The sound of whistles, coaches yelling on the practice field, and the sight of players running drills can only mean one thing when it comes to Richmond County.

Football is back.

For many of the players on the Richmond Senior High School football team, summer vacation officially ended when they set foot in the Raider locker room Monday morning at 8:45 a.m.

Richmond head coach Paul Hoggard’s team returns a good core of players on the defensive side of the ball, and a few key players on the offensive side. First off Monday morning, Hoggard gathered all of his players in the meeting room for a lengthy discussion about his expectations for the season.

Hoggard broke down for his players what he expects — both on and off the field — as well as what their uniforms mean to the team.

The meeting served to impart team rules to the players, including Hoggard’s rule of no profanity, as well as the way the Richmond school system conducts its drug testing policy.

Later, Hoggard shared the story of Jesus taking three of his disciples with him to resurrect a child. The point of the story was that Jesus trusted these disciples the most — and if the team trusts each other and plays hard, they could pull off something special.

With the departure of two-year starting quarterback Tedarrius Wiley, one of the biggest question marks for the Raiders in 2010 is that vitally important position.

Rising senior Laron Ellerbe, a returning letterwinner, will be given the reins of the Raider offense.

Accompanying Laron in the backfield will be senior running back Walter Ellerbe, who returns after a stellar junior season in 2009.

As the Raiders hit the field for Monday’s initial workouts, the team was broken down by position with their respective coaches, and individual instruction periods began.

Assistant Coach Greg Williams took the quarterbacks and explained the different types of plays they will be running throughout the season, as well as how they are expected to run them.

“You have to know when to check down, and where the play is going. If you don’t know which way the play is supposed to be ran, the center will turn around and tell you it’s wrong because he already knows,” said Williams.

One thing that Williams made clear to his quarterbacks was this: The only day the current depth chart was good for was Monday. After today, it meant nothing on what position that they players would have on the depth chart.

The current depth chart for the quarterback position is:

n Laron Ellerbe;

n Cody Wilson;

n Uriah White;

n Rahim Ellerbe.

Before hitting the practice field to go through their daily workouts, Williams took some time at the dry erase board to explain a few things to his players.

First off in this lesson was the proper way to take a snap under center, as well as out of the shotgun formation. Proper placement of the hands and the thumbs were the two main things that were stressed to the quarterbacks, and then how to read a defense and make adjustments.

Laron Ellerbe gained valuable game experience last season when he stepped in and filled in capably for Wiley after the Raider starter went down with a shoulder injury against Scotland. Ellerbe led Richmond to Class 4AA playoff victories over Northwest Guilford and Providence.

That experience will be fresh in the minds of the Raider coaches as they develop this season’s crop of quarterbacks: No matter who the starter is, capable backups are essential.

Contact sports reporter Travis Anderson at 997-3111 ext. 44 or via e-mail at tanderson@yourdailyjournal.com