After finishing with a 2-8 overall record in 2023, the Northside Grizzlies football team, once again helmed by Head Coach Felix Curry and his staff, look to improve on the lessons learned from last season and further develop the many young stars on the roster. GSN was able to sit down with Coach Curry and discuss last season and how it has shaped their vision for the 2024 campaign.
"The takeaways from last season was we knew we were young in a lot of spots, but at the same time we just had to get better fundamentally in some areas and then just [build] schematics that we felt our kids can handle," Curry stated. "Getting game experience last year with a lot of young guys is what we needed."
This season, Northside moves to the ferocious Arkansas 7A West conference which is filled to the brim with talented young stars from Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale, and other schools. Curry and the coaching staff sought to increase the teams intensity over the preseason while also putting a focus on staying healthy, something that was an issue through the early part of the 2023 season.
"Well the biggest thing was just trying to stay intense and getting fundamentally sound at [each] position." Curry emphasized. "Everyday we wanted to bear down and stay healthy... this year we'd like to start with having everybody as healthy as possible."
GSN was able to catch a glimpse of some of Northside's brightest stars at the annual Northside Combine, where schools from around the River Valley were able to have their players perform drills in front of college scouts. From that performance and the practices we've attended throughout the summer, Northside seems to be abound with talent who seem keen to breakout this year.
As the football season opens with a scrimmage in Broken Arrow next Thursday, Coach Curry is looking to be methodical as the team continues to develop.
"The ongoing message is to come out there and play. Take every game one play at a time and be [our] best and let the score take care of itself."
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