Pressure still on in off year

LEIGHTON - A quick glance at the trophy case greeting visitors to Colbert County High School reveals just how prodigious the school has been on the gridiron.

One mathematics award after another graces the shrine.

Oh yeah, there's that football thing, too.

In compiling six state championships and an active 29-year playoff streak, the Colbert County Indians have become one of the most recognizable high school football brands in the state.

Yet, the luster of that hardware might be blinding for some players this year, as they have endured a 4-6 season — their first losing campaign in nearly two decades — heading into Friday evening's playoff match up at Winfield. The Indians lost that match 21-0, bringing their record to 4-7.

Reflecting on the season from an atypically quiet locker room this week, head coach Cody Gross said he hasn't felt any additional pressure this season.

"I want to be at a place where you have those kinds of expectations," he said. "I don't see it as a burden."

Gross is used to winning. He was part of three national championship teams while a quarterback at the University of North Alabama in the 1990s.

Every day he walks past the stadium named for former coach C.T. Manley, who took the school to its first state championship in 1972. He went 171-78-7 in his more than 20 years there.

In fact, that '72 squad was voted the team of the millennium by the TimesDaily. The Indians also amassed three state championships during a four-year period in the '90s.

So, as Gross acknowledges, all 4-7 seasons are not created equal.

"I've got a bad taste in my mouth," he said. "I hope (the players) do, too."

There have been small victories, though, such as preserving the playoff streak. That was in doubt until a second-half comeback against Sheffield earlier this year.

"I told them, ‘You guys don't want to be that team,' " he said of his halftime speech.

Lanny Ford was on the iconic '72 team that featured Ozzie Newsome, who went on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Browns.

The squad also featured quarterback Phil Gargis, who played at Auburn, and Thad Flanagan, who went on to Alabama.

Ford is still active in the program, cutting the grass at the practice field and stadium for free. He calls it a way for an "old Indian to stay on the campground."

The losses have not made him rethink that offer.

"It's been tough," he said of this season. "It's been hard, but other programs go through growing seasons. We're just not used to that at Colbert County. That hasn't happened to us. But it wouldn't matter if the Bear (Bryant) was at Colbert County this year. We just don't have the talent."

Gross resorted to starting a 13-year-old running back this year, perhaps the most glaring sign of a depleted talent pool.

And Ford thinks this year is the exception.

"If I stick around long enough, I think we'll get another championship," the 52-year-old said.

He won a title but still does not have a ring. Players were awarded patches back then and Ford said he would like to augment that with some jewelry.

For his part, Gross welcomes those lofty expectations, despite some additional grumbling from fans this year.

But he has a solution for that too, saying, "I stay off the Internet."

Brian Hughes can be reached at 740-5720 or brian.hughes@TimesDaily.com.