Players of the Pine Belt: Heidelberg junior linebacker Devin Tribble

HEIDELBERG, Miss. (WDAM) - There’s a new attitude in Heidelberg.

It’s what Darryl Carter’s bringing as head coach of the Oilers after 11 years at Shannon High School.

“Come out and hit teams in the mouth,” said junior linebacker Devin Tribble. “Show them what Heidelberg’s been made of, show them what we can really do on the field.”

“Mean and nasty, come straight at ‘em,” said senior right tackle Freddie Gavin. “Hit ‘em dead in the mouth, don’t play with them at all.”

Carter returns to the Pine Belt where he graduated from Northeast Jones before playing college football at Jones College and Louisiana-Monroe.

He’s long known about the talent in Heidelberg.

“They work,” Carter said. “Main thing is they makes themselves available, that’s one thing I spoke about when I took the job. If you make yourself available that leaves room and opportunity for you to get better.”

“Come out here working non-stop,” Tribble said. “Coach Carter pushes us and that’s all we really been needing, that extra push on our back to help us improve and make us want to come out here.”

Tribble echoes coach Carter’s messages to the rest of the team, trying to get all the Oilers on the same page as they head into the fall.

“He’s serious about what he does,” Tribble said. “He loves us but he wants the best for us. He wants to build better young men in life, he pushes us on the field. He wants us to win. People always saying something about Heidelberg but it’s always a ‘but’ and he’s here to change that.”

“We had a pastor this past Sunday and he said, ‘Lean into it, don’t fall back,’” Carter said. “That kinda was a mentality that I take - when adversity hits and things are not going the way we expect them that’s when you’re supposed to step up. That’s when the best comes out of you when you’re being pushed. When all the odds are stacked against you, that’s when I’m ready to come out and fight even harder.”

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