LATTA- Brandon Iseman enters his first year as Latta’s new head coach with high expectations.
“It’s a place ready to explode,” Iseman said.
The new football coach comes to the Vikings after a two year stint in North Carolina. This job brings him back to his roots.
“All of my family is from the Florence area, so to be able to get home and get near them and be able to spend time with them on a weekly basis is huge,” Iseman explained.
But his main focus is on football and developing players that will make the community proud.
“It’s nice to come to a place that has expectations, a place that wants to be successful. I think it’s a community that really wants to rally behind it’s athletic teams,” Iseman said.
Iseman said not too much will change for the Vikings on offense- they’ll run a spread offense like they did in the past. The Vikings are still trying to figure out what works best on defense.
While there is still plenty to figure out before the season, Latta’s players say their new coach is a good fit.
“On the field he’s competitive, he wants everything done right. If you do it wrong, he’ll stop and explain it to you, help you out. He just wants you to do better,” senior lineman Samuel Jackson said.
It’s not just what Iseman has showed players on the field that has made an impact.
“You could talk to him, literally ask him to do anything, and he’ll help you out with anything. He’ll go pick you up if you need a ride or anything,” Jackson said.
The Vikings return this season after back to back trips to the playoffs. This year their head coach has changed, but their expectations have not.
“I think it’s going to be a pretty good year. We have a chance this year, we had a chance last year but we have a pretty good chance this year,” Jackson said.
Iseman agrees, and says he hopes to build momentum by building on past success.
