THOMASVILLE — A new era has begun at Thomas County Central.

Succeeding Ed Pilcher as the Yellow Jackets’ coach, Bill Shaver began his first spring practice with the varsity squad Wednesday.

“This is the real football now,” Shaver said. “You’ve had all the, ordering equipment, weight room and offseason quarterback workouts and offseason afternoon workouts. This is what you like to do right here.”

While Central is breaking in its first new coach since 1991, the transition shouldn’t be difficult with Shaver’s familiarity with the program. He had served as an assistant since 1994.

“Every coach is back except for two,” Shaver said, referring to Pilcher and assistant Leonard Guyton. “All the defensive coaches are intact. Offensively, coach (Bill) Wilhelm and I have been together for so long we can step out and practice any day and not miss a beat. I’m blessed that they all decided to stay with us.”

Alhough the coaching staff remains intact — Shaver recently hired Sam Holland as his offensive coordinator — the Yellow Jackets will feature a lot of new starters at key positions, making these ten days that much more important.

“We’re experimenting a little bit at a few positions,” Shaver admitted. “Some springs we’ve played some guys on both sides of the ball. Right now, we’re trying to keep them on one side of the ball for a few days.”

The former offensive coordinator will have to find some new playmakers on offense. Gone are all-Region 1-AAAA performers P.J. Williams at quarterback and Debrale Smiley at running back, plus Adrien Rauls from the backfield, too. Wide receivers Jermaine Miller and Bernard Farley also graduate.

“We’ve lost everybody that touched the ball,” Shaver added. “We’re holding Shawn Bryant out of spring practice, too. Shawn’s been rehabbing his shoulder he hurt during the end of the season. He got cleared about four weeks ago. But we don’t want to chance it. We want him to keep rehabbing and keep getting strong because we’re not playing a game in these 10 days. We want to make sure he gets fully healthy.

“Shawn proved last year he can play.”

Shaver’s also without Taylor Payne, who’s expected to dual with Malcolm Walton for the starting quarterback job. Payne’s still playing with Central’s baseball team, which hosts its first-round playoff series Friday.

Spots are still open on the defensive side of the ball as well. Central loses key starters in Anthony McCloud, Mario Walton, Jonathan Lurry, Joseph Lurry and Brandon Larkin.

“The position that we’ve really got to find a place for is (weakside) linebacker,” Shaver noted. “We didn’t have a lot of depth there last year. Phillip (Williams) is back as a (strongside) linebacker. We’re experimenting with some folks.”