Milton football enters 2023 with a quarterback battle, new training programs and a more experienced defense

Remember the song, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes?”

The Milton football team has taken that song to somewhat to heart with an expanded strength-training and stretching programs, and the primary focus has been players’ heads, shoulders, necks, hips, knees and ankles.

The Panthers have taken a different approach to their stretching. And they have put an emphasis on a new protocol – with the help of a collegiate strength and conditioning coach – that centers around “neurology and head stuff.”

Recruiting: Milton four-star receiver Raymond Cottrell flips from Georgia to Texas A&M

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Head coach Kelly Gillis said he’s already seen a difference in the opening week or so of practices “which has helped (the team) tremendously.”

After a 2022 season that was “decimated by injuries” toward the latter half of the campaign – Gillis pointed to the fact the Panthers finished with three defensive linemen after starting the season with 12 – Gillis just got some of those players back.

Now attention turns to staying ahead on the injury front.

“We’d run 110s (going from goalpost to goal line). And after those 110s, it was a 30-minute stretching period – everything from hips, to knees, ankles, shoulders. We do a lot of concussion stuff,” Gillis said. “Anything we can do to help on that end, to be proactive and get out in front of that, that’s what we’re trying to do.”

In his second year at the helm of Milton, Gillis also has the mindset of continuing “to change the culture” of the program. He wants to make it so that the Panthers have “player-led leadership” throughout the roster.

It’s what Gillis has seen on “the most successful teams” that he’s been a part of.

“When you got it to where you cared enough about your peer that you lined up next to, that you didn’t want to do anything to let him down, that’s where the culture is getting to. You can just see it,” he said. “Peer-led teams always have more success. If I have to do all the leading, we’re not going to be very good.”

Losing and adding

Milton notably lost two top players due to graduation. Raymond Cottrell, a four-star wide receiver, is now a freshman at Texas A&M. He finished his senior season with 46 receptions for 651 yards, and 38 carry attempts for 279 yards. Cottrell scored a 14 total touchdowns (five rushing, nine receiving).

Other than his impressive offensive stats, Cottrell had 10 tackles his senior year (six solo, four assisted) plus a blocked field goal. On special teams, he had 15 punts with an average of 34 yards, and had seven kickoff returns (192 yards).

“I don’t think people realize the roles that Raymond played in other areas. He played every snap of defense, and people don’t talk about that. I think he did a lot defensively just because he didn’t get the ball thrown his way a lot as a defensive back,” Gillis said. “That helped us defensively because when we put him over there, he didn’t get attacked a whole lot. Maybe it was just because of who he was – that’s huge.”

Cottrell was a prime target for three-star quarterback Emory Williams, who is now at the University of Miami and gearing up for his first year with the Hurricanes. Williams produced 2,052 passing yards for 21 touchdowns. He also ran for 238 yards and ran in for two touchdowns.

While it’s hard to replace household names like those, Gillis said there are several younger players that the coaching staff is “really excited about” after freshmen and sophomores – who are now a year older and a year wiser – gained crucial experience last season.

“To be honest with you, we’ve probably got more skill players than we’ve had in awhile,” Gillis said. “We’ve got five, six or seven (players) that can do things on both sides of the ball and are really going to help us. So where we’ve lost some things, we might be gaining a little bit more.”

Gillis highlighted quarterbacks Ethan Diamond, who transferred from Pace, and Tate Williams, the younger brother of Emory. Gillis also brought up sophomore Kaiden Hall, who according to the head, has "the chance to be the next special one.”

“Ethan’s a great kid. He’s come from Pace, and even Coach (Kent) Smith said, ‘You’re going to be getting an outstanding young man,’” Gillis said. “A lot of people transfer and move here and there, and you don’t know why they do, but Coach Smith was right. He’s been a great kid. An outstanding leader.”

Senior linebacker Kaden French pointed out some other players in the defensive backfield – such as Bryson Brown, Jayden Leverett, Ra’shaun Elzy and Rayvon Cottrell, Raymond’s younger brother – who have “stepped up a little.”

“It’s just the next guy up,” French said. “Nobody can replace Raymond, because he was a spectacular player. But there’s people who have other talents who will step up to the plate.”

‘It could go either way’

Pressure usually leads to a Diamond. But, in Milton’s case, pressure could also lead to a Williams.

But the battle at the quarterback position between Ethan Diamond and Tate Williams “could go either way” as the Panthers try to determine their starter.

