Although improvement workouts took place this summer, yesterday marked the official start of a new era in Panorama High School football. For the first time in 21 years, the Panthers ran their initial practice of the season under new head coach Michael Kauzlarich. Kauzlarich steps into the top position left by Lyle Alumbaugh, who retired in November after 24 total years of coaching the Panthers football program. The Raccoon Valley Radio taped an interview with Kauzlarich for last night’s Guthrie County PM Sports Page shortly after the conclusion of his first preseason practice of the year. Kauzlarich says the overall theme of this year’s offseason work is making the Panther student-athletes tougher. “We challenge the kids to be the toughest kid in their group, toughest kid in the room, toughest kid on the field.” Kauzlarich said, “It’s all a mental mindset of being tough and its something you have to preach to these kids; we’ve told them before you’re going to face adversity in life so when that adversity hits, you’re going to want to be prepared for that mentally to overcome that adversity.

Kauzlarich takes over a Panorama football team that posted a 3-6 campaign last season under Alumbaugh. The Panthers competition season begins Friday, August 24, traveling to Fort Dodge for a nondistrict battle against the St. Edmond Gaels.