Cochran looking for improvement in year two

After dismantling Curry in week one a year ago, Carbon Hill finished just 4-6 in head coach Mark Cochran’s first year with the Bulldogs. Heading into the 2022 season, Cochran says it has been easier with a year under his belt.

“Going into spring this year, we were already so far ahead of the game,” he said at the 2022 Walker/Winston Media Days last month. “The kids know what to do and they know what the practice schedule is going to be. Year two is just better than year one. I’ve done this several times and year one is always the toughest.”

Cochran said that the team has come into the preseason with a better understanding of what’s expected of them. He added that the older players on the team are also acting on coaches on the field, helping to teach the younger kids.

One player who will need to be a leader for Carbon Hill this season is junior Walker Kimbrell, who is expected to replace former quarterback Clay Tittle.

“Walker has had a really good spring and summer,” Cochran said. “He’s a leader, goes to camps and works really hard. He’s going to have a really good year and impress a lot of people every year.”

Cochran said Cam DeJesus is someone they will use everywhere “so he’ll play some quarterback” as well.

Also returning is Devon Daniel. As a junior, Daniel rushed for nearly 2,000 yards a year ago. He said his goal this year is for his team to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

“We expect big things out of these guys,” Cochran said. “We know what they can do. We’ve got to get the younger guys to feed off of this. We have some new faces and I think we’re going to be explosive this year. We just have to be better up front and all that to be where we want to be.”

The Bulldogs will enter the 2022 season with just four home games on the schedule.

“It just worked out where somebody that you have on your schedule, either you take the hit or somebody else does,” Cochran said. “So that’s just how it worked out. You have to look at the positive – next year we’ll have six home games. So I’m not really worried about that. I don’t mind going on the road.”

One glaring absence from Carbon Hill’s schedule is Curry. It is the first time the two teams haven’t faced each other since 1979. The Bulldogs, however, added Winston County during the latest round of scheduling. It’s a rivalry renewal for a set of teams that faced each other 36 times between 1975 and 2015.

Carbon Hill Bulldogs 2022 Schedule