Diamond saw limited action as a junior at Pace, playing in five games and throwing for 49 yards and one touchdown. He added 28 yards on the ground and scored a touchdown. Gillis said the now-senior has “done an outstanding job of fitting in” at Milton and the other players “have really taken to him.”

Now it’s about making a good first impression with a new team.

“During the initial transition, it was pretty hard just getting used to everything. After the spring, I got used to pretty much everything,” Diamond said. “It’s a lot more complex than my last school. It was just an adjustment that I had to get used to. We’re running smoothly, and I think the offense is going to be really good this year.”

For Williams, the pressure stems from trying to fill the footsteps of not only his older brother Emory, but his eldest brother Aubrey, who graduated in 2018 and was also a quarterback. “I guess it’s the Williams tradition,” Tate added. “But a lot of that (pressure), you pray about it and God takes care of it.”

“Emory was a great role model, and he was a great player. I’m trying to do my best,” Tate said. “He can relate to a lot of the things going on. We have a lot of the same struggles, and a lot of the same thought processes. Although, we disagree on stuff, we still have our brotherly conflicts. But it’s great.”

Either way the position battle goes, Gillis has seen the true personalities show from both of his prospective starters. The quarterbacks are “each other’s biggest fans,” and have become very close after spring football, 7-on-7’s and summer workouts.

“Tate actually taught me a lot of the stuff that I needed to know, because he’s been in it. And that kind of gave him an advantage,” Diamond said. “But (the battle’s) been good. We compete every single day in everything we do, whether it’s in the weight room or on the field throwing. We’ve become close friends.”

“We have a lot of the same interests. He’s fun to talk with. We learn from each other. I’ll mess up, or he’ll mess up, and we’ll learn and build off each other,” Tate Williams said. “We’re both getting better together. I love him. He’s a great guy. Hats off to him, he works his butt off.”

But for either quarterback to truly take an advantage over the other, one thing is likely going to have to happen.

“I think there’s a lot of pressure either way. That might be what won’t allow them to separate,” Gillis said. “They’ve got to learn to kind of alleviate the pressure and let it take care of itself.”

Learning the varsity game

The Panthers lost a majority of their starters on the offensive side of the ball. While some younger players saw limited action and gained crucial experience, senior Tommy Walker noted the need to teach the younger plays “how to go practice.”

Walker, the lone starting offensive lineman returning for the Panthers, is shifting from left guard to center this season. While he’s learning his new position and is “picking it up pretty well … everybody else is, too.”

“Our offense is mostly juniors – there’s some seniors – and they’re a close group, too. We’re all close, we all know each other,” Walker said. “There’s not really a newness, it’s just filling spots, because we’ve all practiced together.”

But it’s not so much the skill that younger players need to get used to, Walker mentioned.

“It’s getting used to the speed, because the speed difference from (junior varsity) to varsity is huge. … The first game or two will really decide who’s going to be in there, who’s willing to start and who deserves to start,” Walker said. “I think the speed of the game will be where we lack most, just the knowledge of it.”

That’s just one of the “little things” that Gillis talked about. Using his coined phrase, “You trip over pebbles, not mountains,” Gillis said that’s the focus in the opening weeks: making sure players control “what (they) can control each play.”

“If you can get the little things and take care of those things every day, you won’t deal with as many big situations – or when you get to the big situations – you’ll be more apt to handle it when your little things are in order,” Gillis said. “It all came down to we had success when we did our job. That has been the focus, whether it’s conditioning, drill work – you just do your job with an elite effort, an elite purpose, and knowing the ‘why’ you’re doing it – that’s what we’re taking into practices.”

Milton Panthers

District: 1-4S

Coach: Kelly Gillis (second season as head coach, 3-7 record with the Panthers)

Last Year: 3-7 (1-3 district); missed playoffs

Key Players: Ethan Diamond, QB, Sr.; Tate Williams, QB, Jr.; Kaiden Hall, WR/FS, Soph.; Tommy Walker, OL, Sr.; Kaden French, MLB, Sr.; Manny Kimmons, DL, Sr.

Key Losses: Emory Williams, Raymond Cottrell, T.J. Haynes, Tre’lin Carnegia

2023 Regular Season Schedule:

8/25: at Orange Beach (Ala.)

9/1: at Niceville

9/8: at Booker T. Washington

9/15: vs. Gulf Breeze

9/22: vs. Escambia

9/29: at Tate

Bye Week

10/13: vs. Navarre

10/20: vs. Crestview

10/27: at Pace

11/3: vs. Godby

Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on Twitter (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Milton football starts 2023 season with experienced defense