MGCCC Offensive/Defensive Lineman Camp develops winners

Linemen from two-time defending MS. 3A state champion Louisville work out at the MGCCC Off./Def. lineman Camp June 15.

PERKINSTON, MS.--- Ninety-two degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and no breeze.

For 325 high school football players from all over the southeast, those are optimum conditions to learn how to become better offensive and defensive linemen.

The annual Offensive/Defensive Lineman Camp hosted by Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College isn’t for those looking for a couple of days away from home during the summer. Call it whatever you want-- tough love, a test of endurance, or five days of pure torture. Whatever the case, many feel this camp is a true test of what life’s really like in the trenches.

“It’s hot out here but you pushed through it,” said Gulf Coast head football coach Steve Campbell as he addressed the campers after a brutal morning workout. “You guys have to be tempo setters. If you have a team full of tempo setters that can get up whether it’s hot or cold…rain or shine, or whatever, then you have a chance to become a special football team.”

Long Beach players go through one-on-one drills at the MGCCC Off./Def. lineman Camp June 15.

One of those special football teams attending the camp is Mississippi’s two-time defending State 3A Champion Louisville.

“You’re guys have to work hard every day,” Said Louisville coach Brad Peterson. “A lot of it is technique, but a lot of it is mental toughness. When you get tired you’ve got to find that next gear and get after it and that’s one thing they learn at this camp.”

Even without wearing pads, the up-tempo, two-a-day workouts are demanding, and sometimes grueling in the South Mississippi heat. But that’s what has drawn teams from all over the region to the college’s Perkinston Campus.

“Everyone I talked with said how great this camp was, so we brought some kids here to try it out,” said Daphne, AL. coach Wayne Davis. “It’s great to see all different types of kids working out here and competing and hustling and doing the things you want them to do. So far, it’s everything we hoped it would be and more.”

Coast schools including Ocean Springs, East Central, Long Beach, Stone, and Pascagoula are participating in the event.