#HSFT20 Stop #58 — Tupelo Golden Wave

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TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) — A new era is underway in Tupelo.

Former Houston head coach Ty Hardin takes over as the new man in charge of the Golden Wave.

While the offseason has been more challenging than usual, that hasn’t stopped Hardin from getting his new players up to speed.

“It’s been smoother than I thought,” Hardin said. “I sat back at the beginning of it, like, man, there’s a lot to do. I mean, but the kids, their approach to everything has made everything a lot easier and I’m just blessed to be where I am today.”

“He’s a family man, ” senior MLB Justin Wilson said. “He treats me like a dad. He loves everybody. He treats all of us like his kids.”

“He’s definitely brought the energy for sure,” senior quarterback Jake Weir said. “I think he’s definitely brough a new culture to our program. I think it’s definitely going to help us out going forward.”

However, going from Houston to taking over the Tupelo program has challenges, such as making the division switch from 3A to 6A ball.

A whole new set of opponents are on the horizon, but Hardin says he knows the direction to take the Golden Wave in.

“The tables laid. The path, the foundation’s been laid from coach Hammond and the previous staff. The coaching staff that I have, I’ve got nine guys that are basically head coaches on this team. They take care of a lot of different things and they’re special. They’ve made this transition great,” Hardin said.

Tupelo enters the 2020 season in a good position. The Golden wave return starting quarterback Jake Weir for another season.

In 2019, Weir threw for over 2,200 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Combine that with a strong defensive line and the Tupelo has the makings of its 10th consecutive playoff appearance.

“Where are strengths are, are allover. I feel good about our depth. I feel good about every skill position, I feel really good about our quarterback and him being a leader. I think he’s the best quarterback in the state. I feel good about our D-Line. I think it’s one of the best d-lines in the state. When you have two groups like that you have a chance to win a lot of football games.”

“Definitely been trying to improve on leadership because you can never do to much on that. I think that’s definitely an important aspect when playing quarterback. You just have to rally the troops together and lead,” Weir said.

“It’s a different feeling. The past couple of years we ain’t really been clicking. We ain’t really been buddy buddy. This year we’re all focused on one goal,” Wilson said.

A tough road lies ahead for the Golden Wave with even tougher competition, such as defending 6A champs Oxford. For Tupelo, preparedness is crucial week after week.

“”I’m stepping into a division where you have coaching staffs that are some of the highest IQ coaching staffs in the state. They’re great. Their kids play hard. Their kids are ready every Friday night. Anybody can beat anybody on Friday night. We have to come prepared every week. Our kids have to work their tails off every week and our coaching staff has to be prepared every week or we won’t last long in this division,” Hardin said.

“We’re going all the way, no doubt. It’s a family effort. We’re all pushing for one goal,” Wilson said.

“Definitely want to set a big time tone. We want to blow them out. Throw fifty points on the board. We’re going to make a statement,” Weir said.

Tupelo starts the season on the road at Neshoba Central on September 4th.