When Pottsville takes the field Friday night in its season opener at Shamokin, there will be several things that will be new to the Crimson Tide faithful.
First, there's a new general on the sideline, as Tom McGeoy takes over for longtime coach Kevin Keating, who was not re-hired. Since returning in 2003, Keating had compiled a 72-48 record in 10 seasons that included three District 11 Class AAA titles and two trips to the PIAA Class AAA state championship game.
A 2000 Pottsville High grad, McGeoy served as an assistant coach under Keating the past eight seasons, coaching the linebackers for four years and the defensive backs the last four.
The 28th head coach in Pottsville's storied 120-year football history, McGeoy inherits a club that struggled through an injury-filled 2-8 campaign last season, the program's worst record since sporting the same mark in 2003.
Second, McGeoy brings with him the biggest change - a new, wide-open offense that features an I-formation running attack and lots of different formations.
After almost a decade of running the Delaware Wing-T, the Crimson Tide will feature a more modern look that utilizes an abundance of talented skilled players, especially at the wide receiver position.
"Pottsville is going to look a lot different than last year," McGeoy said. "Our base run will be out of the I, but there will be some shotgun/one back stuff as well. We have more plays in now than we did all of last season, which gives us the opportunity to do different things against defenses.
"The way I and offensive coordinator Jake Wartella envision our offense, we're going to take advantage of the defense's weaknesses. I think we have the skill this year to be able to do that."
Who directs that offense is the biggest question mark going into the season, as senior Tyler Moser and junior Patrick Keating are vying for the starting quarterback position.
Moser missed all of last season after suffering a broken wrist during the first week of preseason camp. Keating stepped in and started all 10 games, completing 48-of-101 passes for 559 yards, with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions.
"Both of them have been battling all summer long," McGeoy said. "Both of them have their pluses in different areas.
"If this was the NFL Network, this would be a big deal if this was an NFL team. This is a battle between these two kids. It's going to be a battle until we decide who the guy is."
Whomever emerges as the starting quarterback will have a bevy of receivers to throw to.
Junior Travis Blankenhorn returns and will start the season at wide receiver, with seniors A.J. Stevens, Quentin Chambers, Billy Robbins, Tim Vaz and Ryan Reese and freshman Darion Jacoby all in the mix.
Stevens and Chambers were at the annual Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association Media Day and raved about the Tide's new offense.
"We throw the ball a lot more," Stevens said. "For the wide receivers ... it's good for us."
Added Chambers: "Last year, we just ran the ball and only had a few passes. Now we're running deep routes and stuff over the middle with multiple receivers. There's not just one receiver you can throw to every time. The ball can go anywhere, to any receiver, at any time."
Blankenhorn figures to be the focal point of the new offense and will be moved around to best utilize his talent. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound three-sport star caught 10 passes for 133 yards and two TDs while rushing 24 times for 33 yards in six games last year, missing the final four contests due to injury.
McGeoy said Blankenhorn will be used at both wide receiver and running back, and didn't rule out some quarterback play in special formations.
"In the program, he's going to be listed as a wide receiver and a safety," McGeoy said of Blankenhorn. "On defense, he's pretty set as our free safety. He makes plays back there, ballhawking, and with his size he can come up and make tackles.
"Offensively, he's one of those rare guys you can put anywhere and he looks good doing anything. The nice thing is he's smart enough to handle all these positions.
"Right now, he's listed at receiver, but don't be surprised if you see him somewhere else as the season goes along."
Pottsville graduated eight starters on offense - fullback Mike Wythe, receivers Charlie Schuster and Bobby Witman, and linemen Dan Conville, Tucker Smink, Stan Burke, Matt McCall and Greg Revenis - leaving gaping holes in the backfield and up front.
The backfield hole got bigger when projected starting tailback Aaron Kuperavage (89-433, 5 TDs) broken his ankle during baseball season. He will miss the first 3-4 weeks, with a targeted return of late September, early October.
With Kuperavage out, juniors Carey Bostick and Jim Close, sophomore Hunter Futchko and Jacoby will vie for carries at the tailback spot. Brandon Fanelli and Brett Vandermeer return at fullback.
"We have two really good fullbacks in Brandon Fanelli and Brett Vandermeer, two guys with experience who got time last year backing up Mike Wythe," McGeoy said. "This fullback system kind of fits them a little better, more of a traditional blocking, catching in the flat type of offense.
"We have a lot of receivers, a lot of depth we didn't have at that position. We also have two really good pass-catching tight ends in John Toomey and Danny Doyle. We have multiple weapons on the offense that we can give different looks and come at you different ways."
Up front, senior Dan Grosser (6-5, 270) will man one tackle spot, with seniors Tristan Shoopack (6-0, 220), Ryan Sverchek (6-0, 215) and Dan Beruck (5-11, 195) rotating at guard, senior Ryan Bertsch (6-2, 250) at center and a pair of sophomores, Billy Devers (6-2, 250) or Dante Yeastadt (6-3, 250) battling for the starting nod at the other tackle spot.
Pottsville will stay with a 5-2 alignment defensively, with Sverchek and Doyle at the end spots, Grosser and Beruck at tackle and Shoopack and senior Kenny Frehafer (5-10, 160) seeing time at nose guard.
Fanelli and Vandermeer will start at linebacker, with the secondary featuring a mix of Blankenhorn, Stevens, Vaz, Chambers, Jacoby, senior Thomas Campion and sophomore Brandon Daubert.
"Up front, our offensive line needs to be more aggressive," Sverchek said. "We have a lot of new people, so we need to become more experienced, stick together and not fall apart.
"On our defensive line, we have a lot of people back, so we should be pretty solid. A lot of people got a lot of playing time last year."
The Crimson Tide have a roster that includes 26 seniors, but a lot of players will go both ways. Conditioning, Shoopack said, is important if Pottsville is to avoid another injury-filled campaign.
"Injuries are just something you have to deal with," Shoopack said. "We have to be more conditioned.
"This year, it's going to be a lot more different. We're going to be a lot more conditioned team. Being we're not a big team, we have to be the best conditioned to play the whole game. This year was probably the hardest conditioning we ever went through. But we need it."
McGeoy said last year's injury-filled season may have a silver lining in that a lot of underclassmen saw extensive varsity playing time due to the large number of players that were hurt.
He cites as an example the secondary, which was missing seven players at one point during the season.
"It's definitely an advantage this year. Last year, when I had about seven of my corners hurt, it wasn't an advantage," McGeoy said.
"We have guys who had varsity minutes last year, not just mop-up minutes in the fourth quarter, but started varsity games and played well against varsity competition. You can't practice that. JVs doesn't give you the same feel on a Friday night with the lights on and the big-time atmosphere.
"Most of our seniors played meaningful minutes last year. And we have 20-something seniors this year."
Pottsville hosted Northwestern Lehigh in its first scrimmage before traveling to the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., to face Jonesboro, Ga.
The trip, which was funded by the Pottsville Football Mothers' Boosters and fundraising done by the players, is the culmination of a three-year project.
McGeoy said the scrimmage will set the tone for how the Tide's season will go.
"It's going to be a great experience for the kids," McGeoy said. "The package they get is really good, and they don't have to spend a lot of money down there. They get to visit the parks, and we get to play on a stadium that's college-level quality.
"Going to Florida is going to set the tone for our season. The last time we went to Florida, we went 9-1 and that game really helped us."