(Photography by Tina Quesenberry)

Max Meadows…Coming off a 7-4 season, Coach Hale stepped down after his only season as Pioneers coach. Tiller has been defensive coordinator at Grundy and Castlewood high schools. He played under legendary coach, Colley, at Haysi. He played at Emory & Henry until an injury ended his playing career. Coach Tilller will keep himself on as defensive coordinator.
“I’m a head coach for the first time at football, but I’ve been head coach of other sports and been around football most of my life,” said Tiller. ” I think being here last year was and is very helpful. The players know me and I know them.”

Coach Tiller has had to find a new coaching staff. He first hired offensive coordinator, Seth Padgett. Padgett was offensive coordinator at Patrick Henry-Glade Spring last season. He and Tiller played against and coached against each other at Castlewood and St.Paul respectfully. Padgett played college football at Union College. He is offensive coordinator as well as defensive backs coach for the Pioneers in his first year.
One of the leftover coaches for the Pioneers from last year will be Josh Wingate. He was junior varsity head man last year. He will be in charge of the wide receivers and outside linebackers under Coach Tiller; this is his fourth season at Fort Chiswell.
Josh Jones is a new addition to the staff, and he also is the resource officer at Fort Chiswell. Coach Jones played at Pulaski Co. for Joel Hicks. He will coach the linebackers and running backs and help with the junior varsity. This is his first year at Fort Chiswell.
A new old addition the the staff will be James Whitlock. Whitlock has been out of coaching the last three-four years. He worked for former Pioneer head coach, Stephen James. Last job he held for James was defensive coordinator. Offensive and defensive lines will be his responsibility.
Zach Bowers will join the staff and help with the junior varsity and help with offensive and defensive lines. This is his first year with football, but he has been at Fort Chiswell helping with basketball and other responsibilities.
Ben Caudill is new assistant for the Pioneers and comes from Rural Retreat. He will lend a hand with the secondary and receivers.
Coach Danny Dunford and Chucky Brown are returning after last season. Dunford will be head man for the middle school and Brown his assistant. This is both their second years.
Coach Chris Hanks will join the middle school staff; it will be his first year.
Two other coaches that will be helping mainly on game night are no strangers to the Fort Chiswell football program, Will Freeman and Jonathan Grimes. Freeman has been over the middle school, and Grimes has been head junior varsity coach. This is Coach Freeman’s fifth year. He will be the defensive spotter on Friday nights. Grimes will be sideline assistant on Fridays.
Fifty-four players showed for the opening of practice, not bad for a Group 1A school. 18 of those kids are freshmen, 12 sophomores, 14 juniors and 10 seniors. A lot of the seniors are inexperienced and will be getting playing time for the first time.
Coach Tiller remarked, “Defensively we will be multiple in our formations. We will play a 40 and 50 scheme. Our game plan will depend some on who we are facing. We will attack on “D”. We will show some eight in the box looks. Our secondary will feature two coverages behind the 40 or 50 scheme.”
Offensively. “We will do zone scheme blocking. I like to be a power running team. We will throw to keep teams honest. I’d like a 60 to 40 running mix. We can and will go 60-40 pass if we need to,” said Coach.
When asked about the schedule the Pioneers will be facing, Coach Tiller said, “I will put our schedule against anyone in 1A football. It is going to be very tough schedule. Six of the ten teams we face were in the playoffs last year!” He then gave a short synopsis of each opponent. “Rural Retreat is very much improved. Like to pound the ball and are well coached and are always well prepared.”
“James River has a new coach and don’t know that much about them or what they will do as of now. They were a spread team offensively the last few years. Parry McCluer likes to run the ball down your throat . They lost some good players from their playoff team from last year. The Fighting Blues have been in the East Division but move to the West of Group 1A this year. They will be hard to handle and our farthest trip we have to make!”
Radford and George Wythe are the other two teams that the Pioneers face in their part of the out-of-district teams. Coach Tiller said, “Wythe is just a natural rival for us. Emotions are always running very high. They will be ready to play and have good athletes and are well coached. Radford will be as good as any team we will face,” coach remarked. “They are talented, experienced, athletic, fast and quick. I think they are ranked high in the pre-season and for a good reason.”
