Trying to keep his football players out of &uot;survival mode&uot; is Adams County Christian School Head Coach Bo Swilley’s first priority this spring.

A combination of heat and humidity often makes the players work just to get through the day, Swilley said.

But working just to get through the two-a-day practices is not what Swilley said he wants the players to do.

He wants them to learn.

&uot;The biggest, hardest thing to overcome is the heat,&uot; he said. &uot;But if we can get them past that then they can start learning.&uot;

And Swilley said this year’s team is learning.

&uot;They came in with a good attitude and are picking things up quickly,&uot; he said. &uot;We only have to tell them once and they are getting it.&uot;

The player’s attitudes are a large part of the learning process, Swilley said.

&uot;They came in with a good attitude,&uot; he said. &uot;We are not having to reteach a lot.&uot;

Learning this year’s scheme quickly will be important for the Rebels because they will have a new set of opponents.

The school is dropping from 4A to 3A, but Swilley said, the classification change does not mean a drop-off in competition.

&uot;The state champion usually comes from our district, whether we were in 3A or 4A,&uot; Swilley said.

The change in classification also presents a new coaching challenge for Swilley.

&uot;We have to keep our kids from being overconfident,&uot; he said.

Though much of Swilley’s work will be spent on teaching plays and conditioning athletes, he said working on attitude is one of his most important jobs.

&uot;The hardest thing to overcome is a negative attitude,&uot; Swilley said. &uot;And the heat scares a lot of kids off.&uot;

Heat is one of the biggest enemies in football in the South, Swilley said.

So, to try and beat the heat, Swilley works his team, as most do in two separate practices.

His first week of practice was last week, but the players have yet to don their full set of pads.

The team did practice in shoulder pads for the first time Monday afternoon.

Monday was also the first day for a combined practice.

Until Monday each in player worked out in his individual position group, trying to learn the offensive and defensive scheme.

&uot;We are starting to install the plays today,&uot; Swilley said. &uot;We had been broken into groups, but we will have a 40-minute team practice today.&uot;

Though last year’s 3-7 record did not meet expectations, Swilley is looking for different things this year.

&uot;We had high expectation last year but it did not pan out,&uot; Swilley said. &uot;But the 30 (players) we have today are dedicated.&uot;