DUBLIN, Va. – Cam Akers joined the Pulaski County football staff as an assistant in 2021 under then first-year coach Mark Dixon. One season later, the Pulaski County grad is serving as interim head coach for the Cougars.
“This is where I’m from, this is my hometown. It’s nice to be in the position,” said Akers. “I’ve had great support from the administration, great support from the community and I’m just really excited.”
Akers was promoted to the interim role after Dixon took a medical leave of absence in the early spring. Just a few months later, it was announced that the veteran head coach wouldn’t return to the sidelines.
The Cougars are coming off a 4-6 campaign that was riddled with injuries and one that prevented a postseason appearance for the first time since 2017. As they prep for this season, the Cougars welcome back a handful of starters on each side of the ball so leadership will be a strength.
“We have a bunch of players coming from last year to this year and we only lost about 3 offensive players from last year so that’s a big help right there,” said Cougars linebacker Trevor Burton.
But Akers says no matter what, the student-athletes must compete everyday with the acronym “EAT” as the motto.
“Effort, attitude, toughness-- we talk about that all the time,” Akers said. “That’s the number one thing we can control. Control the controllable things is what we say. We want to put out the best product we can on the field but we have to do us first. Whether it’s the weight room or out here in practice, our goal is to make sure there’s no regression but progression every day we come out and get our young guys prepared.”
“We’re really physical. We hit a lot. Like, our drills are rough so being tough and having a good attitude will help a lot,” said Cougars fullback and linebacker Tyler Underwood.
Pulaski County will open its season at home August 26 when Northside comes to Dublin.