First day of football practice at local high schools

About half past 8 a.m. yesterday, with the sun already beating a steady path to the wide-open field just north of Midlothian Turnpike, Gary Warren was hard at work at his new job.

He's the football coach at Richmond's George Wythe High School, the fifth head coach in the past four years.

Yesterday was the first day of practice for most of central Virginia's high school football teams. Some teams such as Benedictine, Goochland, Petersburg and Blessed Sacrament Huguenot have been practicing for a couple of weeks because they play games Aug. 28.

Teams that play Sept. 3 or 4 started practice last week. Those who began yesterday in heat somewhat contained by intermittent clouds and a breeze play their openers Sept. 11. George Wythe, which has a nine-game schedule, doesn't open until Sept. 18.

For Warren, the new job comes with its share of challenges: The Bulldogs, who play in the Dominion District, enter this season with a 44-game losing streak, just nine games off the state record held by another Richmond school, Thomas Jefferson.

"I don't care about the past," Warren said after practice. "I care about the present and the future. That's what I can do something about."

Warren and assistant coaches Darrell Jackson and Shawn Garris ran the players through the usual first-day drills. They ran and jumped and tackled foam-filled dummies. When they weren't leaping, they were sprinting. When they weren't catching the ball, they were chasing the guy who did.

About three dozen players showed up. That's a robust turnout for a team that had trouble fielding two dozen players at times last season.

"Last year, the wrestling team had about 30 guys and the football team had 17," said Purnell Spears, the equipment manager and a fixture at Wythe since he enrolled as a freshman in 1971. He was a four-year football player, then came back as a coach after playing four years at Virginia Union University. He works at Reid Elementary School now but still comes back to Wythe to help keep the gear in order.

Spears spent about an hour watching practice and offering a history of a program that he said once dominated the central Virginia sports scene. He said the big change he has seen through the years is camaraderie.

"When I played, we all knew each other, we hung out together," he said. "These guys, I bet you can't find three who know where the others live. Football is not about who's the strongest or who can lift the most weights. Football is about the team. You have to have the desire to win."

There hasn't been much team at Wythe in recent years. There hasn't even been a junior varsity squad in two years.

That's Warren's focus this year. If he can get enough players to come out and keep coming -- he's expecting more once school starts Sept. 8 and the buses start running -- he'd like to field a JV team.

"We need a feeder program," he said. "That's what I'm working on this year. I'll take my bumps and bruises."

Warren is new to Richmond, but he didn't walk into any surprises at Wythe. He grew up near Wythe's principal, Willie Bell, in Southampton County. The two played for the same coach at Virginia State University and once worked at the same high school in Gaston, N.C.

Bell didn't shy away from the losing streak when recruiting his new football coach. "I know all about the streak," Warren said recently. "That came up during the interview. There's no reason to hide from it. It is what it is."

It's an opportunity, most at Wythe say. With about 1,000 students, the school isn't short on athletes. The problem in recent years has been getting enough of those athletes onto the football field.

"It's tough," said Spears. "That [streak] feeds on itself, and the kids don't want to be part of it.

"But they need to know that fast money on the street isn't the answer. Football isn't always the answer. It's got to be about education. When you don't come out, you're not hurting the coach. You're hurting yourself.

"The coach has already got his. He got his degree. Now, it's your turn to get yours. Sometimes, football is the way to get there."

In the locker room after practice, the players were exhausted but excited about the coming season.

"I think we have pretty good chances," said junior Robert Burroughs, a fullback and defensive end. "That streak's over with. We're going to win."

While several teammates were talking of an undefeated season and the playoffs, junior quarterback Renard Wallace took a more reserved approach. "It's always like this in practice," he said. "It's in the games we have problems."

He said he wasn't sure what the cure was for that problem. "We just need to keep working hard," he said.

Warren said he was looking forward to that.

"It's exciting to be in on the ground floor," he said. "We can build it up the way we want it."

Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or .