By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
CHOCOWINITY — What a difference a year makes if you are David Hines. Around this time last season Hines was the newly hired head coach of the Southside Seahawks, but never officially met his team until the second day of practice.
Hines was learning to adjust to his new team and a new surroundings, and at the same time trying to adapt to living out of a hotel, which he did for a week. Oh, and not to mention Hines was hired to fill the shoes of a very popular and successful coach, whose divorce from Southside wasn’t the smoothest. Welcome to Chocowinity.
However, 365 days later, Hines is right on schedule, and things seem to be going much smoother. The coach is in the process of moving to a house in Washington, he has been able to spend the summer with his team, and he also is a year removed from the Dwayne Kellum era, which has seemed to shrink the shadow just a little bit.
The start of Hines’ first year at Southside was a rocky one, and the end wasn’t much better. The team finished winless, and left Hines still seeking his first victory with the Seahawks.
Football, due to its complexity, is a sport that seems to begin practice earlier an earlier each season. It’s the only sport that practices for practice. There are mini-camps, to get players ready for official practice, and now there are passing leagues to get players ready for the mini-camps.
Allen Iverson would have never survived on the gridiron.
So imagine how Hines felt facing a season with a new team, and being behind schedule.
The Southside skipper said he is ready to put last year behind him, and is optimistic about the new season.
Hines said one of the biggest differences from this year to last is the team leadership.