FOX, Okla. (KTEN) - Luckily for the Fox Foxes, they have no where to go but up this season, coming off a winless campaign in 2022 that included many lopsided losses.

"It was an extremely tough year," said senior Connor Armstrong. "The players were running more of the team than the coaches were... We just weren't mashing together or anything like that."

Armstrong and his teammates though have already taken action to fix what went wrong last season.

"In the past, we've had a lot of excuses," said Armstrong. "At our first practice right over there we buried the excuses. We wrote down a bunch of excuses that we've used over the past few years and we buried them. We're not going to use them anymore."

That was the first step to becoming closer as a team and players have responded well to longtime assistant John Bailey taking over as the team's head coach.

"It's a little different, something I'm not used to," said senior Connor Yelton. "It's a little more strict so I like it a lot more."

"I'm kind of old school when it comes to that but everyone needs some direction," said Bailey. "We've got a culture of a lot of broken homes where they don't have a male role model other than me. So, I told them I am 1,000 percent committed to you, you will see my commitment every single day."

Becoming a head coach is a dream for most high school head coaches but Bailey's situation is a little different.

"I never really planed on being a head coach but things just kind of worked out," said Bailey. "I've known most of the kids since they were in first, second, third, grade and now I get to coach them in high school so I feel really blessed to be here."

The Foxes open the season on August 24th at 7:00 p.m. at home against Coyle.