One year into his position as the head coach of the Greenville High School Hornets, George Richardson is excited as ever.
A week after last season ended in November, Richardson’s Hornets began preparing for the 2024 season with an extensive weight lifting program. The Hornets have recently started spring practice and this summer they will be hard at work just about every day.
During these weight training sessions, Coach Richardson practices what he preaches. He lifts weights along with his players, and, at 45 years old, he can still out lift all but two or three them.
“The kids keep me young,” he said. “They need to know that I am willing to do whatever I ask them to do. I am trying to compete with them. I don’t need a gym or pay anything. I can stay in shape right here with my boys. I have shed a little weight and put on a little muscle. I am trying to get in shape for the grind of the season.”
The Hornets have their eyes set on an eventful and hard-working summer.
“We have a busy summer,” Coach Richardson said. “We are going to be heading to Starkville every Monday for 7-on-7 drills. We are going to to compete against those teams that have won state championships over the last few years. We get to do that for free instead of paying a lot of money to go to a camp where you just hope that you are going to get some top competition. All I need is gas and a bus driver.”
Under Coach Richardson, the Hornets won two games last season, but that doesn’t tell the whole story, says the coach. In their second to last game of the season, Greenville soundly defeated Yazoo City 34-6. Then, they ended the season with a tough 14-9 loss to Gentry that Coach Richardson said was a game they probably should have won.
“I think we started going in the right direction later on in the season. The big thing is to stay positive. When you break down the film, you know exactly why you lost those games. A lot of times it was just poor execution and just a changing in the mindset of how you deal with adversity. So when things aren’t going well, you kind of automatically revert to what has gone on in the past instead of saying, ‘I am going to step up and fight’.”
The Greenville coach says his defense is a little ahead of his offense this spring. Next year’s Hornet D will be led by players like inside linebacker Alex Parnell, middle linebacker Tashad Thompson, outside linebacker Kenyon Malone (who made second team All-State last year) and free safety Keyontya Winder.
Quarterback Kaleb Titus will be back for his sophomore season, with youngster Caleb Brown as a strong backup QB.
“We are changing a lot of offensive schemes from last season. Offensively we are definitely going to rely on our returning running back Isaiah Green who stepped in when Michael Hodges was injured last year.”
Giving Coach Richardson further optimism is the many middle schoolers who have joined his program.
“One of my main things was to keep our kids who are supposed to come to Greenville High come to Greenville High. That is why spring football is so important with our seventh and eighth graders. They are practicing just like the varsity, full contact. We traveled 30 eighth graders to the jamboree last month. So you pair them with the 48 guys we have on varsity, we are definitely getting our numbers up.”
Coach Richardson added that the support from principal Barren Cleark and athletic director Markeith Washington have been crucial in the growth of this program.
“Everybody I have met in Greenville has been really welcoming. I have got a lot of support in the community. There really is a lot of people who want to see this program be successful. There is a lot of them.”
