Roanoke – At the peak of Northside High School football, the Vikings won two state championships in a four-year span.
"It's a lot of pride to put on a Northside jersey. I mean, I grew up wanting to play for Northside," said quarterback Jalen Jackson.
In his 10 years at the helm of the program, Burt Torrence helped produce a prestigious football program, winning 81 games. But last year, everything he built came crumbling down. Torrence became the center of countywide controversy. He resigned as head coach in April and was indicted on charges of embezzlement soon after.
"I don't know that we can keep it out of their minds, in all honesty. It's there. We don't talk about it anymore at least here at the school and in the locker room. When we come in to lift or stretch, we are here to do something that makes us better and that negativity doesn't make us any better," explained Northside's new head coach, Scott Fisher.
Tyler Brown was hired to fill the coaching vacancy, but his tenure was short-lived. He resigned after the 2016 season. Fisher, who is a former assistant coach, was hired in April. His selection seems to bring some consistency back to the program.
"We just want to make sure that they understand we aren't going to go anywhere and that it is a 10-year commitment and we are all going to be here," he said.
Fisher, who worked under Torrence for four years, is hoping to bring his team back to its prime. But he runs a tight ship, and step one of rebuilding a powerhouse is establishing a new standard, one of respect and discipline.
"We want to make sure, number one, that we are good citizens in the community. I don't know that we've been that way in the past over the last couple years. We want to make sure that when somebody buys a ticket to come to our football game that they see a good program. They see kids that want to compete. They see kids who want to do things the right way."
"As a player, we've all been working on our discipline and how we show our leadership in the community and we are just doing our best to prove coach Fisher right and show him that we have what it takes to be a great player," wide receiver Jalen Cook said.
Fisher doesn't plan on turning this program around alone. He has 12 assistant coaches to help give players individual attention.
"It's great. I love having one-on-one help. It's going to help us a lot throughout the season. It benefits us a lot to help us throughout practices and whatnot," said receiver Logan Altizer.
As Fisher prepares to pick up the pieces of the Vikings program, the players have bought in and are willing to help lay the groundwork for a new foundation.
"We're trying. We're going to do our best and we are going to win a lot of games and we may lose some games but we are going to be trying our best out there," said receiver Christian Fisher, who is the coach's son.