NATCHEZ — Kevin Campbell will be facing a new defensive scheme this fall in practice, and he says he’s looking forward to it.

The Adams County Christian School senior two-way linemen is adjusting to the tweaked system put in place by new head coach Hunter McKeivier. McKeivier was recently promoted to head coach after Paul Hayles left the position to become head coach at Amite School Center in late June.

“We’re doing things differently,” Campbell said. “We’ve changed up a lot of stuff; only a few things stayed the same.

“We’re running a different style of defense. It’s some of the same concepts (from Hayles’ defense), but it’s more aggressive and more based on getting to the quarterback. The defensive ends are rushing a lot more this year, whereas last year, it was more of a base look (that centered on) stopping the run or pass.”

And since he’ll be playing nose tackle on the defensive line, Campbell said it’s a change he embraces.

“I love it,” he said. “Watching the pros on TV, when I see Pittsburgh and Baltimore, I see the linemen taking on double teams and pushing the blockers back into the backfield. I’ve always wanted to do that.”

McKeivier said his philosophy will center around taking the good things Hayles instilled in the program and trying to make them even better.

“It’s easy for us, because there’s no adjustment,” McKeivier said. “It’s the same staff coming back minus a great coach in coach Hayles. There’s not much adjustment for the kids, because we’ve been here.”

And that was something the ACCS administration considered when it decided to promote McKeivier to head coach, McKeivier said.

“They voted a couple of weeks ago, and (assistant coach Rick) Fife will be the new athletic director,” McKeivier said. “We wanted to keep it in the system and just improve upon what we’ve already done.

“I’m excited for the kids, and excited for the opportunity. We get into coaching for the kids, so I’m excited to work with them.”

McKeivier said the early portion of fall camp will center on fundamentals and getting into football shape.

“For the offensive lineman, what that means is, it’s being able to have a 5- to 10-yard burst,” McKeivier said. “For a running back, it’s anywhere from 5 to 95 yards, depending on the play. For the defense, it depends on the play.”

McKeivier also said he’ll give his players a few weeks before trying to narrow down who his starters will be.

“The first two weeks we’ll be evaluating, then that second Friday, we scrimmage against Centreville,” McKeivier said. “That will give us an idea of who can do what, then the next week we’ll be preparing for the jamboree.

“That gives us three weeks to evaluate them, then game week we’ll really be focusing on who our starters are. With every competition — quarterback, running back, everything — they’re all open competitions.”

ACCS will open its season against Cathedral Aug. 19.