HSFT Stop #54: New Hope

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — After New Hope football went 0-10 last season, it was time for a change. The school brought in former Amory and Petal head coach Allen Glenn to lead the Trojans.

Glenn is from Amory, so he said he was excited to be back in North Mississippi. And the players are excited to have him in Columbus.

“He has high standards for us,” senior tight end Lonnie Shinn Jr. said. “He came in and he turned the program around real fast. The expectations were different, everything we did was different. He expects better out of us and we love him.”

Glenn has upped the intensity on the field, but is also working with his players on the mental side of the game.

“That’s more than half of the battle: believing that you can do it,” Glenn said. “That’s one thing that we’ve tried to instill in these guys since March.”

The Trojans were a young group last season who had many freshman in starting roles. But now, after the overhaul of the program and with some experience under their belts, they’re ready to get back to winning.

“We didn’t win a game last season, so this season all we want to do is win games,” Shinn Jr. said. “We want to show everybody that we’ve gotten better, that we’ve worked and that we want it more than anything.”

New Hope starts its season at home against Itawamba on Aug. 30.