BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Despite the drama surrounding the Union County High School football program, young men are putting in the work to get ready for the 2025 season.
Interim Head Coach Lamar Waters couldn’t be more pleased with what he’s seen to this point, with the number of participants doubling since workouts began. Waters, who assumes the reins of the program this year in the aftermath of the firing of Andrew Thomas on May 29, said the Tigers had 23 players at the end of the school year. The first day of summer workouts consisted of 21 players. That increased to 28 the second day.
On June 16, the Tigers had 47 participants.
Waters, who was named interim coach for the 2025 season on June 2, is seeing kids who haven’t played football before as well as kids who were once a part of the program, but who haven’t played the last couple of years.
“It’s kind of steadily grown since (the first day),” Waters said of the participation.
Working with the players is a group of “awesome people,” Waters said. The program went pretty quickly from having no coaches to having 8-10 people stepping up to do whatever they can to help, including some who are doing so as volunteers right now.
UCHS Wrestling Coach Edwin Johnson and Lake Butler Middle School Athletic Director Aaron Tetstone offered their services to Waters on the day he was named interim coach.
“Both of those guys are fixtures in these hallways (at the school),” Waters said.
Craig Slocum was one of the assistant coaches who announced his resignation after Thomas was fired, but he changed his mind and has returned to the program.
“Him stepping in is a big deal,” Waters said, adding, “He changed his mind (about resigning) the next day. I understand. I’ve been on both sides of that.”
Slocum is one of five former UCHS players who are helping out this summer. Joining him are Maurice Strong, Daquin “Buddy” Edwards, Caleb Williams and Gerard Warren.
Warren, a defensive lineman, played on the Tigers’ 1994, 1995 and 1996 state championship teams and went on to play at the University of Florida and in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots.
“He’s been here just about every day,” Waters said of Warren. “Of course, his name carries a lot of weight in the hallways here at the school.”
Williams is running the strength-and-conditioning program this summer. The son of longtime Union County agriculture teacher Tom Williams, Williams has experience at the collegiate level (LaGrange College, University of Mississippi, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Tennessee, University of Florida, University of North Florida). Waters said Williams, who had been the strength coach at Jacksonville’s Bolles, told him, “Coach, I’d much rather wear purple and gold than wear orange and blue.”
Waters described Williams as “probably the biggest hire,” saying, “We may very well have the best strength staff in North Florida.”
Williams is also a professor in kinesiology at the University of North Florida, so he can’t be the team’s full-time strength coach in the fall due to his schedule, but Waters said Williams is “going to train these other coaches to do what he does.”
Waters will also get help from Steve Hoard, whom he’s coached with. They were both members of Head Coach Robby Pruitt’s staff at UCHS in the 1990s.
“Coach Hoard’s still around to give advice,” Waters said. “He’s always there. That’s invaluable. We coached together a long time. He’s kind of a sounding board, if you will.”
Kyle Halfacre has also been lending his support, leading the team during devotions during summer workouts and being an uplifting presence overall, Waters said.
When he looks at the men who have come forward to help, Waters can’t help but see God’s hand at work, especially when several of the men are there because they called Waters “out of the blue” to offer their services.
It’s a “God thing,” Waters said, and is certainly an answer to prayers.
“I asked (God) to send me good people to work with young men,” Waters said, adding, “All these people are from Union County or have Union County connections.”
Waters said he’s heard of others who have expressed a desire to help, and he’ll reach out to them when he finds their contact information.
The help goes beyond coaching. Waters said so many in the community have stepped up in some way, such as donating meals or donating money for meals. The coach described the support as “incredible.”
“All I know is every day something new happens that’s positive,” Waters said.
That has been a boost for a program that many people may have viewed as being in trouble following the firing of Thomas, who won 77 percent of his games in five years, and the resignation of most of the assistant coaching staff.
No matter what happened or is yet to happen, Water knows one thing — whoever suits up for the Tigers is stepping onto the field with confidence. That comes from being part of a program with a storied past.
“I told the kids last week they have a bit of an advantage over other teams in the area,” Waters said. “This is not a knock on any other program, but the kids in Union County believe that when they put that jersey on, they’re going to win. You don’t have that everywhere.”
