2025 HSFT Stop #52: Lafayette
OXFORD, MS (WCBI)-When head coach Anthony Hart returned to Lafayette, he did not envision his team struggling as much as they did in 2024. But the veteran coach has put last season behind them and is ready to show how much his team has improved over the offseason.
“Just growth for us. Tough, tough, tough year last year for us by our standards, of course,” Hart said. “But I’m just getting better. Just to be a better football team. Went to football games and just move forward because our future is bright. I had a really good experience with some of these guys; they’ve been very dedicated and put in a lot of time, despite still having a lot of inexperience. But I think you’re going to expect a very excited, aggressive style of football from us.”
Hart isn’t used to having losing seasons at Lafayette. He first coached the team from 2005 to 2011 before taking on the same position again in 2023. When his second tenure did not generate a hot start, Hart knew he needed to make a change.
“I’ve had to make some adjustments in the way I do some things. But I think I think going into year three, we’ve kind of figured those things out. I think that the kids some have been with me for three years, and I think they know what we expect. I think you can see some good things from them in the future.”
The future is now for some of the upperclassmen players, who continue to motivate the team with the way that last season went and what the program could get back to doing.
“After last season, you know, everybody came in here with a different mindset,” defensive lineman Tyler Wiley said. “All those words we put in here, like toughness, effort, ought to have been a big factor for us. We want to get back to where we were, man. I mean, Lafayette, we’re known for being a former powerhouse, so we do want to get back to those standards.”
“I just think we throw that on the back burner, we don’t need to worry about last year because this year is a lot different,” right guard Chaz Austin said. “It’ll bring a whole other wave of challenges and successes that we didn’t get to experience last year. And I think that just this year we’ll be able to grow, and the same guys we had last year are pretty much the same guys we have this year. So we’ve only gotten better.”
Lafayette will begin their season when they host Wooddale on August 29.
