The Western Carolina Catamounts are preparing for a home-opener unlike any other on Saturday, Sept. 4, against Eastern Kentucky. The game kickoff is at 6 p.m.
The audience at E.J. Whitmire Stadium will witness a new era of Catamount football, under head coach Kerwin Bell, who was hired this spring. New players will take the field, new uniforms will be worn, and an important staff member will be absent from the sideline.
Both schools will take a moment of silence, before the national anthem, to honor WCU assistant coach, John Peacock.
Peacock, who was hired as the offensive line coach in the spring, was a “hard worker,” according to his colleagues at Western. He passed away on Aug.18, from COVID-19, at the age of 32.
“It hit close to home…Coach Peacock was a great young man,” said Coach Bell, on the Catamount Athletic Twitter account following WCU’s second preseason scrimmage.
Redshirt freshman wide receiver, Raphael Williams, transferred to WCU after spending a season at Tusculum University with Coach Peacock.
“We played tough for him today. We played very good, played fast, physical,” said Williams, following the Aug. 21 scrimmage on the Catamount Athletic Twitter account.
Williams, along with the additions to the team, are hoping to finish towards the top of the Southern Conference, after a troubled 1-8 record in the 2020-21 season. With their backs against the wall, the revamped Catamounts are seeking revenge on their foes, this fall.
