NATCHEZ — Natchez High School football head coach Roy Rigsby doesn’t hold a spring workout without getting his elbows dirty.

The first-year head coach laid on his stomach in the parking lot outside the Steckler Building Wednesday, surrounded by 44 of his players. Rigsby did 100 pushups with his squad before breaking the workout for the day.

“That’s the difference between being a boss and a leader,” Rigsby said. “A boss will sit back and tell you what to do. I have to be involved. If I’m not involved, I feel like I’m not doing anything.”

Although, preseason workouts have been under way since basketball season ended, Rigsby is starting to draw a real crowd to the weight room and practice fields after school is out. The Bulldogs’ head coach said approximately 18 players showed up to the first workout of the season, and that number has steadily increased as the weeks go on.

Rigsby’s colleagues have described his coaching style as high-intensity.

“He’s a godsend,” former Natchez head coach Henry Garner said. “That joker is off the charts.”

The workouts started with aerobics outside before the team ran into the weight room to rotate through weight lifting stations.

The team closed out Wednesday’s session with short sprints and the 100-pushup gauntlet.

“We’re trying to get them to work at a higher standard,” Rigsby said.

“It’s a lot more about the mental reps than the physical reps. Pushing them and getting them used to pressure.”

Rigsby said spring practices will begin April 25 and the team will suit up in pads April 29.

As for his coaching staff, Rigsby has not been able to cement his coordinators or position coaches.

Rigsby said he is allowing Natchez football coaches ample time to explore options, if they so desire, while he preps the team and decides which coaches matchup with his personnel groupings.

“Things are not narrowed down,” Rigsby said. “Some people may want to go to other places and some guys may want to relocate for various reasons. We really can’t solidify the staff the way we’d like to at this time. What I do, is share with the guys the direction we’re going in.”

Rigsby referred to himself a “unity guy,” He’s often calling for his players to chime in on call-and-response cheers during exercises.

“I’ve been wanting to ask this question all day,” he said as his players circled up.

“Will you ever quit?” Rigsby shouted.

“No sir, we want some more,” his players answered.

“Those mental reps are probably more important than the physical reps,” Rigsby added. “The truth is, when it comes to high school football, you have some teams who are more talented than others, but the gap isn’t as big compared to different levels of football. It’s about how you mentally prepare these guys for adversity.”