Tate football with 'quiet confidence' for new season after posting best record since 2017
The Tate football team got to end its season in special fashion in 2023.
The Aggies took part in the inaugural First City Bowl, held at Blue Wahoos Stadium, and defeated Booker T. Washington. With the dominant 44-0 shutout over the Wildcats, Tate had done something it hadn’t done since the 2017 season: post a .500 record.
After years of success under head coaches Ronnie Douglas and Jay Lindsey, head coach Rhett Summerford started from the ground up in 2022. And just a couple years later, the Aggies won more games in one year than they had the last four combined, going a total 4-34.
“I feel like our record made us want to work out more, get faster and build together as a team,” senior Brayden Walker said.
To be frank, Tate lost a few key seniors from the 2023 season, but the Aggies have a good chunk of returners. Summerford noted he’s expecting to have 25-plus seniors during the fall – nearly double of the normal 12-15 seniors he’s had the last two seasons since he took over the Aggies in 2022.
“That’s the breed of what we’ve tried to build our program around: competition. Compete every day. We compete every day in the offseason,” Summerford said. “Now, what step are you going to make? Don’t let the program take a step back. I think they’re well on their way.”
A lot of returners, can Tate continue to grow?
Offensively, the Aggies are bringing back more of their top players. Quarterback Taite Davis, who had a breakout year in 2023 after throwing for 1,715 yards and 17 touchdowns is back. Summerford noted Davis’ growth as a quarterback, becoming much more “comfortable” at the position.
“Taite understands what it takes to play quarterback now. That may have not been the case before, but he’s a veteran,” Summerford said. “We’re able to have discussions. That’s one of the key elements from our quarterbacks as they get older. Can we have discussions about football, where he can tell me what he’s seeing? Early on, they don’t see anything. It’s very robotic. … Taite is very relaxed on offense. The confidence comes from knowledge.”
“Taite really thrived last year, and he’s going to be even better this year,” said Tyler Folmar, a soon-to-be senior lineman for Tate.
Tate lost its top running back in Andre Colston, who gained 890 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground. But the next three-best runners were all underclassmen in 2023. The story is more or less the same for receivers.
Christian Neptune, the 2023 PNJ Offensive Newcomer of the Year, is back after an 863-yard, seven-touchdown season. But the Aggies do lose C.J. Autrey, who added 436 yards.
“I think our confidence is through the roof right now,” Folmar said. “Everybody’s getting after it.”
Defensively, the Aggies will have to replace their best tackler in Nathan Shimek, who recorded 58 tackles, alongside a few other top players such as Colston (42 tackles) and Clayton Philley (37 tackles). Philley and Shimek also posted interceptions during the year.
“We’ve got a lot of new people on defense, but we’re just trying to get them back into it and working harder,” Walker said. “We’re looking good right now, and stronger.”
With all the returning players, Summerford said the Aggies have a “quiet confidence” about them moving into the offseason and the fall.
“You don’t want things to go to your head just because a good for this program year. … We want to be good to great. We want to go from a good team that can compete with Navarre and Pace, to a great team that can go on the field and beat one of them,” Summerford said. “They believe they can do that, and that’s the first step.”
Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on X (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Tate football continuing to grow after first non-losing season since 2017
