By: Lee Ramsey
lee@seymourherald.com
The Seymour Eagles football team has changed offenses and so far Head Coach Jim Moore looks like a genius going to the new gun-spread offense.  
Last year’s offense was not extremely productive.  
“We went to the spread based on the personnel we had available,” Moore said. “A lot of schools are going to the spread.  It’s a good offense for the kids that we have.  It spreads the defense and creates a lot of one-on-one possibilities.
“We’re still going to run the football and be a balanced football team.”
Recently in the high school passing league at Maryville College, Seymour went undefeated as they played Farragut, West, Claiborne County, Unicoi County and Jackson County.
There were over 40 teams that participated from the area in the annual pre-season event which was started four years ago and is in honor of a former Maryville College assistant football coach, Cody Bowers who was killed in a car accident several years ago.
The format of the league is no pads and passing only.
Coach Moore seemed very pleased about the Eagles results for the day.  
“It went really well.  We had a few kids out on vacation,” he said. “We took 18 kids and everyone got to play a lot.  Each team has 7 players.
“We need to work more on our routes and dropped passes.  We usually don’t drop passes.  That’s not like us.  We didn’t come out like we were suppose to but we got better as the day went on.”
One strong reason to participate in the league is exposure to various defenses.  
“We saw different coverages, zones, man and combo coverages,” said Moore about the experience.  “The passing league seems to be a great pre-season learning experience for all teams involved.”
The Eagles had one more follow-up passing game later in the week against Catholic which Seymour won 7-2 at Seymour.
“Catholic is very similar to us as far as youth and depth,” Moore said. “They do run a lot as opposed to passing.”
He also commented on the upcoming season as the beginning of practice is here, “We are more experienced than last year due to the fact that we played so many sophomores last fall.”
Although the Eagles are still young overall, they are a lot more upperclassmen than last year.
Depth is still an issue as the team player count now is in the fifties.  Moore wants that count to increase to 70 or more.
Practice began July 25 in the evenings Monday through Friday and two-a-day practices begin Aug. 1.  Team picture day is Aug. 2 at 3 p.m. on the football field.
The Jamboree is Aug. 12 and the first game is Aug. 19.

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