Calhoun County Media Day: New offseason brought different life-changing challenges

Jul. 31—The 2020 and 2021 offseasons in Calhoun County prep football had one thing in common ... how they made people feel.

"You appreciate life so much more," Alexandria coach Todd Ginn said at Friday's Calhoun County Media Day activities at Anniston Country Club.

Ginn took direct hits from two major offseason storylines. The March 25 tornado that raked through northern Calhoun County destroyed his Wellington home, and a storm of transfers left major county talents, including former Valley Cub Ronnie Royal, gone with the wind.

Then came a personal loss with the passing of Ohatchee coach Scott Martin's father, Oliver "Sonny" Martin.

It wasn't the offseason of COVID-19. The pandemic surges anew as the Delta Variant has gained on unvaccinated populations in recent weeks, but at least teams had spring practice. They had normal summer activities, including 7-on-7s.

The pandemic's 2020 onset took away all of those activities. The 2021 offseason felt more normal as the pandemic seemed to recede in the spring and early summer.

Then again, the 2021 offseason brought more life-changing and issue-raising challenges, piled on top of coaching transitions at Oxford and Weaver.

It all came up in the flow of questions at media day, where offseason talk began transition to preseason hype for Calhoun County's 12 football-playing schools.

Tornado aftermath

The Ginns rode out the EF-3 tornado that ultimately killed six people and wrecked structures in Ohatchee, Wellington and points northeast in his basement, along with youngest brother Will and their families.

Todd Ginn said he initially doubted famed Birmingham meteorologist James Spann's call that the storm was headed his way. Within two minutes, the sound confronted all in Ginn's home.

"If you've never had a tornado come right over your house, it's, they say it's like a train, or whatever," he said. "I would compare it more to a shop vac to an ant. That's kind of what it felt like."

Ginn built a house with a basement because of the history of tornadoes passing through or near the Wellington area.

"It's just crazy, how much time slows down in that moment," he said. "In the aftermath of it, we were all good to go. Anything that's gone can be rebuilt and is in the process of being rebuilt."

The process can be agonizingly slow, however ... a reality also felt on the west of U.S. 431, in Ohatchee. Members of Ohatchee's football team and staff comforted former Indians running back Domonique Thomas, who lost three family members in the storm. Players were among those who helped neighbors clean up.

"I think there were, like, 45 total destructions in Ohatchee, in that tornado, and another 50-something partial destructions," Martin said. "It's a lot of people that you don't see and don't hear about. ...

"The biggest thing is to not forget about that, because life moves on. Once you get a week or two down the line, there's something else going on that people are starting to focus on. Those people that lost everything or close to everything, that is still a focal point."

Transfer trend

The growing trend of transfers became a focal point in the offseason. Most notably, Royal moved to Gulf Shores, and the Fegans family counted among 10 transfers that followed Oxford's coaching transition from Keith Etheredge to Sam Adams.

The Oxford transfers included Trequon Fegans, a four-star defensive-back prospect who announced his commitment to play collegiately at Miami on Friday. He and his younger brothers transferred to Thompson.

Also gone is offensive lineman Bradyn Joiner, a major-college prospect who followed Etheredge to Auburn High School.

With high school sports seemingly imitating the new college transfer portal, the question becomes what, if anything, to do about it. Ginn offered a strong take Friday.

"Let's just get real; it's out of control," he said. "It's going to continue to get out of control until the AHSAA steps up and does something about it.

"You either have pride to play where you're at or you don't. We say a kid does it for whatever reason, but, you know, we're never going to throw money at a kid here. Unfortunately, that happens at a lot of other places."

As for players who left Oxford, Adams said such moves come with coaching changes. As for transfers in general, he noted that different players and families have different motivations.

He acknowledges the departure from ideals often associated with high school sports.

"I would like to think high school football, at its heart, should be the boys from Oxford playing the boys from Pell City down the road, and all of that," he said. "Obviously, there is an issue with third parties involved."

Adams defended Oxford's program.

"There is no high school football program in the state that works the way that we do to give our kids the best experience that they can possibly have," he said. "I don't say that to down any other program out there.

"I'm just saying that, from the time that our kids arrive, first thing in the morning and every single day, everything that we do is to give them a first-class experience."

Viral worries?

The COVID-19 pandemic loomed as a threat to the high school football season a year ago, but more than 90 percent of games played out on schedule, the AHSAA reported. The rest of high school sports played out similarly, through pandemic surges.

Cases and deaths from the pandemic declined sharply as vaccines came online this spring, but Alabama reports the lowest vaccination rate at 37 percent. The new Delta variant of COVID-19, which packs more transmissibility and greater potential for severe illness among unvaccinated people, has caused a spike in cases and deaths in recent weeks.

The highest concentrations have come mostly in low-vaccination areas.

Could Alabama high school football once again face a threat to its season? Challenges lie ahead.

"Another thing that's going to play into the season is the COVID situation creeping back up," Saks' Jonathan Miller said. "The issue with quarantining from classroom contact, that's going to be a big issue.

"Hopefully, this thing will die down, but we're going to have to do a good job of trying to make sure we keep our distance from people."

Coaches at media day reported that they've continued some, if not most, precautions they put into practice during 2020 summer workouts and throughout the season. Wellborn's Jeff Smith said the Panthers still fog the locker room and disinfect their weight room daily. He keeps players in small groups and keeps them spaced in the weight room.

"Not that I'm a fortunate teller or anything, but we kind of anticipated that this might pop back up," Smith said. "We kind of kept a lot of the same things that we did last year this year to try to prevent it as much as we can, if we can prevent it.

"A lot of times, I don't know if we're doing any good or not, but we're still going to try our best and try."

While taking precautions, White Plains' Chandler Tyree plans to take a different outlook in 2021.

"I didn't do a very good job last year of enjoying being with my guys," he said. "We were so worried about, gotta make sure we do this and that so we can make sure to get these games in. I didn't enjoy the process.

"I am bound and determined to enjoy it. That's why you get into this."

Sports Writer Joe Medley: 256-235-3576. On Twitter: @jmedley_star.