NATCHEZ — Melvin Pete is always on call as Natchez High School football coach.

When Pete isn’t spending time at home with his three Rottweilers, he’s most likely at the school studying tape or at practice with his football team. Single, Pete’s devoted his entire life to the game he loves.

“I’ve lost relationships because of it,” Pete said. “The thing is I’m not the only person in the relationship, and (female interests) are not the only person in the relationship. Most females want to be No. 1 and make sure they’re No. 1, but at the same time, if a kid calls me and he’s in trouble, I have to get up and go.”

Taking the place of that void in Pete’s life is football and his dogs. The dogs have grown accustomed to Pete’s way of life. With the season kicking off, they understand Pete’s time is needed elsewhere.

“When I get home, it’s like they go, ‘oh OK, it’s that time of the year,’” Pete said.

Sunday

Pete’s first week of the regular season officially began Sunday afternoon, when he arrived at the school at 2 p.m. with offensive line coach Kian Swinney. Pete and Swinney reviewed film of Wilkinson County for two hours before the rest of the coaching staff arrived at 4 p.m. The coaching staff watched film for another hour before combining their notes and laying out a strategy for Friday night.

“We see who’s on the same page, and we’ll point out some of the things that some people catch and others don’t,” Pete said. “Then, we form the game plan.”

The players arrived at 6 p.m. and watched film for a few hours. Pete pointed out both Natchez film and Wilkinson County film to his team, trying to make it an enjoyable experience along the way.

“Look at Chris (Scott),” said Pete, describing his quarterback’s enthusiasm and intensity between plays in the Hazelhurst jamboree. “That’s a freshman quarterback doing that right there.”

After the players left, Pete and his coaches met one more time, where they collectively finalized the game plan for Wilkinson County.

“After Sunday, we don’t add anything else,” Pete said. “I’ll put it to you like this, why would we spend all that time on it Sunday if we’re going to dwell on it?”

Monday

The fastest day of the week for the Bulldogs is undoubtedly Monday.

Like a student crams for an exam the night before the test, Pete tried to break bad habits, find out how to exploit the other team and get his team’s legs back underneath them Monday, so he could move forward with his week of preparation.

This, of course, comes after spending eight hours in a classroom and an additional hour in the library for study hall.

The players have to be in the library studying until 5:15 p.m., and once the players finished there, Pete rushed to get his team onto the practice field for heavy mental preparation.

“Now that we’re in season, practice changes,” Pete said. “After you watch your film, you have mistakes. The other coaches are going to see the mistakes you made and form their game plan around that, so what we do is we try to get better and correct those mistakes. That starts Monday.”

The players dressed in shorts, helmets and shoulder pads for a practice that demanded their attention to detail and lacked the physicality normally seen at practice. The intensity would pick up the ensuing day.

Tuesday

Without fully acknowledging, Pete admitted that Tuesday is a day for defense. It almost hurts for him to say, being the offensive-minded coach he is.

With the team’s legs back underneath them, the Bulldogs hit the practice field, going full speed and flying to the football. Anything that was installed Monday, as far as the game plan is concerned, would be tested and tried in Tuesday’s physical practice.