Monday marked the first day of the Lev Holly era at Escambia County High School with the former Jackson Aggies defensive coordinator taking control of practices.

Holly is now preparing the Blue Devils to play a spring game Saturday against the W.S. Neal Eagles and the Linden Patriots with his systems and philosophies being installed.

With only five days to prepare for the spring contest, the newly-hired head coach is jumping right in making sure his team is as prepared as possible.

“First, I want to see them compete at a high level,” Holly said. “I know it will different compared to what they have been doing, but there will some similarities to what they have done. We are going to be a spread team and throw the ball around. We are going to put our athletes in a position to create mismatches. The main thing I want to see is them competing, playing fast and play with a team concept.”

As the team gets deeper into the playbook and learning what Holly wants, the main focus for the new coach is to get his team to understand how important the group is as a whole.

Focusing on getting across the team concept is where Holly plans to start in order to be ready for Saturday’s match ups.

Getting that philosophy in place will help build a strong program, Holly said.

“The team-first concept is the basic principle I want to install with our team this week,” he said. “There is no individual, so we are going to work hard and make sure we do the small things right. I just want our team to create the right example that turns us into a state championship program a forced to be reckoned with around the state.”

In regards to the teams that the Blue Devils will play, Holly knows the competition will be strong in East Brewton.

Playing good football against competitive programs with just one week to prepare will show a lot about the Blue Devils, Holly said.

“We are playing two great teams,” he said. “Neal was young last year and really got better as the season went on, and Linden was a state runner up, so we have to be ready to compete. I want them to go in and play a great game of football with discipline and consistent. It’s hard to come in and do it well in just a few days, but I want us to do things we can do well.”