Kenny King is entering his 11th season as head coach at Daphne, and this fall he has a luxury he has not always enjoyed: a returning starting quarterback. King said he is happy to report that Christian Segar, who delivered a strong performance last season as the Trojans’ starter, is back to run the offense.
In a rugged Class 6A, Region 1, that is welcome news. Segar, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior, passed for 2,775 yards and a school-record 37 touchdowns last season. He was intercepted just four times while completing 68.6 percent of his attempts.
King is not the only one glad to have Segar back in the huddle. The quarterback said he is ready for the challenge ahead.
“It means a lot,” Segar said. “It’s definitely my time to kind of take over the team and lead them in the direction that I want to go. It feels like it’s almost my team now. It’s my time to come in and step up and kind of build the culture and lead the guys in the right way to be super successful this year.”
Segar said he embraces the responsibility. “I like it a lot. It fits great with my skill set. We have a lot of really good receivers, we’re obviously super good on the line. So, it really fits me well because they’re able to protect me and I can get the ball to my playmakers and let them make plays.”
He credited the experience he gained last season and an offseason conditioning program for his growth. “I’ve put on about 20 pounds, gotten a lot faster, smarter,” he said. “The game was kind of fast for me last year. The first couple of games, the game was moving fast. It was kind of a shellshock thing. Now, it’s moving slow for me. I’m seeing things a lot better. I feel more athletic. I feel better. I feel the best I’ve ever felt, really. I’ve got a lot of guys that I’ve played with now for a year, so I’m really, really excited.”
King sees the same transformation. “Man, he’s just so different,” the coach said. “If you look at him, he’s bigger. You’re talking about he’s probably gained 20 pounds. One thing at Daphne High School, we’re going to lift weights, and he embraced it and got after it. He’s much bigger, so much stronger. He’s been kidding with us, like, ‘Coach, can you let me run the ball more?’ And I’m like, absolutely not. But, man, a powerful arm, big specimen. I like his work ethic.”
King said Segar’s leadership stands out as much as his arm. “He does everything as a leader. He’s on our leadership council. He gets the guys together outside of practice to do different things, to throw together, to go to church together, to just build a relationship with them,” King said. “Everybody knows about his arm, but he commands the offense. People look up to him when we get up. He makes sure that he keeps everybody calm. If we’re down, he makes sure he’s picking up guys and going to the next play. He’s such a leader.”
In April, Segar committed to South Alabama, and he said he plans to graduate early and enroll in January so he can go through spring practice with the team. “(Head) Coach (Major) Applewhite and Coach (Zach) Chrisler, the quarterbacks coach, they’ve been really heavy on me,” Segar said. “I know they really like me a lot. They love me, so it feels good. I committed there because I really feel like I’m wanted there and I can really tell that I am.”
For now, Segar’s focus is on the Trojans, and he believes this team can improve on its recent playoff results. Daphne has reached the playoffs each of the past three seasons and in 13 of the past 15, winning the state title in 2010. The program also won a state championship in 2001 and reached the title game in 2002, 2003 and 2005. However, the team has not won more than one playoff game in any season since the 2010 crown.
“I think we’re going to be a team that comes out hot,” Segar said. “We would have a tendency to come out slow a lot last year and have to come back from a deficit. So if we can come out hot and just keep rolling the whole game, I think we’ll be able to really pound teams down.”
Getting past the second round, he said, would be significant. “It’s really a mindset. That last week of practice, when we played Auburn (in the second round) last year, it wasn’t the best week of practice. We need to make sure… to be consistent. We need to stay consistent for practice every single day and have good practices every day and bring it into the game. And I think that’s how we use our talent and discipline to make it further than the second round.”
Daphne opens the season at Spanish Fort on Thursday, Aug. 20. The Trojans’ first region game is Friday, Sept. 4, at home against Alma Bryant. The other 6A, Region 1 teams include Fairhope, Foley, Robertsdale, Baker, Davidson and Mary G. Montgomery.