Accountability, relentless effort, being tough, and being detailed oriented.

The four pillars are the foundation that is currently under construction in the Fort Stockton football program under the guidance of first-year head football coach and athletic director Jeremy Hickman.

The Fort Stockton native is in the process of implementing an entirely new, five-phase offseason program that he learned over a decade ago during his time as a coach at Cypress Woods High School.

“The whole deal is to put our four pillars in place: Accountability, relentless effort, being tough, and being detailed oriented” Hickman said. “David Jones was the head coach at Cy Woods when I was there and we went to a conference in Judson. That’s where we got it from and it’s changed. We made it fit at Cy Woods, Kerrville, New Braunfels, and now we’re making it fit here.”

The Panthers finished phase two of their offseason training regime on Feb. 3. The phase was based on developing comradery through drills in the weight room and the neighboring indoor turf facility, including partner jump rope, barbell lifts, and an array of exercises on a mat from 7:15-8 a.m. the entire week.

“The primary purpose of this was to be better teammates, to be fully engaged with your teammates and operate and execute tough tasks under pressure. That helps develop closeness, comradery, and trust that we’re there for each other,” Hickman explained.

One of the most unique aspects of the second phase is the celebration that is involved. After partners successfully complete a set of a given drill, the team rallies in a huddle and jumps up and down while celebrating – a sight similar to a touchdown celebration.

“It’s also important to celebrate success. When both partners successfully accomplish the task at hand, we celebrate it all then go back to work,” Hickman said. “We’re trying to mimic a game. It teaches you to not lose focus in a successful period.”

Fort Stockton’s football program began their third phase, basic training, this week. The segment of the offseason program, which will take place throughout February, will feature heavy lifting and sprint work.

“It’s our biggest lifting phase of the year because it’s colder outside, so we spend more time inside,” Hickman said.

Phase four will take place in March and early April while phase five concludes the program in the latter half of April and May before summer lifting takes places.

“Phase four is reignition and phase five is called spring ball. Reignition is where we start applying more plyometrics, a lot more change of direction, a lot more agility work. We’re going to reignite our bodies so we can move like football players,” Hickman added. “Then we go into spring ball.”