Normal U-High football coach Brody Walworth enters his third year at the helm of a rebuilding project and believes this year his team is ready to take a big step forward.

He indicates the first two years have been filled with growing pains but felt last year there were a lot of lessons learned as his team played in a lot of close games and learned what it takes to win.

For Coach Walworth, that forward momentum they had after last year has carried into the offseason and he believes his kids are incredibly motivated to start this season and have worked hard to get themselves where they need to be to be ready.

The Pioneers have all the ingredients to take the next step forward. Coach Walworth explains they return a lot of their offensive line from last year and his defense was also very young.

For Coach Walworth, qualifying for the playoffs is the next step in his process to rebuild the Normal U-High football program. He is a big believer in 'process over product' but says the expectation is they can in fact, make that next step to the postseason this year. 

Normal U-High opens the season at Springfield High. The Pioneers play its first two games on the road but finish with five of its final seven games at home.