The New Era of LaGrange College Football
Following the 2022 1-8 Football campaign the LaGrange College Panthers made drastic changes in order to get back to winning. One major change this past offseason was the hiring of the new Head Coach, Wes Dodson, and football staff. Coach Dodson comes from Hampden Sydney College, a NCAA Division III team from Virginia competing in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. During his time at Hampden-Sydney, the program went to five conference championships, made it to six NCAA playoffs, had 18 All-Americans, and four ODAC players of the year.
Coach Dodson looks to change everything inside and out to build a winning program built on three pillars: family, professionalism, citizenship. The staff describes the family pillar as having quality coaches who care about each player as if they are their own sons and that the players should want to develop and spend time together on and off the field. The goal of this pillar is to create a family bond, so that players and coaches feel truly connected with one another. The professionalism pillar lays out a set of principles for players to follow, so that they can be not only great teammates but great men.
These principles are following through on the promises you make, always conducting yourself in an ethical manner, taking responsibility for your actions, having a positive mindset, staying engaged and focused when it is time to work, and being poised even during difficult circumstances. The last pillar described in Dodson's mission is citizenship. The staff describes this as wanting the team to be a part of the LaGrange community. To fulfill this part of the mission, Dodson wants players and staff to donate their time at local food banks and charities, to do volunteer work within the community, and have local schools be involved in the program. These three pillars are key aspects to coach Dodson's mission of having the players of the LaGrange College football program be championship men on and off the field, while most importantly obtaining a meaningful degree at the college.
The new era of LaGrange Panthers football kicks off the season on Sep. 9, at Callaway Stadium, against the Berry College Vikings.
