Mustangs coach still having fun.
The biggest question put to first year Forrest City Mustang head coach Ronald Lewis on Tuesday was asking if he was still having fun.
His answer was easy.
"I am, I get to the practice field every day to get our 6 a.m., workout started," Lewis said. "Sometimes our kids get to the field before me, or the other coaches can get there. And I think in the long run and in the future, this is going to be a special place."
The first day back from the Arkansas Activities Association mandated "two-week dead period" which ended on July 11, however, was a little slow, according to Lewis.
Slow, but not slow enough for the Mustang players or coaches to miss a beat, which they haven't.
"They have consumed and continue to consume what we have given them since the first day of summer practice sessions," Lewis said of his Mustangs players. "It's just night and day from early June until now. Considering everything, I think we are, at this point, a little ahead of schedule. We will continue to work four days a week, Monday through Thursday, until the first week in August, when summer practices officially begin."
Technique wise, Lewis thinks his Mustang players have improved and once they can put the pads on, his staff will begin to see the physicality and how tough the guys really are.
"So far our overall numbers are holding every day," Lewis added. "We've been holding a combined junior/senior session each morning, but now the junior high guys are going to start working out with head coach Chris Siler."
Lewis said his varsity numbers are holding around 45, a big increase from last year's numbers at this point.
Lewis added that Coach Siler has been at almost every practice so far, helping in any of the areas he can and is watching and learning and absorbing Lewis' game plan and plays.
"For me that puts a big smile on my face," Lewis said. "It's great to have Coach Siler with us and I know that we wil be losing him from our sessions once he takes his junior high guys with him. But the good thing is, with Coach Siler being here with the varsity, he knows the terminology will be the same across the board as will the plays on both sides of the football. In the future when his kids move up to varsity, already knowing that should make the transition much more seamless."
Lewis said throwing the junior high guys in with his varsity guys has helped both sides become more competitive.
"And Coach Siler has been a tremendous help in that area as well, having coached most of our varsity kids at the junior high level," Lewis added.
"For me and my staff, that is huge, and it will pay huge dividends down the road."
As for what Lewis has already seen from his varsity guys, he said he has already started putting them into positions on the field.
"When we get to the August drills we will already be there," Lewis said. "Right now, we already have a starting 11 on both sides of the football. Now, that may and could change, once we put the pads on and we can see them move. There could be changes at that point even though right now we are about two deep on each side. Whatever happens over the next few weeks, when we get to our opening season game on August 26, we will be ready."
Asked if he has heard from the Mustang fans while being out and about in the community, he said that happens almost every time he goes to one of the city businesses.
"I get questions from the Mustang fans and sometimes it makes it takes me a while to get out of the store," Lewis said. "But it is a good thing. I have come to find out there are more than plenty of Mustang football supporters around town and that is great to hear and know."
Of course, Lewis likes what he is hearing, and he hopes the fans will like what he has been saying about this season's goal, which would be getting the Mustangs back to the state playoffs for the first time since the 2019 season.
"It can be done, and we feel like we have a group of kids who can get it done," Lewis added. "All they have to do to get there is to keep coming like they have been every day, keep having fun like they have been doing just like our coaching staff has been doing and that will pay dividends by the time the playoffs come around."
The Mustangs will open the regular season on Aug. 26, at Little Rock Mills, an inherited nonconference game from last year and a loss.
Since 1979, Forrest City and Little Rock Mills have played eight times, winning three of those matchups and losing five. From the 1999 season until the 2001 season, under then head coach Donnie Willis, Forrest City and Mills played from the same conference.
Preceding the Little Rock Mills game, the Mustangs will play a preseason scrimmage benefit game against the Chris Hill coached Sylvan Hills Bears on Aug. 16.