2025 HSFT Stop #4: Okolona
OKOLONA, MS (WCBI)- Okolona football has not had a winning season since 2018.
The program won just two games last season, prompting the Chieftains to make a change. The school hired assistant coach Colbry Lathan as their new head coach. Lathan isn’t necessarily a new face in town, as he has already spent plenty of time with the program, but he can see that his first team is already bought into his program.
“The guys have been working hard,” Lathan said. “We started off lifting weights in February, so we’ve had pretty good participation, and like I told them, the key to our success is gonna be physical football and getting stronger. We’ve averaged great numbers during summer workouts, so it’s been pretty good. Everybody seems to be bought in. Our division is going to be tough, so we’re gonna have to be physical. So that’s our thing, physical and discipline.”
As an Okolona native himself, he knows exactly what kind of brand of football he wants to put on the field next season.
“Well, one thing is to be better, fundamentally sound. And like I said, be better disciplined. Our teams are gonna be physical, so we can’t get intimidated. Our goal is that when things go bad, we’re gonna pick it up another level and just realize that there’s another play to be played. We’re gonna go out there, do what we’re supposed to do, not gonna do a lot of talking. We’re gonna talk on the field with our pads. And like I said, we’re not gonna put ourselves in any bad situation for us, like penalties and things like that right there.”
Lathan isn’t the only one who wants to turn around the program, too. Since he was already an assistant, the players have known and have already developed a good relationship with their new head man. Quarterback J’Kyree Ware holds a much longer relationship with his new head coach than most on the team.
“It really isn’t a first impression because I’ve known him since I was little,” Ware said. “He was driving my bus since kindergarten. Him taking over is a big step for the team.”
Wide receiver Kingston Blanchard also believes that Lathan will turn things around, despite fielding a young team this season.
“We have a young team this year, man,” Blanchard said. “It’s a lot of young guys, so we just got to build and keep going. We got a new coach, so it’s new plays that we just got to keep learning.”
The Colby Lathan era will begin at Okolona when the team opens up their season against Aberdeen on August 29.
