Lake Belton football, building towards the upcoming season

May 1, 2025

By Tony Adams

The Lake Belton Broncos football is building up to their traditional 212 boiling point throughout the course of the 2025 spring practice, through their drills, weekly 7-of7 nights and a variety of other team-building exercises.

Lake Belton head coach Brian Cope is always excited about his team’s progress. His mood has been no different from the end of the 2024 season, with players having the opportunity to build away from the gridiron.

“We have had an outstanding off-season,” Cope said. “From command weights to Bronco Challenge to the start of spring ball this reminds me of a group that we had our first year where a lot of kids are hungry to show what they can do. We also had successful powerlifting, track and baseball seasons so our kids who have played multiple sports got better at competing. We are looking forward to watching them continue to grow and work all the way through the start of the season in August.”

Spring 7-on-7 is a great tool for development of communication between players, pass route running, and defensive coverage. Lake Belton has had plenty of success in recent years.

“We start our League night on Monday for three weeks and will also play in three state qualifying tournaments,” Cope said. “It will be fun to watch how our players develop and continue to grow in the leadership process as well.”

Although it is a bit early to pinpoint what the fall roster, there are a great number of returning players and positions that we can we watch for in the development phase over the next month.

“Spring football really helps our offensive line and defensive line,” Cope said. “We also looking forward to developing depth at the linebacker and tight end positions.”

In successful programs, sometimes coaches depart for opportunities to add on to resumes to further careers. The Broncos have been fortunate to keep their coaching staff intact for a few years.

“Right now, our coaching staff remains intact,” Cope said. “We have had an outstanding staff and am very thankful to work with a group that wants to see our kids achieve everything possible at the highest level.”

In a sixth year of the program, culture is wellengrained within a mass of a program. The work ethic of the Broncos is undeniably solid.

“We ask our kids to go above and beyond to prepare themselves both mentally and physically for the grind of the season,” Cope said. “They have done that and more this off-season. This truly has been the best off-season that we have had and it is showing up already in spring practice.”

Asked if preparing for spring practice as a head coach is different than preparing for a summer/fall practice, Cope’s answer was direct.

“This is all about you versus you,” Cope said. “Can we get better each day to be ready. Also, since the only opponent is yourself, you must continue to find ways to challenge them to get better. It is five weeks long and we are starting week three. I sure am looking forward to seeing how good we will be in the next 10 practices that we have.”