CARTERVILLE — For the first time in nearly two decades there’s a new man behind the big whistle in Carterville.  After four years away from coaching as athletic director, Brett Diel has taken over the reins this season.
He takes over for Dennis Drust…who’s teams won 75 percent of their games and made the playoffs 15 of 17 years. One of those two missed postseasons came last season, when the Lions finished 3-6.
With only five seniors this year, Diel’s first team will be young, but it should be athletic and versatile.
"You know our skill kids are pretty deep, a lot of speed," said Diel. "We’ve got some kids that have varsity experience in other sports that I think will carry over to some success on the football field as well.  We’re gonna play a lot of young guys, and we’re gonna have to get some experience and grow up real quick."
"We’ve been putting in a lot of hard work," said Lions� senior Rafe Tuttle. "We’ve got a lot of weapons across the board, a lot of people that are gonna make things happen this year."
"We’re young this year," said senior Carson Pearson. "But we have a lot of guys who have put a lot of work in the offseason in the weight room and on the field. We’ve just got a lot of guys that can play pretty much anywhere, so that’s gonna be one of our big advantages this year."
The Lions will open their season Friday, August 30th at Benton.
