At this time last year, Trent Miller was barely three months into taking over the Willis football program.
Hired in mid-April of 2022, Miller, who arrived in Montgomery County from Spring High, did not have a lot of time to put the pieces of his puzzle together.
Miller had to mix, mold, match and mentor on the fly.
“We had to overcome a lot of growing pains,” Miller said at the 47th annual Conroe Noon Lions Club Pigskin Preview on Wednesday in Conroe. “We spent an entire football season figuring out schematically who was who and what was what. What fit our brand and what our kids could and couldn’t do.”
The Wildkats went 5-5 in Miller’s first season. Things started nicely. Willis romped Bryan Rudder, 73-14, in its season opener, one point shy of the program single-game scoring record.
“If I’d known at the time, I would’ve gone for two (point-after) sometime,” Miller said.
But from there, an avalanche of adversity roared.
Five-star quarterback D.J. Lagway suffered a high ankle sprain in the following game against Temple that plagued him the rest of the season, forcing him to sit out two games, including the season finale against Oak Ridge that had heavy playoff implications.
Running back Terri Lawrence tore his ACL against Temple.
The Wildkats lost three games in a row after the opening win. The ensuing uphill climb was too much to overcome.
“It was kind of a rollercoaster ride the rest of the year,” Miller said. “We played some games close we shouldn’t have been in and lost some games I felt we shouldn’t have lost. But we learned a lot about ourselves as a program throughout that season.”
Willis has taken what it’s learned and used it in what has been a fruitful offseason.
It starts with the culture Miller never got to fully establish prior to last season, changing the mindset and mentality of players and coaches more than anything else.
“Everybody knows in the football offseason, you lift weights, you run. Kids are playing other sports,” Miller said. “But we spent more time focusing on developing the mind and mental aspect of what being a successful program looks like.”
The Wildkats believe they are headed in the right direction.
Sixteen starters return this year.
Defensively, the front seven is led by senior linemen Josiah Stephens (6-foot-3, 226 pounds), Zach Lang (6-3, 225) and Isaac Stafford (6-5, 235). All three have NCAA Division I offers.
Senior Brock Perry is a three-year starter and headlines the linebacking corps.
“He’s going to do great things,” Miller said.
In the secondary, senior Imauree Holmes and sophomore Jermaine Bishop are exceptional talents on the ball and will play both ways. Junior Jacorion Hatchett is a returning starter at cornerback.
Offensively, Miller is hoping a full offseason and a plethora of reps solve last year’s woes up front.
“The biggest issue we had last year offensively was being able to protect the quarterback,” Miller said. “Not because of a lack of ability but it had more to do with what we do.”
In Miller’s system, Willis is in empty formation about 75 percent of the time. That means five receivers and no running backs. It is not a common style of play, particularly in how consistently the Wildkats employ it.
Protection issues last season stemmed from a lack of reps in that formation for offensive linemen and Lagway’s understanding of how to slide protections.
“We’ve now had an entire offseason with those young men (on the O-line), and three of those five guys are back (junior Mason Isbell, senior Caleb Fletcher and senior Wyatt Johnston),” Miller said. “We feel really good about those guys, and our receiving core and quarterback is a special group of young men.”
The Wildkats return all five offensive skill players in Holmes, junior Daylion Robinson, junior Jalen Mickens, senior DeBraun Hampton and Lawrence. Lagway, a University of Florida commit and arguably the top talent in the Greater Houston area, is also back to discombobulate defensive coordinators.
“We have depth,” Miller said. “We have weapons all over the field. We’re really, really excited about watching those guys play on Friday nights.”
