Head coach Deric Scott said he thinks this year’s Lion squad will be one that brings back the physical toughness tradition known at Foley High School.

“What I’ve been pushing has been the whole standpoint of being the most physical and toughest team in 7A Region 1, that’s my goal and that’s what I preach every day. I’m all about physical toughness, I want these guys to take on the personality of being a tough football team,” Scott said at Gulf Coast Media Day. “When I look back on the tradition of Foley, we have some really good athletes but when we’ve been really good, we’ve been really physical and that’s what we’re trying to hang our hat on.”

A group of tight-knit seniors will be looked upon to carry the torch now that some of the high-profile recent graduates are playing college football. That collection includes names like linebacker Jaylon Domingue, offensive lineman Seth Hartleroad, wide receivers Shaborn Oakes and Cooper Hermecz as well as tight end Ty Motes.

“I’ve been trying to push all my brothers around me on the line to be as physical as they can,” Hartleroad said. “Finish every block, put people in the dirt just to protect our quarterback and running back.”

“Trying to push everyone around me to make sure they’re up and they’re ready to play and ready to go hit someone every play,” Domingue said.

Scott said he and the coaching staff have also grown close to this year’s senior group entering the fifth year at the helm of the Lions.

“We are who we are and we’ve got what we’ve got and I love this group from the standpoint of, they attack work better than any group I’ve had and they’re more closely aligned to my personality probably than any other group before,” Scott said. “They are closely aligned with me in how they go about business: they show up, they work their butts off and they are destined to be successful.”

Hermecz and the Foley receivers also have similar thoughts about how physical they want to be on the field.

“I want us to focus more on being physical blocking,” Hermecz said. “We had Perry here for a few years so it was easy and they didn’t really give that much focus on us but now we have so many different weapons spread out across the field so we all have to be able to block, all have to get our routes crispier.”

One of those weapons is now on the other side of the pass-catching with Motes moving from quarterback to tight end.

“I’ve enjoyed it,” Motes said. “I like that it’s more physical because for me quarterback is like 100% mental and I like that I have a little bit of both the mental and the physical side of things.”

The head coach said they would define a successful season by doing the little things and supporting each other.

“What I want to see is a group of guys executing at their best, being the most physical they can be and not letting up from that physicality,” Scott said. “Taking on a mindset of a true Foley High School tradition and staying true to that by being a hard-working group that really loves each other and one that has a family environment.”

And for those with doubts on how the year will go for the Lions, there’s just one thought.

“The doubters, I ain’t got nothing for them,” Oakes said. “They’ll see.”

Until then, the seniors will soak up what’s remaining of their last season together.

“I’ve played football for a very long time, since I was going into kindergarten,” Motes said. “We grew up playing with each other, we live right down the street, see each other every day at football in school, even when we’re not there, we hangout on our own time so I just think it means a lot to me and everyone else to have one last go-around with kids you grew up with and call family.”

Check out Foley's full interview as part of the third-annual Gulf Coast Media Day here.