Smith Golden Eagles workout on a cool Tuesday evening

There was actually a breeze blowing around the Smith Golden Eagles practice facility today on Holden Road and Ben L. Smith was hard at it….

Today we talked to Marlon Hughes, Myles Morris, Trevor Pope and assistant coach Michael Wimbush….

Smith practice ran from 6-8:30….We also saw Omar Faust, Antonio Stinson, Kaylen Pratt and KJ Brown……

Marlon Hughes…..
Hughes says this can be a different Smith team this year with more discipline and focus…..Hughes is the only 4-year starter that will line up for Smith this season and Hughes will line up at RB and LB….Hughes says the opposition will be coming for the Eagles’ heads this year, after what Smith did at (10-2) in 2010 and the (10-0) start got everyone’s attention…..Smith made it to the top, to the spotlight and they want to be right back there again….Hughes is ready to take on a bigger role this season and he is ready to lead and he was a leader in the mile run turning in the time of 6:10, in the pre-season run…..Now this year, Smith has something to prove and Hughes feels this Smith team can improve on what they did last season….Hughes says Smith must put the stop on Northwest Guilford and that job will fall on the defense….Smith must also advance past the first round of the playoffs and they did not make it out of Round One last season……

Myles Morris:
Morris will be a starter at WR/LB and he says this Smith team needs to be ready to make big plays….He says that the team is stronger overall than last year and they can win the big games, since this year they have the same amount of talent, just different people….Morris says his responsibilties are equal at WR/LB and he wants to get the ball into the promised land…..Morris agrees with Hughes, in that the Eagles are much more disciplined and serious this season than they were last year….Morris says he is stronger this season due to his hard sets of pushups in the off season and that he was hitting the pushups every day of the week……Morris has the speed and he can make the cuts……Will be a hard man to chase and a tough man to run down…

Trevor Pope:
Pope is a big offensive and defensive lineman who stands 6’1 and he weighs 330 pounds and he pounds out a 5.1/5.2 40…..Pope says this team must have leaders and he plans to be one of those that leads by example….Pope will play at guard and tackle on the OL and at tackle on the DL….Pope says the overall character of this Smith team is better than it was in 2010 and this year Pope wants to be All-Conference in the Metro 4-A and he wants to see his Eagle team continue the winning experience….The Eagles want it all, they aren’t satisfied with last year’s (10-2) mark….Rameses Rojas and Kelvin Tatum will be other veterans that will join Pope up front on the line this season and Pope said last year that his mentor was Montre Cooper and also Daniel Pender….Pope said the key to 2010 was Chemistry and the key to 2011 will be Character….Pope looks forward to battling big men like DJ Reader in the conference again this year and he says the fun time at the Smith practice is the scrimmage work and 1 on 1 drills……The toughest part of Smith practice time is the conditioning……..Pope told me that the best win for him in 2010 was the win over Grimsley and the toughest loss was the defeat by High Point Central over Smith in Round One of the playoffs….Pope says this Smith team needs to be prepared and that he is ready to do the talking and to motivate his teammates……

Assistant coach Michael Wimbush:
Smith has three former head coaches on their staff in Wimbush(WS Atkins), Sam Davis(WS Lift Academy) and Maurice Jackson(Goldsboro)….
Coach Wimbush runs the offense and he told me that this team can be real good if they can stay healthy….Coach said this is a very promising team and that he is hard to work already on Northwest Guilford…..He likes his lefthanded quarterback in Kaylin Pratt and he says he has a real good backup in KJ Brown and that both of these kids can execute the offense….Coach Wimbush says this Smith team has improved as much as any team he has seen over the years and Coach Wimbush has been at it for over 25 years….He has a very good friendship with his head coach Rodney Brewington and Coach Brewington was Coach Wimbush’ assistant coach at WS Atkins just 4 years ago……Coach Wimbush says his goal is to always see young men and women improve and to help them get better and make sure that they use their talents to the best of their abilites on the field and in classroom….The Student-Athlete must be a student first and athlete second, said Coach Wimbush…..Their development must put them into society where they can be successful in life as adults….We must prepare them for the world outside of athletics……Wimbush said Smith would be ready this year and that his quarterbacks, Pratt and Brown must always be ready to pick up their teammates on and off the field and inside and outside of the huddle…..We are constantly making adjustments in football and that is the same way it is in life….The man or player that responds the best to the changes and the one that makes the best adjustments will come out on top in sports and in life……Our men must be ready to lead….Our strength has to be our runningbacks and they will continue to improve…The way you run the football determines what type of team you will be, for the better or the worse…..We can always get better running the football and we will in 2011…..

The Smith Golden Eagles are a team to watch and a team to catch in 2011……