If Anderson County coach Davey Gillum had his way, he'd have every football practice flooded with gospel music.
Instead, as the Mavericks gear up for the 2025 TSSAA high school football season, their video scoreboard blasts tunes from Drake, Snoop Dogg, 21 Savage and Meek Mill.
"I've got one request: keep it clean," Gillum said at Anderson County's first day of padded practice. "Honestly, I tune it out. I'm so out of date with these guys, I don't even know what they listen to. I stay out of the mix on all that stuff."
Gillum was too focused on fine-tuning his offensive scheme to hear DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win" reverberating throughout the stadium.
If Anderson County hopes to follow in Khaled's footsteps, they'll have to clean up some early mistakes. Gillum harped on executing in adverse circumstances, like the intense heat plaguing the Knoxville area. Anderson, like many other schools, had to bend its schedule to get their players out of the intense sun, which meant a lot of film study during the middle of the day.
"I think we've got a ways to go to learn how to be professionals and getting more out of the meeting time and the walk-through stuff," Gillum said. "But some of that are the battles you face when dealing with 16-year-olds."
Mental errors like false starts and botched snaps are to be expected, though, especially with all the new pieces. Anderson added senior Bearden transfers Charles Humphrey and Jayzon Thompson to bolster a roster that reached the TSSAA Class 4A state semifinal game last season.
Humphrey, a three-star offensive tackle and defensive end, committed to Mississippi State. Thompson, a three-star undecided running back, has multiple Power 4 offers, including Purdue, Auburn, Indiana and Ole Miss.
Thompson is still adjusting to his new surroundings.
"I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect the culture," Thompson said. "They're big on culture here. They want everybody to be in a good community.
"I didn't expect it to be like how it is here, but I'm for sure working into it. I'm liking it and getting better with knowing everybody."
Another major team addition is someone Gillum is all too familiar with. Anderson's starting quarterback will likely be JD Gillum, Davey's son. The freshman hasn't taken a varsity snap, yet he already has offers from Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.
"He's been impressive," Davey Gillum said about his son. "He's done real well and better than I expected early. I know he can throw as good as anybody, anywhere, on any level. He can do some things off-platform better than about a lot of people at higher levels. But getting in a high school offense with complicated systems, pass protections, checks, all these things can be a lot. I've been pleasantly surprised with what he can handle in the mental part of the game.
"As a dad, I'm learning how to be hands off a little bit, not being as hard on him. You're harder on people you're close to, so I've got to give him a little bit of space and not be such a turd to him all the time."
Gillum knows it's early. Anderson County's first game at Powell is weeks away. And yet, despite the mistakes and momentary lapses in focus, he believes this team can be special.
"Potential is one thing, and right now it's all we can go on," he said. "We've got a long way to go, but the offensive could could be awesome. Skill-wise, we could be faster than we've ever been. I don't want to put a bunch on JD early, but potentially he could sling it as good or better than anybody we've had. Defensively, we're big up front. Tough. Those two corners are as good as anybody in the state. There's a lot to be excited about.
"We could be dangerous."
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