By Erik Harris
CLAY — Every day since his defense made the state championship-claiming stop on Pat Dye Field, Clay-Chalkville defensive coordinator Sean Talsma has walked in his office and sat in his black leather chair.
Never stagnant, Talsma constantly pours in and out of the busy office as he molds the “next guy up” into a champion.
From the weight room to the film room to back in the rolling chair, he never goes long without passing a magnetic depth chart posted behind his desk.
The names written on the dry-erase board serve as a daily reminder that Talsma’s Class 6A state championship unit returns only two starters in 2015.
Linebackers Terry Brown and Nick Battle, both seniors-to-be, are all that’s left of a starting 11 that went unbeaten in 2014. That’s the bad news.
Clay-Chalkville players raise their helmets during the Class 6A state championship game in Auburn on Dec. 5, 2014. The Cougars defeated Saraland 36-31 for the state title.
file photo by Ron Burkett
The good news? Seven starters return from an offense that rewrote the program’s record books while averaging 49 points per game in 2014.
One of those seven is quarterback Ty Pigrome, who is 15-0 as a starter. The righty reached the end zone 61 times as a junior. His dual-threat ability was showcased on national television in Week 1 and on the state championship stage five months later and in every game in between.
Pigrome’s ability to run was always there, but it was his season-long growth as a passer that put the Super 7 hardware in Clay-Chalkville High School and the Class 6A Back of the Year award in his hands.
Pigrome can thank a stellar offensive line for making his maturation process a little easier. The trick moving forward will be replacing three starters from that front.
Both offensive tackles –Tyon Hardy and Johnathan Butterworth – along with guard Justin Daniel were two-year starters that have to be replaced.
Additionally, head coach Jerry Hood must find someone to fill the shoes of Terelle West, the school’s all-time leading rusher. And it wont be senior Art Smith, who filled in so well after West’s knee injury in the playoffs.
Hood is confident in the talent returning in the Cougars’ backfield, but questions the maturity of the unit other than junior A.J. Walker.
“We’ve got a bunch of decent kids back there, I don’t know that we have home run hitters like (West), but we won’t be void of a decent running back at Clay,” Hood said. “I’m not happy with the maturity of some of our running backs besides (those departing). The only one that I can tell you that I think is mature and he’s dedicated himself to being a great one is Walker.”
Even with so many players to replace defensively, Hood and Talsma share the belief that their defense is capable of plugging in new guys that can continue their winning ways.
Talsma now looks to brothers Amari and Armoni Holloway to secure two of the four openings in his secondary. The seniors got quality reps as backups in 2014.
The Clay-Chalkville varsity football team poses for a photo after defeating Saraland 36-31 on Dec. 5 in Jordan-Hare Stadium for the Class 6A state championship.
file photo by Ron Burkett
“If one of our corners went down or if there was a problem, they were the next guys in, so they had quality reps,” Talsma said. “It wasn’t just ‘the offense scored 60 and we’re going to put anybody out there,’ so they got quality reps against the teams we played.”
Defensive line coach Curtis Coleman is blessed with the job of finding guys to replace LaDarius Harris, Kendell Jones and Nick McDaniel.
If Clay-Chalkville can replace this year’s departing seniors like it has in the recent past, Talsma should have no problem sitting in his chair and filling that empty board.
