OROVILLE, Calif. – Last season, Oroville Football didn’t win a single game.
This year, the Tigers have a new head coach in Oroville alum Lee Papa. He’s ready to get the program back in the win column.
“When there’s that many L’s behind you, you definitely want to change that in the first game,” Head Coach Lee Papa said. “We’re really excited for the first snap. We’re going to come out very aggressive.”
Papa is hard at work rebuilding Oroville Football. That starts with team culture – something he knows from his time as a Tiger.
“A lot of good memories here,” he said. “I love talking to the athletes about the experience I had and the tradition we know Oroville used to represent and still can.”
“Seeing someone like that at Oroville makes you want to try to be more like him,” Senior Dejon Steele said. “I think he’s a great man.”
Papa says commitment and sacrifice are crucial to developing a strong culture.
“We first had to tackle academics,” he said. “We started that in April.”
From there, the team focused on improving in the weight room and at practice. Players also got involved in the community.
“We did some things like a mom’s night dinner, which was really cool,” Papa said. “They brought their mom to a date night. That was a real bonding experience. They did some service projects.”
“It shows the parents of everyone who went that we’re trying to change and do better,” Senior Emiliano Villagrana said. “It’s putting everyone in the situation where they want to be a part of this culture.”
The strengthened brotherhood has made a difference on the field. Papa said the defense will turn some heads.
“We have a lot of speed,” he said. “We have some mentally tough athletes on our team. Some that didn’t get to play last year that are aggressively seeking to play last year. I’m really excited about that.”
Papa is also confident in his offensive line. As far as who they’ll protect at quarterback? That’s still up in the air.
“Kirk Roberts is a talented kid, talented athlete,” Papa said. “He’s a junior and doing really well. The other quarterback who we’re seeing if he can play the position is Anthony DeLeon. He played fullback and middle linebacker last year.”
Oroville only has eight returners, but the team doubled its roster from last season. Seniors like Emiliano Villagrana are stepping up.
“At the end of the day, my goal personally is to go out there and change the attitude of everyone,” he said. “Instead of it being, ‘we’re not going to win,’ it’s going to be ‘go out there and show them what you got.'”
Oroville’s first chance to win comes Friday Aug. 26 on the road against Lindhurst.