The first opportunity to see Greene County football in action under new head coach Chris MacFarland is finally here.
After months of summer workouts and preparation, the Tigers completed the GHSA-mandated acclimation week and are now turning their attention toward Friday night’s scrimmage against rival Hancock Central.
While the game will not count toward the regular-season record, MacFarland knows the matchup will provide a valuable measuring stick for a team still learning a new system and building a new identity.
“Anytime you get a chance to play another opponent and not your own team, it’s a great night,” MacFarland said. “I’m also ready to see how we do on a game week schedule.”
The acclimation period is designed to help teams safely transition back into full-contact practices while adjusting to the demands of football in the summer heat. For Greene County, though, MacFarland felt his players were prepared for the challenge after putting in the work throughout the offseason.
The Tigers spent much of the summer building their conditioning, installing new schemes and getting comfortable with the expectations of a new coaching staff.
“Our kids have done a great job all summer,” MacFarland said. “They’ve come, and we’ve used helmets and then OTAs, so I knew the acclimation week was going to be good for them because our kids have put the time in and really worked and committed on getting in shape.”
With practices shifting from morning sessions to afternoons, acclimation week also gave Greene County an opportunity to get used to playing in the conditions it will face during the season.
For MacFarland, the focus was less about simply getting through the week and more about using it as another step in the program’s development.
“It’s just the kind of week for us to clean up some things, go as fast a tempo as we can, move around and get them used to the heat in the afternoons,” he said.
Friday’s scrimmage against Hancock Central will provide the Tigers their first chance to test themselves against an outside opponent. It will also allow the coaching staff to evaluate how the team handles the routine and preparation that comes with game week.
“We’ve been working hard on what we have on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, all preceding the game,” MacFarland said. “It’s a great way for us to see how we’re going to handle things and get all of our stuff in.”
Since taking over the program, MacFarland has emphasized building trust and creating a culture centered around commitment. He said that has been one of the biggest areas of growth for the Tigers since the start of the offseason.
“From the beginning, we were asking them to do certain things, time-wise, drills were different, everything else that we were throwing at them coming in as a new staff,” MacFarland said. “They have just taken that all in.”
The willingness of the players to embrace the changes has stood out to MacFarland as Greene County continues to lay the foundation for the upcoming season.
“I’ve been very impressed with their willingness to practice, their willingness to come out and be respectful of what we’re trying to show them and really work at it hard,” he said.
The Tigers are hoping that commitment translates into improvement on Friday night and throughout the 2026 season.
“I think the development of them in our program has been very positive,” MacFarland said. “The kids wanting to work hard and change what happened last year has been great. I’m very pleased with what they’ve done from the spring, all through the summer into now, and hopefully we can just keep building on that week to week.”
Greene County will host Hancock Central at 7 p.m. on Friday at Tiger Stadium.