AHOSKIE — The varsity football program at Hertford County High School has introduced a new head coach as Terrance Saxby will be at the helm this upcoming season, succeeding Scott Privott.

A native of Charlotte, football has been a part of Coach Saxby’s life for many years.  He was a linebacker in high school and afterwards attended Rock Valley, a junior college in Illinois. He returned to his home state to play football under Steve Lee and Lou Saban at Chowan University over the next three years.

Saxby says “being here and loving football” brought him to this summit. He would continue to serve the football program at Chowan, working as a defensive coach under former head coach Lorick Atkinson.

Saxby is no stranger to the program at Hertford County High School as he previously was under former varsity coaches Diego Hasty and Privott and had served as the head coach of the junior varsity team.

Saxby will be inheriting a very young team as he said the program graduated 23 seniors, 10 of which played both sides of the ball.

Saxby says “we don’t have a lot of people with varsity snaps, but I feel we are overly ready…we have athletes and we’re going to line up and play just like the next team.” He however does retain the likes of Jarret Gatling, rising senior quarterback, Kevin Chavis, rising senior tailback, and Alvin Ward, rising senior linebacker/defensive end, so there are definitely some great players returning to play for the Bears next season.

He also notes that his offensive and defensive philosophies will definitely be of sound and fundamental football, and strength and conditioning will also play a huge part in the success of the team, as his team is “already in the weight room.”

As far as his coaching staff goes, Saxby says it will include new and old faces and he will be the guy manning the defense that will “play smart, fast, and physical.” This is the side of the ball he says he holds the most knowledge about. The offense on the other hand will be a “shared duty,” the offense is “their offense” and Saxby says he expects the same type of play out of them as he does on defense.

As with any team, one of the most indispensible things is leadership, and Saxby says that’s another reason why he’s here, to facilitate the leadership process with such a young team.

When asked about the Bears’ upcoming schedule, Saxby made it known he is not “circling one game,” he’s only worried about the opening matchup versus Southeast Halifax. The Bears’ season will start at home and end at home. The six home contests include the likes of Southeast Halifax, Wilson-Hunt, South Central, Bertie, Northeastern (homecoming), and ending with Currituck on Senior Night. Their road games include Rocky Mount, Nash Central, Edenton, Pasquotank, and First Flight. Saxby says that “by no means are we running from our schedule…our conference has gotten a lot stronger, so it has its advantages and challenges.”

So where does Coach Saxby expect his team to be when it’s all said and done? He says his goal is to win every game and he adds, “We will definitely be competitive every Friday.”

Saxby concludes by saying “by no means am I worried, I know what we are capable of…I know what my coaching staff is capable of.”