Limestone County Schools hosted its fourth annual football media day on Thursday — with coach and player representatives from each of the six county schools offering insights into their respective offseasons, team chemistry and what to expect for the 2024 campaign.

See quotes of note below.

Tanner

“It’s been great — first year as head coach back at my alma mater. I love Tanner — been here my whole life. Played ball there, graduated there. To be able to come back and take over this football program is huge for me. It’s my dream job.” — Matt Smith

“Coach holds us accountable, makes us better, makes sure we make our teammates better in practice — weightlifting, doing drills, everything like that. Really making sure we’re giving 110 percent on the field, off the field and in the classroom.” — Matthew Fletcher

East Limestone

“It’s been a lot of meetings trying to learn a lot of new names. I’ve only been around the kids about three times, but it’s been good to get to know them a little bit. Met with the seniors by themselves to try and get a feel for what they want their final year to be like. It’s just trying to keep your head above water … continuing to do what they’ve done all summer, but also trying to think of what needs to be added as well as the changes that I’m bringing.” — Will Johnson 

“I gained a lot of respect for coach very fast. He brought back the old-school East Limestone mentality — hitting the weights hard, being stronger than the people in front of you and really trying to dominate them every play. He stands on hard work.” — Hayden Bonville

Ardmore

“Our senior group has been in the culture for four years now, and I think we have really good senior leadership. These guys are ready to win now — it’s just a matter of figuring out how to do that. It’s about how do we score more points and how do we not give up as many points — those old coach clichés. This group has been great, though.” — Jonathan Snider

“Spring training really showed us who wanted to be out there and who was just there. I think all of us started counting down the days since our last game, because we all just love going out there and playing the game.” — Dawson Pearson

Clements

“It’s been very exciting. It’s a lot — I’ll say that — but I can handle it. Couldn’t ask for better kids. They’ve bought in and worked hard. We’re going to let them play and have some fun. I can’t wait to see what they can do.” — Brick Pugh

“Coach is pointing us in the right direction both physically and mentally. He gets on our butt and makes sure that we’re doing what we’re doing correctly. No skipping reps, no taking off a play. He’s making sure we’re prepared.” — Dominic Holt

West Limestone

“It never gets slower. It’s high school football in Alabama, so it’s not hard to get excited for. We’ve had a great summer, and we’ll start narrowing down some details and finding out who can do what in fall camp. That’s when you start seeing younger guys step up and older guys show leadership. That, to me, is the exciting part.” — Shelby Davis

“This team is special. We all love each other, we’re all close and we’ve worked really hard all offseason. Coach says every day, ‘It takes what it takes.’ There’s no formula for winning. You have just got to work hard, so we’ve been determined to work hard.” — Brady Crawford

Elkmont

“The kids have been really receptive. They work hard, get after it and do what we ask them to do soaking up new stuff. The admin and community are good, too, and I think everything is in place for us to be successful.” — Joel Schrenk

“The stuff coach has brought to us has been pretty easy to learn, and the attitudes have been great. It’d be great to win even more games this year, because I know how exciting it was last year being 3-0. I would like to do that again.” — Jake Guthrie