This interview was recorded Wednesday, Sept. 15, at the Trinity Valley Community College Field House.
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The TVCC Cardinals are coming off a 27-10 win over Northeastern Oklahoma A&M last week, giving them a 2-0 overall record and 1-0 in the SWJCFC. This week, the Cardinals are on the road to take on the Southern Shreveport Jags. The game will be played at Lee Hedges Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
(1:06) -- Before we got into the Jags, I asked Coach Poteete to describe the players' work week.
"It's a full-time job for them," he said. "They've got to be locked in and they've got to be diligent with their time to keep up with that."
The week includes studying film, attending meetings, lifting weights, and practice. Plus they have to keep up with their academics.
"Most of these kids are putting a 12-hour day in every day of the week," said Coach Poteete.
(3:25) -- Although they are facing another non-conference team this week, the Cardinals faced a tough test last week against SWJCFC opponent NEO.
"Our defense did a great job holding an opponent to 10 points in the first half and then putting a great adjustments plan together at halftime," Coach Poteete said. He highlighted the work of Defensive Coordinator Will Reed and defensive coaches Blake Bryan and Thomas Niles.
(5:14) -- It is understandable if you haven't heard of the Southern Shreveport Jags. This is just their second year for football, although the rest of their sports are NJCAA.
"They've got some talented kids on the field," said Coach Poteete. There are even a few former Cardinals playing for the Jags now.
Southern Shreveport will be very multiple on offense, according to Coach Poteete.
"They're going to throw every formation at you," he said.
Defensively, the Jags are a 4-2-5 team with a safety rolling down for run support.
(9:12) -- Kicker Jake Gaster is off to a great start to the season with 13 straight extra points and field goals of 51 and 45 yards. I asked Coach Poteete to talk about what it's like to have that sort of weapon.
"What a great start to his collegiate career," he said.
Coach Poteete described how Gaster's ability factored into the Cardinals' strategy in the first half against NEO.
On the first play of the second quarter, TVCC was facing a 3rd-and-22 from the NEO 46. During the break between quarters, Coach Poteete told his offense to just get half of the yardage back.
"Get half of it back and make me make a decision," he said.
It worked. On third down, Jordan Davis hit Cam Camper for 12 yards setting up Gaster's 51-yard field goal to give the Cards a 10-3 lead at that point.
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TVCC travels to take on Southern Shreveport Saturday