Brian Carter is looking toward his first season on the Tiger Stadium sidelines and his first year as a head coach. Brent Hubbert, meanwhile, is preparing for his fifth season at the helm of a Maplesville program that has already accomplished much.

That’s where the differences end.

Both coaches have their work cut out for them as they prepare for the 2008 season, albeit for different reasons. Both will use Tuesday as an opportunity to get their teams together for what basically amounts to an intersquad practice.

“I think we are both wanting to lean on each other to kind of coach each other’s kids through and help each team get better,” Hubbert said.

Hubbert’s challenge is to replace several key contributors from last year’s team, which went all the way to the state playoff semifinals. The Devils will feature many new faces this season if not new schemes.

Every face will be new for Carter. The CCHS coach said he has been impressed with the approach to summer workouts his players have shown. But that’s just the beginning.

“We’re still trying to fit everybody in the right places,” Carter said about a spring and summer that has seen numerous position changes. “We just let them know that they may be a two or a three at one position and that they may have a better chance to play at another position.”

So, the Tigers and the Red Devils will meet at 5:30 p.m. at Chilton County High School. The teams will compete in some offensive line/defensive line challenges first, probably at the practice field. Then the teams will compete in some passing offense/defense situations that do not involve linemen.

“It is more or less a practice session for both and less competition,” Hubbert said.

Even so, this kind of work could be more beneficial to both groups of players than standard practices.

“A lot of the time, when they hear the same things coming from a different coach, it kind of reinforces what you’ve been telling them,” Carter said.