Physical, hard working and detail-oriented.
Heritage Academy head coach Tobias Smith has been drilling those three words into the minds and bodies of his Patriots ever since he took over the program in 2023. It’s how he wants his team to prepare and play the game of football, which helped them improve from a winless 0-9 season that year to a 5-6 campaign in 2024.
And as Smith, a former Mississippi State offensive lineman and Mississippi Delta Community College offensive coordinator, enters his third year at the helm of the Patriots, he believes his team’s buy-in to his foundational mantra is set to shape this season’s leap to a reshuffled MAIS District 2-4A into a special one.
“We just want to grow, man,” Smith said. “We went from a no-win team my first year to a five-win team. A lot of these guys who were playing my first year, they are still playing now, so just the trajectory to get where we need to – I feel like we are on a good path. But games are won on Fridays, so we have to do what we have to do to make sure we win those games and we’re successful in that. And I think with the way we are going, with the small things we are working on, when we get those things corrected and figured out, we will be where we want to be on Friday nights at 9:30.”
He’s preaching it and the team is listening to it. He said it’s evident by the way they practice and how they attacked offseason workouts.
“It’s been really good, man. It’s really refreshing to walk into the building and you have some guys ready to get after it every day,” Smith said. “They are coming and they are bringing their lunch-pail mentality everyday and just really working on the small details of how we want it done. We have an older team. Have an older mix of younger guys and older guys. The older guys are doing really good (at) leading the younger guys by example. So, we are able to go in and work on the small things. (In) year three of the program, they kind of already know what I want done.”
On the field, the Patriots are returning 10 seniors, including a good mix of skill players, linebackers and lineman. That group is bolstered by the presence of 16 juniors and nine sophomores, who’ve also seen some action, to fill in the gaps left by the graduation of six seniors last year.
Part of the Patriots offseason has been spent on figuring out who will be replacing Thompson Regimbal at quarterback and Adyn Westmoreland at running back, a duo who helped power Heritage’s offense to average 30.9 points a game last season before graduating. Smith declined to name who was competing for the starting job under center, but listed juniors Joshua Tate and Preslev Gaskin and sophomore Brodie Watrous as QBs on Heritage’s roster.
“We have a quarterback battle going on. We have some guys who have done a really good job at competing, we just have to get someone to separate themselves and take the job,” he said. … “(We’re) looking for a guy that can command an offense and be quick and decisive and be confident in what he’s doing.”
Smith said there will not be a sole starter in the backfield as the Patriots’ ball carrier, and the position will be operated by a “committee” of ball carriers.
“We have plenty of guys that play running back, but also we are a smaller school, so the flexibility we have, a lot of guys have to play multiple positions,” he explained. “The flexibility we have with the depth that we have is a really good thing.”
One area Smith is high on is the offensive line. It’s a unit he said has a lot of experience and will be the backbone of the success of his offense.
“We’re older on the offensive line, so I think we can do whatever we need to do in taking what the defense gives us,” Smith said.
The team is looking to take a bigger step this year and is thrust into a new and difficult district due to the MAIS reclassifications that were handed out late last year. It moved the Patriots from District 1-5A to District 2 in 4A, which is now the highest level of football in the MAIS. Pillow Academy, Magnolia Heights are no longer district opponents and have been replaced with Lamar School, East Rankin Academy and Hartfield Academy, the reigning back-to-back 6A champions. It may be a totally new district, but the teams, though, are not foreign to Heritage.
The Patriots have battled Hartfield to open the last two seasons, both losses, and Lamar was also an opponent for Heritage from 2023-2024, also two losses. Rounding out the District 2-4A is old rival Starkville Academy.
“That district is brutal, man,” Smith said. “We have some really good teams, really good coaches and some teams that are going to come out and play hard for four quarters. Anytime you get that, it’s going to be a battle.”
But before getting into district contests, the Patriots have to take on Winston Academy, Wayne Academy, Kemper Academy and Copiah Academy to begin the season. He said Winston, which has split its last two games with Heritage, offers a unique challenge in the Patriots’ opening game on Aug. 29.
“They are a tough bunch that will hit you in the mouth, and if you don’t respond they are going to keep on hitting you,” Smith said. “They are a team that is going to give you their all. The last two years, we are 1-1. They are a physical team and they are going to run the ball and then get after you on defense, so it puts us in a good position to see where we are.
“I feel like the schedule that we have right now is really challenging, and I kind of wanted it to be that way,” he said. “I don’t want to go into a season where we haven’t been challenged before going into district play.”
Another key concept Smith is instilling is his team is winning every day and winning every rep. It’s something he thinks will rally his team to finish strong in games, something they struggled with last year.
“We want to finish 1-0 every Friday. We want to finish 1-0 at the end of every day. … Our goal is to win, and we have to do so by being detailed and by being physical and playing hard.”
Last year, the Patriots got a taste of the postseason for the first time since 2022, a first-round 47-21 loss to Simpson Academy, and the team wants more. But Smith isn’t letting them sit around and daydream. There’s work to be done.
“I’ve been around situations where the stakes are high, and you have some expectations you have to meet and when you don’t meet them the snowball starts happening. I think that kind of happened to us last year. … Right now, I kind of teach and preach, ‘Winning today and being in the moment,’” he said. “If we do really good at those things, then we’ll get to where we want to get to. If not, then we won’t, and we’ve seen that happen before.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
