What to know about PCA's first year of TSSAA football, including home games at MTSU

Providence Christian held its historic first practice in full pads as a TSSAA-sanctioned program Monday after having played eight-man football their first three seasons.

There's excitement for not only the transition, but also for playing its home games at MTSU this season. PCA, which is at least a couple of years away from having its own stadium, has rented Floyd Stadium for its five home contests.

"They've been gracious enough to supply that for us and how they've operated with us," said PCA coach Lebron Ferguson, who started the program in 2020 after previously having been the coach at Oakland. "We're thankful to their administration and (athletic director Chris) Massaro for allowing us to be over there to get this started."

Playing at MTSU will be nothing new for Ferguson. He got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at MTSU under Boots Donnelly in 1991, and he was an assistant on Oakland teams that played there for several years before building their own stadium.

"I have a lot of great relationships there ... that's where it all started for me," Ferguson said. "To be back over there is unbelievable. It's emotional for me, to be honest."

PCA's home games will include Cannon County (Aug. 25), Grundy County (Sept. 15), Friendship Christian (Sept. 29), a showdown with rival MTCS (Oct. 20) and a regular-season finale against Webb-Bell Buckle on Oct. 26. The Lions will play in DII-A East region along with the Cougars, FCS, The King's Academy and Ezell-Harding.

Ferguson has some veterans on staff, including longtime area coach Steve Williams, who was most recently coach at Overton, former Stewarts Creek baseball coach Mike Bartlett, who previously coached football during his time at Lebanon, and former Smyrna and Tennessee Tech standout Chucky Richardson, who has been with the program since it started.

Providence Christian was 6-4 and reached the state title game in their affiliation last season. The Lions' first scrimmage is Friday at BGA at 6 p.m.

As for the product they're putting on the field, the Lions have good numbers to begin, dressing around 45 players Monday. However, there's a lot of youth and inexperience in that bunch.

"One-third of this team have never put on a helmet," said Ferguson. "But our guys are super coachable, hungry and eager to learn. We have to teach them the right way and lay the foundation. (The inexperience) can be a good thing. If we teach them the right way, it will only propel us in the future."

Veteran players are aware of the building process and what their role is as leaders. The season opener is Aug. 18 at Eagleville.

MORE: When, where Murfreesboro area high school football teams will scrimmage this preseason

"We have to focus on getting everybody on board and getting everybody to hit hard and be physical," said senior running back/linebacker Jonah Wilson. "We got kind of comfortable in the eight-man world, but the ultimate goal was always to move up here. This is super exciting."

One of the many challenges in transitioning to 11-man football will be up front. The previous level of football involved just three linemen.

"It will be a hard transition," said senior offensive/defensive lineman Walker Boyd. "As long as we pour our hearts into the young kids this year, we'll be good."

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: TSSAA football: Providence Christian to play home games at MTSU