Competing in the toughest JUCO conference in the country, Mississippi Delta Community College Head Football Coach Tavares Johnson continues to gather more, talented players to compete in the MACCC.
“It's funny you ask that question, because we just had a meeting with myself and my coaching staff. We just wanted to compare and contrast where we were this time last year,” Coach Johnson explained about his team’s total roster number. “I'm a numbers guy. We’ve got 62 players out and we’ve had two live scrimmages. It was flashes on both sides. We had plays that have been made on offense, plays that have been made on defense. No, stop. Plays that have been made on defense – I think we're a little bit further ahead than where we were last year.”
On the offensive side, he’s looking for five specific freshmen to make a huge difference on the offensive line.
“We definitely need to upgrade that position from last year because we were unable to produce anything,” he explained. “These guys have been working their tails off since they signed with us. I'm excited to see them go get after it. We’ve got freshmen coming from schools like Madison Central, Kosciusko, bigger schools.”
But just who will those five freshmen be protecting? Sophomore returnee Troy Griffin ended up as QB1 in 2023 but there’s stiff competition coming in from the transfer portal.
“We have a wide-open quarterback race. We had a guy transferred in from UMass, Conner Whitson, and he's going to push Troy pretty good. And right now, we still don't know who our quarterback will be because both are having great camps. We also had a kid transferred in from Pearl River Community College, Tyrese Hullette, who originally played ball at Senatobia High School.”
With three athletic quarterbacks, Coach Johnson has his pick of players who can “make plays with their arms and their feet. But we are going to present some options. Some triple options. And some speed options, double options. I'm excited about the whole year. And we’ve just got to keep going forward.”
Coach Johnson and his staff have been working to surround those quarterbacks with plenty of weapons, both running and passing.
“It's easy to complete a pass when somebody is wide open. Especially when you're establishing a running game. When you establish a running game, that's what happens. That's always been my focal point,” he said.
With Davion Alston returning in the backfield, the Trojans will also have freshman Trevon Brown from South Delta High School.
“We've got a good mixture of younger guys, so we've got full, legitimate running backs. We've got a young man that played at Hatley High School, Cayson Williams, who’s done a great job for us. Bigger back, probably around about 6-foot, 1-inch and 200 pounds, kind of reminds me of Eddie George. But he doesn’t even know who Eddie George is, isn't that something? Oh my God, that tells me how old I am and how young they are (laughing).”
Coach Johnson noted that even with all that raw talent, the freshman running back has to make that transition from big man on campus at a smaller-division Mississippi high school to the JUCO world.
“The best way I can explain to him on his team in high school, “You were the biggest strong one there by playing in that 2A, 1A division. You just ran people over. But now you got linebackers bigger than you who's looking to knock your block off. So, you gotta allow these blocks up front to develop so that you can utilize your running ability,’” Coach Johnson said.
The Trojan wide receiver corps is looking to make a name for themselves.
“We’ve got three guys returning up front. Outside, Daniel Hall, he's returning. He's from South Delta. These other big kids, Gerald Hanson transferred. He played at Louisville. He played at Utah State and Tyler Community College. And now he's with us. He’s a big receiver. Also returning we have Jermon Baymon.”
The Trojans will also go a little old school this season.
“I think we've done something this year, today, no other team I don't think in the league has done. We‘re playing with tight ends and fullbacks. That's going to be my niche – playing with these tight ends and fullbacks that we have. Both (tight ends) are freshmen. Jalen Gammage is one, and Chris Lipscomb Jr. is the other. Now, Chris, if you see him up close and personal, he looks just like freaking Shannon Sharpe. That's his nickname on the team. But he doesn’t play like Shannon Sharpe. That's what we're working on. That's what we're working on, bro. We got to give them the plan at that level.”
Coach Johnson knows with some discipline, this team could be something special.
“They are young. It's to be expected. I’ve got to be patient. I see the potential in them. But, you know, again, like I said, they got to see it within themselves. We’re always one block away or one play away from just breaking the bank. Everything that's supposed to play. So, if we eliminate that, I think we're going to be fine. We're going to be good. I feel better this time than I felt last year,” he said.
With a good mix of freshmen and sophomores on defense, Coach Johnson will be hanging his hat on the experience of his second and third lines of defense.
“Defensively, you know, we lost a lot of guys up front. We had to resign ourselves and bring some of them in.
