Rebuilt.

The Morning Of.

Howard's POV

The alarm rang, reminding Howard of waking up in college. He would always have a problem getting out of bed in college and nothing had really changed. "Are you going to get that?" The alarm had also awoken his wife, Alexis Howard.

"Of course." Howard gingerly reached his arm out from under the comfort of the blankets and hit the snooze with the palm of his hand, something that he picked up in college. Alexis was the first to get up, practically jumping out of bed and into her morning sandals.

"Come on." She pulled the blanket from the comfort of Howard, earning a grunt for her action.

"Alright." Howard slowly raised himself from bed, he had been up all night watching film of Marshall from a year ago. Chances were that they wouldn't even practice at the first day of camp but he wanted to be a little more familiar with the team he would now be coaching.

Howard slipped his morning sandals on and made his way to the bathroom.

Lance's POV

Lance slipped on his left knee brace above the knee pads he wore to practice. He hated wearing all the protection on his legs but he had no choice, not after his freshman year injury.

"Lance?" His mother shouted from downstairs, Lance never liked hearing his mother yell, "Are you ready?"

Lance slipped on a athletic tank top, "Be right there mom." He stepped into the hallway to make sure his mother wasn't there then went back to his dresser, pulling open the bottom drawer. Pushing aside his regular socks he pulled out an old prescription bottle and popped it open, pouring a small handful of pills into his other hand. "Up and adam." He quickly shoved the pills into his mouth and swallowed, most would've done so with a drink but he didn't want his mother suspicious. After putting the bottle away and closing the drawer Lance picked up the wallet on his desk and headed down the stairs.

Deron's POV

Deron Blackmon sat at the kitchen table and cut into the eggs his mother had prepared before leaving for work. His father also sat at the table in his business suit, already half way through his eggs.

"What do we know about this new coach, Ryan Howard?" His father asked, not bothering to look up from the plate. Deron couldn't blame him though his mother made the absolute best eggs.

Deron swallowed the eggs in his mouth before clearing his throat, "Not much really, all I heard was that he hasn't head coached before." His father stopped eating and gave Deron a bewildered look.

"Really?" That was exactly how Deron reacted at first, until he realized it really couldn't hurt. Marshall really wasn't all that prestigious.

"Yeah, he's been an assistant for years and now he's finally getting his shot." His father nodded and resumed to eating his eggs.

"Maybe things will be different with him then. New head coach could mean new ideas." Deron thought the same thing, he and his father had so much in common and got along so well. That was something Deron was extremely greatful for.

"I think this is the year." Deron wasn't speaking about a winning record, a state title or anything like that, Deron wanted a shot to play quarterback.

"It better be, if not we'll be transferring you to---"

"Dad, I've told you before that there isn't one other school I'd rather play for. I've always wanted to lead Marshall." Deron didnt mean to interrupt hid father, but hd couldn't help himself. He was just so passionate about this.

His father placed his fork down on the table and made eye contact with him, "Son, that's just the point. You aren't leading. You aren't getting to quarterback for this team. We have paid for you to go to quarterback camp and that's still not enough. If you don't get your shot we'll move to Paducah so that you can." His father wasn't wrong, no matter what Deron did his old coach just wouldn't put him under center. Paducah Tighlman High School would definitely be his best chance to start, seeing that almost the entire team was African American like Deron. The only problem was Deron loved Marshall County more than anything else, he had lived his whole life here and he's watched the high school football team his whole life.

"Alright, but hopefully this new head coach will give me a chance."

"Hopefully."

Howard's POV

Howard opened the car door and placed his laptop case into the passenger seat. "Have a good first day!" His wife hugged him and gave him a quick kiss goodbye.

"I will," Howard got seated in the car, "See you this evening!" He shut the door and turned the car on.

"This evening!" His wife waved and went back into the house. Now the day really began.