MT. VERNON — A head coach’s first season with a team can be tough.

Now imagine that first season coming during a pandemic.

That’s what Greg Graves faced back in the spring as the Mt. Vernon Rams’ new head football coach. The challenges keep coming following an unprecedented spring season.

The past several years have been a struggle for the Rams. Mt. Vernon has had 1 winning season and made one playoff appearance since 2009, that came in 2013. The Rams have won only nine of 60 games since that last trip to the postseason.

Graves is the program’s fourth head coach since 2015. The Rams were 1-5 back in the spring in Graves’ first season, a season the team says laid the groundwork for success.

With the offensive and defensive schemes in place, Graves says he has noticed his older players helping show the younger players what needs to be done and how it needs to be done.

The Rams will open their season August 27th at Taylorville.