Today is February 4th and practice has begun throughout the region for the return of high school football. Just this evening I happened to see the new Mechanicsville Mustangs on the practice field as I was headed home... if not for the cooler temps I would have thought it were July or August. It was a welcome sight for sure.

In the month of February generally speaking the only thing we are talking about in reference to high school football is National Signing Day but not this year. This February teams will take the field for the 2020 season; February 22nd to be exact.

It will be over a full year since we saw high school football in the region and we are all thirsting for it but when they take the field this month so much will have changed and still be changing.

The 2020 Spring football schedule will be unlike any schedule we have ever seen. The fact that there are only six games is just the start. Initially most schedules were inter-district games but then Richmond Public Schools squashed fall sports which left some teams with just four or five games. Then just last week Hanover County Public Schools announced that their schools will only play one another which essentially crippled the inter-district play within the Capital District.

Now the schedules are county based for the most part. Hanover schools versus Hanover schools, Henrico schools versus Henrico schools. The Dominion District is made up mostly of Chesterfield schools and of course Powhatan so it will be Dominion versus Dominion. Central District will play one another as well.

Now I have the schedule on a spreadsheet and I have changed it three times already and the season has not yet even started. It would be naïve to think that there could not be more changes during the course of the season.

When the season begins, for the first time since the 1950's there will be no Lee-Davis Confederates or Douglas Freeman Rebels.

In the wake of social justice, controversy and pressure, Lee-Davis and the Confederates are no more. Lee-Davis is now Mechanicsville and the Confederates are now the Mustangs along with new colors for the program. The birth of a new era for a longtime program.

Meanwhile in Henrico, Douglas Freeman remains the name of the school but the Rebel mascot has been retired. The Rebels name had been under scrutiny for a few years now and 2020 being what it was only put the spotlight on the school and program even more. School leaders, however, chose to be proactive as opposed to reactive and put the wheels in motion early on to change the name in the wake of the social justice reform of 2020. Rebels no more, Douglas Freeman will now be known as the Mavericks.

So as you get to know new school names and mascots you will also have some more names to get to know... as in the 4 new coaches within the region.

At Hanover the Hawks will be looking to a former Hawk QB to return the Hawks to their winning ways... that quarterback being Sam Rogers. Sam Rogers of course was a beast on the gridiron for the Hawks, a dual threat quarterback who did just as much damage on the ground than through the air. He returns to his alma mater after a stellar career at Virginia Tech and a few years on the practice squad of NFL teams. Sam inherits a team that has not made the playoffs since 2015 and has won just 9 games in he last 4 years!

Another team that has fallen on hard times is that of Meadowbrook who had back-to-back winless seasons for the first time in the history of the program. Scott Healy, former head coach at South Lakes has been tabbed to turn the tide in the Monarchs program. In his only season at the helm of the Seahawks he led the program to a 9-3 season which included a playoff appearance.

While Meadowbrook and Hanover have had it rough in recent years, JR Tucker has had a tough run over not just years but decades with just one playoff appearance in the programs history. With a new school and a new stadium on the horizon, the Tigers will also have a new coach but a familiar name within the region in Coach Phillip Sims. Coach Sims comes to the Tigers program after 3 seasons at John Marshall where each season the program took steps including back-to-back playoff appearances. What Sims started at John Marshall he will look to do the same and even more at JR Tucker. It is sort of fitting that the former Oscar Smith Tiger is now the head coach of a Tigers program, albeit JR Tucker.

Then there is the changing of the guard at Varina. Coach Stu Brown stepped down following last seasons state semifinal appearance and loss. This paved the way for assistant Marcus Lewis to ascend to the head coach position. He takes over a program that has had just three coaches in thirty years and succeeds a coach with the most wins in the programs history. Those three coaches in 30 years have all been pretty successful from Bulheller to Chilcoat to Brown... now it is Coach Lewis' time to shine.

There are three other coaching changes but they do not impact the coming Spring football season. Jeremy Pruitt at Armstrong and Willie Gillus at John Marshall will have to wait till the Fall due to the fact that Richmond Public Schools cancelled the Fall sports seasons.

Prince George's Bruce Carroll is stepping down and the Royals have already have their next head coach, it just won't be till the Fall as opposed to the Spring. That coach will be Scott Girolmo who in 2019 went 4-6 in his first year with Battlefield and is preparing for his second and final season.

More to come on all three of the coaches when we preview the Fall 2021 season in August.

In this most unusual season the playoffs will resemble playoffs that fans of the Richmond Region recall prior to 2013. That being the top four teams in each region make the playoffs as opposed eight which we have become accustomed to. This will mean a significant drop in playoff participants.

There are no guarantees that we see teams in the playoffs in region 3A, 4B and 6A. Forget region 2A, that is where John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson reside and without them playing this Spring, TJ will not have a chance to defend their region crown.

With four spots available in Region 3A, 4B and 6A we can only hope that teams like a Thomas Dale, Dinwiddie, Patrick Henry, Hopewell and a Monacan make the playoffs... that we have a dog in the fight.

We know in a region made onto ourselves that we will have four programs duking it out but who will they be? Highland Springs? Varina? Deep Run? Hermitage? Manchester? LC Bird? We know one thing for certain and that is for the first time since the early 2010's we will have worthy teams left out of the playoffs.

We also know that with just four spots up for grabs, every game, every week is a must win... no margin for error.

A lot of things will be different for sure in this rare and unusual Spring season but soon the lights will be back on and whether we can be at the games or not, football will be back. Get yourself ready because as odd as it might be it beats the alternative.

Get ready for football!