TYLER, Texas — For Thomas Rocco and the Tyler Junior College football team, March 27, 2021, has been a day that the Apaches have been eyeing for months.
In July 2020, the National Junior College Athletic Association announced the movement of the majority of the fall sports to the spring.
A month later, the Southwestern Junior College Football Conference approved a spring schedule for the Apaches.
Rocco said, “it’s been new and uncharted waters for everybody. We’ve all just done our best to adjust and make plans.”
Despite not having a traditional fall football schedule, the second-year head coach says the focus shifted instead to player and skill development and to academics.
“I think these guys that have been through this are going to come out very tough and show some resiliency,” Rocco said.
TJC will play a 7-game conference schedule along with a chance to play one non-conference opponent. They open their season at Navarro in less than four weeks.
“You’re going see a lot of guys hungry to play. You’ll see a high level of football with our offense shifting a bit. You’ll see the ball in the air more, so it should be an exciting brand of football,” Rocco said.
The Apaches went 4-5 (3-4) overall play during Rocco’s first season in 2019.