First in a series previewing Utah County's high school football teams.
PAYSON — This was supposed to be the year the Payson Lions moved up a notch in football competency.
It still might be, but several players from last year's squad who were expected to be back and better this year didn't buy into second-year coach Colby Knight's offseason training programs, so they're taking up new hobbies this fall.
"They didn't want to work on the weights and put in the effort we wanted," Knight said.
The Lions also lost a good share of their starting players to graduation. As a result, Payson will again be a young, small and inexperienced team. They have plenty of experience and talent in the skill positions, but the players elsewhere haven't seen much varsity playing time. But Payson's coaches feel they've vastly improved over the offseason.
"A lot of the things we did wrong last year were my fault," Knight said. "But I'm growing as a coach and so is my staff, and I think we've learned from our mistakes and we'll make a lot of corrections this time around."
Quarterback Blake Francom is a dandy. He's smart, tall and throws the football with the best of them. But when the Lions went to a summer camp in Kanab, they learned quickly that it doesn't matter how good your quarterback is if you can't provide him adequate protection.
"He's got a gun," Knight said. "But I just don't know if we can give him the time to throw."
The Payson football program is still heading in the right direction and is not lacking for enthusiasm. More than 90 players showed up to participate when conditioning started last week, and about half of them are sophomores and freshmen.
Despite Payson's lack of size and experience, every coach in Region 6 feels the Lions will be an improved team this season.
"I'm not sure if we'll win many more games this year, but I really expect that we'll be a lot more competitive and have a chance to be in every game," Knight said.
Friday: Spanish Fork
E-mail: jimr@desnews.com