CULLMAN, Ala. – Kickoff of the 2025 season is right around the corner and the Cullman Bearcats have been hard at work this offseason preparing to hit the field once again. The ‘Cats will have some new faces on the field and on the sideline this fall as Head Coach Trent Walker prepares to kick off his first season at the helm. Walker graduated from Cullman High School in 2005 and spent several years working as an assistant under former head coaches Mark Britton, Matt Plunkett and Oscar Glasscock before taking the head coaching job at Lawrence County in 2021. Since returning to his alma mater, Walker has been blown away by the reception and commitment he’s already received from his new team.
“It continues to be a surreal experience. It just feels right, and it doesn’t even have anything to do with the fact that I’m home. The buy-in they have given me and the relationship that I’ve been able to develop with them has been great,” Walker said. “We have a great energy in the building; everyone is enjoying coming to football and this time of year there’s just a certain number of things you have to do and hours you have to put in to make sure your team is ready for the challenges that lie ahead. But when we do roll call in the morning, nobody is running late, everybody is in the building and with teenagers that’s not a common thing, so something is driving them here. Whether it’s their relationships with their coaches or teammates or the energy in the building, it’s just been awesome. It’s been even better than I expected.”
The Bearcats will have some experience returning on the defensive side of the ball and Walker has been pleased with the way those players have taken on a leadership role this offseason.
“I would consider our defensive line as the leaders of our program right now. We’ve got seniors all across there with a veteran junior group mixed in and in terms of what we want to be about on and off the field, that room is deep,” Walker said. “So, I think that’s kind of the leadership group on our team. We have a couple very experienced guys in the back end and some older guys back there that don’t have as much experience but as a group I feel good about them in the back end. At linebacker we’ve got a good mix of youth and some older guys that haven’t played linebacker so we’re kind of a mixed bag there, but I like how that position is shaping up and who the people are.”
On the offensive of the ball, the ‘Cats will have several new faces in new roles this season but Walker is encouraged by the work he’s seen them put in to prepare for week one.
“On the offensive side obviously we’re trying to find who our quarterback is going to be heading into this season. It’s a very fluid situation there and then we’re going to be very young on the offensive line. We have one returning starter on the offensive line and another guy who has played some in a back up role so we’re basically replacing an offensive line with a new starter at quarterback. That makes you a lose a little sleep at night,” Walker joked. “But I love the group. The offensive line has gelled tremendously under Coach (Jordan) Boatright, and he’s brought a real group mentality there so we’re very proud of where they are. Asher Drake is a guy who has made plays, and we’ve got some other guys that have been in the program for a while and Brooks Loftin coming back out so from a skill player standpoint, we like how those guys are coming together right now. When you’ve got a young quarterback, you’ve got to be able to run the ball and take some pressure off of him and I think we’ve got the pieces in the backfield and on the offensive line to be able to take shorten the game and take some pressure off the quarterback.”
Walker and his staff have perennial postseason aspirations for the program but outside of the win column, they have goals for how they want the team to represent themselves and their school on the field.
“One thing we always talk about is being ready and resilient. We want guys to be prepared to face the storms of a game. I told the guys I’ve never been in a game as a coach or a player where there wasn’t a storm of some kind whether it’s a turnover or a momentum swing or whatever. So, we want to be resilient and play with relentless effort,” Walker said. “Cullman is a place where our community knows where we fall on the spectrum of our particular classification, but they have a strong identification with what they expect the product to look like. It’s hardnosed, physical defense, an offense that matches that physicality, plays disciplined football and represents our community well and our high school well. We plan to meet all those expectations. As far as performance during the season, our long-term vision is always going to be to host playoff games at Cullman. Those are the things we talk about. We’re very process oriented and I think the guys need goals like that to know we’re seeking something.”
2025 Cullman Football Schedule (6A, Region 7)
Aug. 22 – Bob Jones
Aug. 29 – at Mortimer Jordan
Sept. 5 – at Athens*
Sept. 12 – Jasper*
Sept. 19 – Muscle Shoals*
Sept. 26 – at Brewer
Oct. 2 – at Hartselle*
Oct. 10 – at Columbia*
Oct. 17 – Decatur*
Oct. 24 – at Buckhorn
*Region Game
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