TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) — High school football scrimmage games were held Saturday morning at Chiles High School. One of the teams in attendance was Jefferson County, along with their new interim head coach and possible thoughts of how the upcoming season could turn out.
Just two days ago, Jefferson County's head coach, Leroy Smith was terminated. Players were left wondering why and what was next. Immediately after the news broke, Rodell Thomas stepped in as the Tigers' interim coach. Thomas is currently a dean at Jefferson County High School. Thomas said, "One thing, the reason I took over as the interim coach is to try and keep this group together. They are a close group, a close-knitted group, they really loved Coach Smith. I know a lot of the kids so I thought me stepping in and not letting anyone come in new, that we could hold this team together. So, that's the reason I took over as coach, is to try and keep these kids together."
While Saturday was just a scrimmage, the tigers did not score in their game with North Florida Christian. However, Coach Thomas is still proud of the team on how hard they played. "If we can just take away the mistakes that we had, go and fix them, we're going to have a great season."
Coach Thomas said the seniors' leadership is getting to where it needs to be. "I can see each and everyday they are stepping up. And that is all I want to see because this is it for them. They have to play hard and try to keep the team together." The coach said he's most happy with the team sticking together.
