What coach Lawrence “L.A.” O’Neal did in his first season at Tallasssee was nothing short of incredible.
O’Neal inherited a football team that had only one win the previous season, and he turned it into a powerhouse that was feared by most of Class 4A. O’Neal is the All-Elmore County Football Coach of the Year.
Tallassee faced early adversity before the first snap of the season ever occurred. There were several injuries to overcome as well as a tough fanbase that was used to losing. However, O’Neal stood faithfully behind his team, and allowed the Tigers to grow under his regime.
“I am really just proud of the kids because we had a lot of adversity that we dealt with this year,” O’Neal said. “We lost a running back right there before the first game. The perception was that 1-9 was gonna be the best; they said we were going to be able to go 4-6. So to see the kids buy in and the hard work they put in in the summer, we knew that we could just put a couple of things together and we had the opportunity to do something special this year.”
O’Neal is a players coach. He has a unique blend of concept and application.
After a toss loss O’Neal thought the Tigers could’ve won, that’s when things really turned on for Tallassee. It went on a seven-game win streak this season.
“They got rid of a lot of the individual ball and started playing for each other,” O’Neal said. “And you could kind of see it every time a kid made a play man and celebrated with their teammates. Nobody worried about me, me, me, It was all about we, we, and it was just exciting to watch them kind of grow into young men.”
O’Neal has Tallassee poised for another explosive year, and will have some new amenities to boot. Tallassee is having turf installed over the offseason, which is adding to a level of excitement surrounding the program under O’Neal’s control.
“I want you to be the best version of yourself, and really be somebody that we can depend on, somebody that your teammates can depend on,” O’Neal said. “For later on in life, when you become a man and you got your own family, you want to be somebody that your family can depend on. So just to see those guys fight like they did; they were fighting tooth and nail for me. They just made me proud.”