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Levi Cooper enters his first year as Cosby head football coach with a roster size that hasn’t been seen at the school in quite some time.

The Eagles enter the season with a roster of around 60 players. And while it’s a young roster, it’s a team that has a lot of potential in Cooper’s eyes.

“We’re a young football team with 60 kids but only nine seniors,” Cooper said. “We’re lacking some experience in places, but we’re certainly excited about the interest in the program and wanting to be a part of what we are trying to build here. The energy has been really good each day, and we’re flying around and just trying to get ready for the season.”

As far as why the number of kids has increased for Cosby, Cooper credits his coaching staff and their ability to connect with the kids. Cooper also said that communicating with the students at Cosby during the day has been big, as well.

“It’s really exciting,” Cooper said. “The middle school programs are growing here. And I think it goes back to who I have as coaches, as well. I think it’s important to have young, energetic guys that can have fun with the kids but still teach them. We goof off but are coaching them up and teaching them how to play.

“We’ve done our due diligence in the hallway, too. We see a guy in the hallway and I talk to them and our coaches talk to them. We’ve just been very intentional that we speak to kids and provide them the opportunity to come be a part of what we’re doing.”

Cosby enters the 2023 season following a 4-7 season that saw them make the playoffs. The Eagles were defeated in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs by Oliver Springs. The goal now for Cooper is to keep that momentum going and march a little farther into the postseason.

“That’s the goal for our team,” Cooper said. “I told them that I don’t care how young they are, we show up and do our work. The main goal for our program now is to compete for a region championship and host a playoff game. Just being able to have a home playoff game for the fanbase and community is such a huge thing. We’re just trying to get a home playoff game and see what we can do from there.”

Offensively for Cosby, they will be led by Devonte Wigfall. Playing receiver last year, Wigfall had 357 yards and five touchdowns on 22 catches.

This year, Wigfall has been competing with freshman Oaklon Cameron for the starting quarterback job. Cooper said that both bring different things to the table that can help the team.

“Love the way both quarterbacks are working,” Cooper said. “Devonte is very athletic and can change a game, while Oaklon has a live arm and can throw the football well. We’ve even talked about using a two-quarterback system to utilize their strengths and keep teams off-balance.”

At running back, Cyler Davis will be getting the load of the carries. After backing up Slate Shropshire last year, Cooper said Davis has done a great job in the spring and summer to get ready to play on both sides of the ball.

Along with Wigfall at receiver, EJ Story and River Shropshire are two names that Cooper said would get playing time out wide.

On the offensive line, Cosby does have some experience in juniors Peyton Miller and Robert Batton. Both players started just about every game their freshman and sophomore seasons.

Defensively, the Eagles have a lot more returners as Davis leads the way at linebacker. Davis was named to the All-Region team last year.

“He’s one of those guys that has to be on the field for us,” Cooper said. “He’s a sideline-to-sideline kid and is going to tackle anything.”

On the defensive line, Braden Boyd is back to anchor that group at nose tackle. Next to Boyd, Chase Joyce will be on the end.

In the secondary, the Eagles have Eli Miller and Matthew Ellison at corner. Cooper said both are young but have really benefited from summer camp.

At free safety, Isaiah Russell will get the nod while Trevor LaRue and Carson Manning will compete at strong safety.

Another linebacker to play alongside Davis will be Oliver Zuenik.

Schedule wise, Cosby opens the season at home against Cumberland Gap and Cherokee (NC) before hitting the road to take on Union County. Region play starts the next week at Unaka. After a non-region game at Claiborne, Cosby returns home to play Hancock County before going on the road again to play Jellico. The season finishes with a home game against Cloudland, a road game at Eagleton Academy and a home game against North Greene.

As for goals, the Eagles want to compete for a Region 1-1A title and host a playoff game. To do that, Cooper said it starts with their preparation.

“The big thing is the way we practice and prepare,” Cooper said. “We’re a young football team but have a lot of talent and depth. We just need to be focused on the task at hand. These young kids need to learn how we want to prepare each week. There’s always going to be high’s and low’s during a football season, but we just need to put blinders on and focus on each snap.”

Cosby opens the season on August 18 at home against Cumberland Gap. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“I’m big on having a lot of energy and flying around,” Cooper said about what he wants from his team week one. “We talk about playing with great effort all the time. If you play smart with great effort, good things are going to happen. You may not always be the biggest and strongest but just try to know what you’re doing. If we can do that, good things will happen for us and we’ll be in a lot of football games late. We just have to see the big picture and manage the high’s and low’s.”