Two weeks ago Brad McCoy stood in front of his Charles Henderson Trojans for the very first time. Now with close to a dozen workouts together, McCoy and the Trojans are beginning to gel together as a unit.

McCoy was announced as the newest Charles Henderson football coach June 12, and over the last two weeks has worked on building and growing relationships with his assistant coaches and players.

He feels progress has been made, but there is still more yet to do.

“As a staff, we are pretty much set on what everyone’s role is,” McCoy said. “I am lucky to have a great staff of assistant coaches here, and we are working every day. For me, I am still trying to keep growing the relationships I have with the players. They have great work ethic and are ready to go each day. As a coach, that is all you can ask for.”

As the summer rolls along, and the opening day of the season inches closer, McCoy and the Trojans are busy installing offensive and defensive schemes in order to make up for lost time.

McCoy likes what he has seen from veteran players Austin Ingram, Richard McBryde and Mondarius Dixon, but it has been the emergence of younger, less experienced players that has him the most excited.

“McBryde, Austin Ingram and Duke (Dixon) are great assets to have,” McCoy said. “But I want to really develop some depth. Guys like Reilly Fox, who has been a great baseball player, and Kobe Griffin, who saw a little time at receiver last year, are really doing well. We don’t there to be a big drop off from one unit to another, so we are working the younger guys just as hard as the older players.”

One particular spot McCoy wants to sure up is the offensive line. The Charles Henderson big boys paved the way for a pair of thousand-yard rushers, Dixon and Troy University signee John Johnson. But the unit was dealt a large blow due to graduation. Gone from the unit are veteran tackles Hunter Kennedy and Mykel Alloway, center Xavius Burden and versatile guard Hunter Steed.

On defense, Charles Henderson will be without run stuffer Sherrod Postell and veteran defensive end Quay Mays.

McCoy, along with offensive coordinator Rodney Jordan, are working to fill the large void.

“The line of scrimmage is my main concern right now, due to how much we lost off of last year’s team,” McCoy said. “We are working with those guys every day. Our defensive guys got some work down at Dale County the other day with some one-on-one stuff and pass rushing. We are also planning on taking them to an individual camp as well to get more work.”

Charles Henderson stood on the precipice of football immortality in December. The Trojans rolled through the season undefeated before falling to Oneonta 28-10 in the state championship game.

Despite the loss, McCoy said the expectations are high among the players.

“I told them the other day, that mistakes will happen in June,” McCoy said. “We are working to get things worked out before August. Their expectations are so high after last year, that they get down some. They want to be the best, and I love working with that kind of attitude everyday.”