PCHS to scrimmage at Glynn Acad., Wayne
BEARVILLE — Pierce County head coach Ryan Herring enters the final two weeks of summer practice saying his 2026 Pierce County Bears “still have a ways to go.”
“Our football IQ has gone up, but we still have a ways to go,” the veteran head coach said.
Herring is entering is eighth season in Bearville with five region titles and two state championships (2020 Class AAA, 2023 Class AA) on his resume to go along with an 81-12 (.871 win percentage) won-loss record.
PCHS begins this year’s campaign with the smallest senior class in the Herring era with just 12 members.
“I think we’re at 12 and that may go down,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of them come out who hadn’t ever played. As you get through July and August, all of a sudden, guys who aren’t fully invested may decide they’re done.”
Since June 1 and following no spring practice, Herring and his staff have looked over a youngerthan- normal team looking to replace seven starters on each side of the ball.
“I gave them that time off because so many guys were playing baseball and other spring sports,” said Herring. “Some are key guys ... I’m like, well, I’d just rather do two fall scrimmages because we can’t do something with one of those players getting hurt. That wouldn’t have been good.”
PCHS participated in two OTAs (Organized Team Activities) — one in June at Valdosta High School and another in July at McIntosh County Academy — over the break.
“We (coaches) found out a lot of issues,” said Herring. “It was our first time going against somebody. We improved from that experience. I thought we were smarter at the OTA at McIntosh. We still have a ways to go, but our football IQ has gone up.”
The Bears just finished their five-day acclimation period Friday and could go full gear Monday, July 27.
With early morning practices from 9 a.m.-12 p.m., in June and July, PCHS will start taking the field this week at 4 p.m.
The Bears have two scrimmages scheduled for August 7 at Glynn Academy and August 14 at Wayne County. Both are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts.
“It may sound like we’re beating a dead horse here, but we have to get lined up on defense,” said Herring, referencing a priority with seven new faces in the lineup. “We just didn’t do a good job of that last year. We have to get lined up and be able to play with technique and be able to fit the run offensively.
“Offensively, I want to see how we do blocking other people and knowing who to block ... just our rules. I want to know where we are as far as all our fundamentals of what we do on both sides of the ball.
“I want to see we have to get polished up before we drive to Alabama (Coosa Christian, August 21 season opener.”
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