The so-called district play, Mountain Empire, will also be difficult . Coach Tiller said, “Galax will be the squad to beat. Coach Dixon does an excellent job for the Maroon Tide. Their line play offensively is as good as anybody’s. They love to run the ball and are very disciplined. We need to get back to their level of play! ”
Grayson Co., ” is well coached. Coach McPherson does a great job for them. We played them some seven-on-seven this summer . They have a talented quarterback and good receivers. ”
Coach then talked about Graham. “They will have a new coach. Coach Tony Palmer has been there for a long time. They will be athletic and fast. ”
Bland Co. “… are very competitive and will be very well coached. They played us very tough last year and return some real good players. ”
“Narrows,” said Coach Tiller, “is down on numbers. They have some good kids, and the coach does a good job with less players.They will compete very hard.”
Fort Chiswell will start some young and inexperienced players. Junior Warren Moore will see lots of action at quarterback. Senior Davin Odum, last years backup QB, will be pushed for the backup this year by sophomore southpaw, Tanner Bailey. The leaders for the backfield and “H” back are sophomore Sean Morgan, junior Zach Grimm, senior Mitch Armbrister, junior Logan Hart and Odum.
The wide receiver and tight end positions will see senior Lucas Edmonds and junior Colby Rider. Bailey will back up Edmonds at receiver with Odum and junior Noah Widelo seeing playing time. T.J. James, a junior, may see action as well.
Up front the Pioneers will go with junior Grant Millgrim at center, Junior Jacob Coake and sophomore Logan Smith at tackles. The guards are sophomore Devin Newman and freshman Billy Shrewsberry. Senior Devin Bain will get time at tackle and/or guard. Cody Crigger, a junior, senior Devin Shewey and junior Patrick Crawford can get time to perform on the line as well.
On the defense, the Pioneers will go with Millgram, Coake, Rider and Hunter Parrott, a junior, will be the tackles and ends. Odum and Armbrister will be the inside linebackers with Hart and junior Andrew Stoots the outside backers. The secondary will consist of Edmonds and James at the corners, with Bailey at safety.
Morgan may get some linebacker action and Widelo some playing time at cornerback.
Coach Tiller, when asked about players going both ways replied, “We will have five, six or seven going both. We are working in practice to lower those numbers, and I believe we will.
Coach then was questioned about his overall depth. “We can’t afford injuries. Especially on the offensive and defensive lines. We are thin and will be working to shore those up. Coach then said, “We need to get off to a good start of the season. We are at Rural Retreat, come home to face rival, George Wythe, and Radford. That’s a pretty tough way to start the season!
Coach was then told of him being the third head coach in three years for the Pioneers. ‘It’s a little unsettling to the players. The continuity hasn’t been here lately. We have been to the playoffs now for what, the last five years or so? This is a different kind of Fort Chiswell team than what we had last year and the last few years here. The Pioneers have been more times than not, big and experienced. This team is not as big as a lot of those teams. We’re not as experienced as a lot of those teams in the past. I do believe we are a little more athletic and quicker. Of course, that doesn’t mean we will be better!” He then remarked, “I’m proud of how this team has worked and their attitude. They have worked hard in the weight room in the off season. I’m glad to have been chosen for the head coaching position. I do know the kids from last year, and they know me. I expect a lot of them, and I have been fortunate to get Coach Padgett, Coach Jones and Caudill. I finally ghave Coach Whitlock coming back to the sidelines. He will help us with his knowledge. Happy to get Wingate, Freeman, Bowers, Grimes, Dunford and Brown to help. I’m looking forward to the season!”
This may be a season of transition for the Pioneers. They are not as big or as seasoned as the last few Pioneer squads. The players seem to have taken to the new coaching staff. It seems like a family at practice. They work hard . If they stay injury-free and get some breaks, this team may surprise. This team is young. how will they react to adversity? How will the coaching staff react to tough times? More than likely there will be some injuries. How will this affect the season? Who will step up? Who will lead? Will the tough schedule wear them down? Lots of questions are to be answered with this years staff and players. Making the playoffs is a good possibility once again, or is it? Questions abound for this season!