DICKSON, Oklahoma (KTEN)- After back-to-back 1-9 seasons, Dickson's motivation for 2023 isn't hard to find.

"Mindset is not go 1-9," Dickson tackle/linebacker Ashton Brown said. "It's kind of embarrassing to go and say you've been 1-9."

"I'm hoping [our hard work] shows this season, and we're not 1-9 again," Dickson tight end Justice Throneberry said. "That's really disappointing."

Head coach Matt Suffal is heading into his third year at DIckson and he's ready for his Comets to make that next step as a program.

"We want to raise the bar, raise the standard," Suffal said. "Each day, how we practice, that's what gets wins. It has nothing to do with talent or not talent. If you raise the bar every day, do things consistently and right, you're going to win your ball games."

For the Comets, it will all start in the trenches.

"We're a physical team," Brown said. "We're ready to get into you. We're not scared. We're ready to go head-to-head and heart-to-heart."

But the Comets' wing-T offense will look a little different this year.

"We've always been a bigger team, three yards and a cloud of dust, but this year, we've got some more athletes on the outside," Suffal said. "Our misdirection is what we're really looking at. So if our backs will buy into that process, we're going to be pretty special on offense." 

However, all that speed and physicality won't matter if the Comets don't improve in one area this season.

"You can't run a good football team without discipline," Brown said. "That's a big thing for us is discipline. Not getting those stupid penalties. Just being mentally prepared for each play."

With his team locked in ahead of this fall, Suffal is sticking true to his word and raising the bar for his players.

"What we're telling our kids is we want a home playoff game," Suffal said. "That's it. That's the standard. That's where we want to be at and that's where we should be at every year."

Dickson will open its 2023 season on the road when it travels to Hugo on August 25.