters while returning some proven playmakers. Quarterback Charlie Skipper returns after a sophomore season in which he established new marks within the Wetumpka program. Woods also pointed to players including Cooper Wilson, Jeremiah Sears, Carson Tate and Zion Robinson as Indians who could take on important roles this season.

Wetumpka will face a challenging schedule, including an opening road trip to Andalusia. Woods sees that early test as an opportunity to put his team in an environment that feels much like the postseason.

The larger philosophy remains simple.

“We’re going to win the moment,” Woods said. “We’re going to win today. Each moment just prepares us for the next.”

That emphasis on building a program beyond one season was echoed by Adams at Stanhope Elmore.

Adams enters the year with a luxury he has rarely had during his coaching career in Millbrook, a returning starting quarterback.

“This will be the first year that we’ve had a returning starter at quarterback,” Adams said.

That continuity gives the Mustangs an important piece to build around, but Adams said one of his biggest questions entering the season has less to do with talent and more to do with leadership.

Stanhope Elmore graduated experienced players who carried significant responsibility within the program, leaving an opportunity for the next group to establish itself.

“Talent can only take you as far as leadership is going to allow,” Adams said.

For Adams, player leadership shows itself in more than what happens during games. It can be seen in effort, accountability, the condition of the locker room, how players communicate and the way a team represents its school away from the field.

When players begin holding one another to those standards, coaches can spend more time developing football skills and less time reinforcing the basic expectations of the program.

The Mustangs have also continued putting resources behind development away from football. Adams discussed the academic support available to his players, including remediation, reviews and test preparation. The goal is to develop students and young men alongside football players.

Adams also sees the strength of high school football throughout Elmore County continuing to rise. In past seasons, one or two county programs may have separated themselves from the rest. Now, Adams believes teams across the county are capable of competing for postseason opportunities at the same time.

That growing strength is something Holtville’s Lee sees from a slightly different perspective.

The Bulldogs are coming off a season Lee believes was better than the final record indicated. Close games slipped away, but the experience also showed him areas where Holtville needed to improve.

One of the biggest was leadership.

Lee said he has seen several players embrace that responsibility during the offseason, changing the feel around the program.

“Our guys are all in,” Lee said.

He has also noticed something equally encouraging. His players enjoy being at the facility, enjoy being around one another and are willing to work. For a coach entering another season, that can make a significant difference.

Holtville plans to place a greater emphasis on controlling the football offensively after its defense was asked to spend too much time on the field during portions of last season. Lee believes a more balanced approach can help the Bulldogs remain stronger late in games.

The roster includes experienced players who will be asked to carry significant responsibilities, along with younger Bulldogs who will get their first real opportunity under the Friday night lights.

Lee pointed to players such as Ryan Putin, Mason Ziglar, Drayton Byrd and Blake Irvin while discussing the group expected to help lead Holtville this season. But some of the numbers that excite Lee most are not on the varsity roster yet.

Participation throughout Holtville athletics is strong, particularly among younger students. The football program has also worked to create a more consistent transition from middle school to high school by using similar terminology and introducing younger athletes to the system before they reach the varsity level.

Lee said last year was one of the first times the program made that continuity a major focus, and he is already seeing freshmen arrive with a better understanding of what is expected.

Youth participation throughout the Holtville community is growing as well, giving Lee confidence in what could be coming through the program over the next several years.

“Holtville is a great place to be,” Lee said.

The community has embraced the Bulldogs in return.

Lee recalled being surprised by the football atmosphere when he first arrived in Holtville. Since then, improvements to the stadium and gameday experience have added to an environment that already brought families together on Friday nights. A strong turnout for Meet the Bulldogs offered another indication of the enthusiasm surrounding the school and its athletic programs.

That relationship between schools and their communities became one of the threads connecting the two days of MAX Round Table conversations.

Football facilities across Elmore County are not used only by the players taking the field. They become gathering places for families, students, alumni and visitors. Youth athletes grow up in those stands watching the players they hope to become, while generations of residents return each fall to support the schools that represent their communities.

Those experiences are part of the larger quality of life conversation ECEDA continues to have throughout Elmore County.

During the Millbrook broadcast, ECEDA CEO Richie Beyer joined Elmore County Commissioner Bart Mercer and Spencer Baumhower of Baumhower’s Victory Grille to discuss the continued growth taking place throughout the area.

For ECEDA, investments in recreation and athletic facilities are part of building communities where families have places to gather, young people have opportunities to participate and residents can take pride in the places they call home.

Baumhower’s Victory Grille itself has become part of that growth in Millbrook. With deep ties to football and Alabama, the restaurant provided a fitting setting for a conversation centered on the sport and the communities surrounding it.

The two broadcasts offered plenty of discussion about wins, returning starters, quarterbacks and the challenges waiting on this year’s schedules. They also showed something bigger.

In Eclectic, Wetumpka, Millbrook and Holtville, high school football remains deeply connected to the identity of each community. The coaches leading those programs are preparing their teams to win games, but they are also working to build leadership, pride and a foundation for the players who will come next.

Soon, the offseason work will give way to Friday night lights.

For the Panthers, Indians, Mustangs and Bulldogs, another season is ready to begin, and communities across Elmore County will be there with them.