Following the graduation of a senior class that went to the playoff three times, Shady Spring head coach Vince Culicerto knew the task of replacing that group would be difficult. That was reflected last season when the Tigers stumbled to a 3-7 record.
This year, with a wealth of experienced players retuning at key positions, the Tigers are poised to improve.
“It’s been pretty good and we’re ahead of schedule,” Culicerto said. “We feature a lot of returning starters that got a lot of playing time. They’re stepped it up so far and have gotten better. Our line looks pretty solid and a lot of those kids started. At other positions we have Brady Green and Gavin Davis who were key starters last year. They’re seniors now and have another year of experience.”
The task for the Tigers will be to replace most of their offensive production from last season.
Graduates Adam Richmond and James Sellards accounted for nearly 1,800 scrimmage yards and 16 touchdowns while Tyler Mackey added 353 yards and three more scores before a knee injury ended his season.
Still Culicerto likes what he’s seen around the skill positions with returners such as Jalon Bailey in the fold.
“A strength is our starting experience and the quarterback position,” Culicerto said. “I always like having the quarterback back as it helps out a ton. Experience is the strength. Weakness wise, we’ve had more speed than this. We don’t have the blazers but we all move pretty decent.”
“James Sellards played linebacker for three years and it’s tough to replace those guys,” Culicerto added. “We’ve got guys that are ready to step in and some of the other guys got experience at similar positions and now it’s their turn to step in. We lost Tyler (Mackey) pretty early last year so other guys got to step in and play. We’ve got guys ready to jump right in.”
Senior Brady Green returns to QB the Tigers and he’s been a bright spot for Culicerto and Co. Last season was his first full season playing since middle school, thus there were growing pains. The early returns through this camp have been positive though.
“The starting QB, their second year is usually a lot better,” Culicerto said. “Brady had some growing pains last year. He had people in his face before the ball got there sometimes so I thought he progressed as the year went. A little bit of that was how young we were up front and a little bit of it was him being a first-year starter. This year he’s been more solid and less mistakes. Hopefully that will be how he plays all year.”
The expectation is the boys up front blocking for Green will be more prepared to do so this year. Seeing as how most of them were underclassmen last season, it wasn’t a surprise to see them take their lumps. But they improved this offseason and grew naturally.
“They’ve gotten a lot stronger,” Culicerto said. “Tenth grade bodies and eleventh grade bodies are different a lot of times, especially on the line. A lot of these kids are stronger and a little bit quicker. That’s a big jump and their mindset. They’re a different style player being a little older.”
On the defensive side of the ball Culicerto has high hopes. Despite the need to replace some key contributors  his optimism about the improvement of the offensive line extends to the defensive trenches where he has most of his key players back. There are holes in the second and third levels but the belief is the coaching staff can help with the learning curve.
“I feel like our defense can be the strongest thing for us if it improves,” Culicerto said. “We’ve got tough kids there and the defensive line is where we’ve got most of the returners. We’ve got some young guys at linebacker and defensive back that we think can be pretty special eventually and we switched things up too so I think it’ll be better looking than what it was.”
The Tigers aren’t saddling themselves with lofty expectations, wanting to clear one bar at a time. Culicerto has been through rebuilds before, surviving one and two-win campaigns before the aforementioned playoff stretch.
“The expectations are the kids from last year play better and the ones who didn’t start, we expect them to play pretty good,” Culicerto said. “I think we can be okay and definitely win more than we lose. Coming off a 3-7 season, I think that’s pretty realistic.”
